Bottom line
- Total investment $116K – $206K including a $50K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $682K/year. Estimated payback in 1.2 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 60/100.
- Emerging franchise — only 2 years of franchising with 6 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.
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 HardTop Hotel unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
61%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 HardTop Hotel units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.2M
on $6.1M purchase
Total debt
$4.9M
SBA $3.1M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
HardTop Hotel franchisees operate boutique hotel properties, managing day-to-day guest services, housekeeping, front desk operations, maintenance, and revenue management. Franchisees are responsible for staffing, guest satisfaction, occupancy rate optimization, and local marketing while adhering to brand standards and paying 8% of gross revenue in royalties.
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 · 15 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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
HardTop Hotel presents meaningful caution risk due to franchisor going concern status, minimal unit count with unknown trajectory, and lack of transparent financial performance data.
Score breakdown · what drove the 60 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status indicates franchisor financial distress or viability uncertainty
- 02MINOROnly 6 units with unknown growth trajectory suggests stagnant or contracting system
- 03MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representations limits ability to validate claimed $682k avg revenue
- 04MINORHigh royalty rate (8%) combined with capital intensity reduces franchisee margins
- 05MINORSignificant investment range ($116k-$206k) suggests inconsistent unit economics or hidden costs
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
18 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
HardTop Hotel · FDD (2026) PDF