FranchiseVerdict
Hot Head Burritos logo
FV-01231·STRONGExcellent95

Hot Head Burritos

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2009Website
Investment
$215K – $705K
22nd pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$721K
10th pct Full Service
Royalty
6.0%
54th pct Full Service
Units
81
80th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $215K – $705K including a $26K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $721K/year (median $661K). Estimated payback in 1.7 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 39/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 24 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Hot Head Franchising, LLC
Incorporated in
Ohio
HQ
2795 Culver Ave, Kettering, Ohio 45429
Auditor
Muhammad Zubairy, CPA PC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$3.3M
vs $3.3M 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 Head Burritos unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $720,577
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $215K–$705K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $12K–$30K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

24%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$115K
EBITDA margin
16.0%
Total invested
$481K
Payback
50 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Hot Head Burritos units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$1.3M

on $6.5M purchase

Total debt

$5.2M

SBA $3.2M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Hot Head Burritos franchisees operate fast-casual Mexican restaurants where customers order customizable burritos, bowls, and related items at counter service. Day-to-day operations involve food preparation, inventory management, staffing, POS systems, marketing, and customer service in high-traffic retail or co-branded locations.

CEO
Ray Wiley
Founded
2009
FDD year
2025
States available
8

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$215K – $705K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$12K – $30K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$26K
Royalty
6.0%
Net Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
7.0%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
1.7 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$721K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$661K
Item 19 type
Average Annual and Weekly Net Sales
Sample size
68 units
vs category median 15 · large
Range (low → high)
$270K$1.6M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
10 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank10th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank22th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank54th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank80th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank1th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
81
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
11
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
86%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
1.0%
Net growth (yr3)
+4.5%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+2.9%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
70+2
Franchised units
2024
67
Franchised units
2025
68
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 7 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 · 7 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.

Total loans
24
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

39
Risk · 0-100
STRONG39 / 100

Modest growth, undocumented financial claims, and unclear franchisor stability create moderate-to-caution risk requiring extensive validation before committing $215K-$704K.

Score breakdown · what drove the 39 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 financial performance representations disclosed — cannot verify claimed average revenue of $720,577 or net income of $264,591
  2. 02MINORSlow unit growth of only 4.5% YoY with 81 total units suggests mature/stagnant system rather than expansion momentum
  3. 03MINORWide investment range ($215K-$704K) indicates inconsistent unit economics or unclear cost structure for franchisees
  4. 04HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — unclear if franchisor itself has financial stability concerns or if this refers to franchise viability

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

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

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
37 hrs
On-the-job training
80 hrs
POS system
Qu POS
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

77 numbers

Locked
(937) 979-••••
The franchisor is Hot Head Franchising, LLC, located at
OH
(574) 226-••••
IN
(419) 429-••••
OH

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Hot Head Burritos · FDD (2025) PDF

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