FranchiseVerdict
Hot Ground Gym logo
FV-01230·CAUTIONExcellent81

Hot Ground Gym

Health & FitnessFranchising since 2024Website
Investment
$163K – $317K
29th pct Health & Fitn…
Avg revenue
58th pct Health & Fitn…
Royalty
6.0%
9th pct Health & Fitn…
Units
3
16th pct Health & Fitn…
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $163K – $317K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 75/100.
  • Emerging franchise — only 2 years of franchising with 3 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Hot Ground Gym Franchising, LLC
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
1950 North US Highway 45, Libertyville, IL 60048
Auditor
CliftonLarsonAllen LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
vs $2K prior year

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 Hot Ground Gym unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: fitness
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $163K–$317K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $50K–$65K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

76%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$225K
EBITDA margin
30.0%
Total invested
$298K
Payback
16 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Hot Ground Gym franchisees operate boutique fitness facilities offering specialized ground-based training or workout programs. Day-to-day operations include class scheduling, instructor management, member retention, facility maintenance, marketing, and sales—typical of the fitness studio segment but with unclear operational differentiation.

CEO
Douglas Gialds
Founded
2013
FDD year
2025
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$163K – $317K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$50K – $65K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
6.0%
Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
3
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
2
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
33%
vs corporate-owned
2023
1+1
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 14 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 14 states
Not registered

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

75
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION75 / 100

Hot Ground Gym presents HIGH RISK due to going concern status, only 3 units, missing financial disclosures (Item 19), and unproven profitability despite substantial capital requirement.

Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDOnly 3 operating units indicates extremely limited system maturity and unproven scalability model
  2. 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE—suggests franchisor financial instability or legal/operational issues
  3. 03MEDNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosed—cannot assess profitability or ROI on $163k-$317k investment
  4. 04MINORNo average net income data provided—impossible to validate payback period or break-even timeline
  5. 05MINORWide investment range ($154k spread) without corresponding revenue/profit disclosure raises transparency concerns
  6. 06MED6% royalty on undisclosed revenue stream creates unpredictable cost structure for franchisee planning
  7. 07MED7-year term locks franchisee into underperforming or unstable system with limited exit options
  8. 08MINORMinimal franchise footprint (3 units) suggests either recent launch without traction or significant unit attrition

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Demographics and population based
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
7 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
No
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
29 hrs
On-the-job training
71 hrs
POS system
Vagaro
Operating tech stack

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

21 numbers

Locked
(317) 232-••••
IN
(916) 445-••••
CA
(213) 576-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Hot Ground Gym · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above