FranchiseVerdict
HTEAO logo
FV-01244·STRONGExcellent86

Hteao

Food & Beverage - Quick ServiceFranchising since 2018Website
Investment
$387K – $1.9M
69th pct Quick Service
Avg revenue
60th pct Quick Service
Royalty
6.0%
46th pct Quick Service
Units
144
76th pct Quick Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $387K – $1.9M 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 STRONG with a risk score of 54/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 100 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 129.8% CAGR over 3 years with 144 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
HTEAO FC, LLC
Parent company
HTO Holdco, LLC
Incorporated in
Texas
HQ
1322 Ranchers Legacy Trail, Fort Worth, Texas 76126
Auditor
Whitley Penn LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$10.0M
vs $13.5M 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 HTEAO 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: qsr
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $387K–$1.9M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $10K–$100K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

9%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$105K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$1.2M
Payback
137 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

HTEAO franchisees operate [BUSINESS MODEL NOT DISCLOSED IN DATA PROVIDED]. Without disclosed revenue or income metrics, day-to-day operations and profit drivers cannot be reliably characterized. Franchisees pay 6% of gross revenue in royalties to franchisor.

CEO
Justin Howe
Founded
2017
FDD year
2025
States available
8

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$387K – $1.9M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$10K – $100K
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
144
Opened
42
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
13
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
91%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+39.4%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+129.8%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
131+43
Franchised units
2024
94
Franchised units
2025
57
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 12 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 · 12 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
100
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

54
Risk · 0-100
STRONG54 / 100

Significant transparency gaps combined with going concern status and explosive growth create elevated risk; profitability data absence makes ROI assessment impossible.

Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosed (Item 19) — impossible to assess profitability or ROI
  2. 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates potential financial instability or liquidity issues at franchisor level
  3. 03MINORWide investment range ($387K–$1.9M spread of 392%) suggests inconsistent unit economics or unclear cost structure
  4. 04MINORExplosive 39.4% YoY unit growth may indicate aggressive recruitment ahead of sustainable sales infrastructure
  5. 05MED6% royalty on undisclosed revenue creates unpredictable franchisor cash flow and potential pressure on unit profitability
  6. 06HIGHNo litigation disclosed but going concern flag suggests potential hidden disputes or regulatory scrutiny

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/Geographic
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
15 years
Renewal term
5 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
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Texas

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
27 hrs
On-the-job training
14 hrs
POS system
Revel POS System
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

76 numbers

Locked
(806) 898-••••
TX
(432) 559-••••
TX
(817) 727-••••
TX

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

HTEAO · FDD (2025) PDF

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