Hammer & Nails
Bottom line
- Total investment $694K – $944K including a $60K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $929K/year (median $862K). Estimated payback in 6.6 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 24/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 104 loans (below the industry average).
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Hammer & Nails unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
23%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Hammer & Nails units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
36.0%
4.65× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.28×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$4.8M
on $13.9M purchase
Total debt
$9.2M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate grooming service centers offering men's haircuts, shaves, manicures, and pedicures in a barber-shop-meets-nail-salon format. Day-to-day operations include managing 5-15 service professionals, maintaining appointment schedules, inventory management (grooming products), and customer relationship building in a service-intensive retail environment.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 20 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Hammer & Nails presents moderate risk with strong growth momentum offset by high capital requirements, thin margins, and unvalidated franchisee profitability claims.
Score breakdown · what drove the 24 / 100 rating
- 01MINORHigh initial investment ($694k-$944k) against modest net income ($123k avg) creates 5.6-7.6 year payback period without accounting for royalties
- 02MINORRapid unit growth (37.2% YoY) may indicate aggressive recruitment outpacing organic demand; sustainability unclear
- 03MEDNet margin of 13.3% is thin; 6% royalty represents 45% of net profit, leaving limited cushion for underperforming locations
- 04MEDNo Item 19 financial performance representations disclosed; actual franchisee earnings may vary significantly from averages
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
72 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Hammer & Nails · FDD (2026) PDF