FranchiseVerdict
KongDog logo
FV-01431·STRONGExcellent81

KongDog

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2022Website
Investment
$163K – $661K
13th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
6.0%
54th pct Full Service
Units
38
68th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $163K – $661K including a $50K 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 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 4 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

Legal entity
KONGDOG FRANCHISING INC.
Parent company
KongDog, LLC
Incorporated in
Illinois
HQ
4320 Regency Drive, Glenview, IL 60025
Auditor
DA ADVISORY GROUP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$620K
vs $1.0M prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2025
Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.

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 KongDog 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: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $163K–$661K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $15K–$65K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

28%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$128K
EBITDA margin
17.0%
Total invested
$452K
Payback
43 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

KongDog franchisees operate dog-focused retail or service locations (likely grooming, boarding, daycare, or pet supplies). Day-to-day operations involve customer service, pet care/handling, inventory management, and facility maintenance while paying 6% of all revenue to corporate regardless of profitability.

CEO
Sangyun Shin
Founded
2021
FDD year
2025
States available
11

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$163K – $661K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$15K – $65K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$50K
Royalty
6.0%
Percentage of Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
0.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.0%
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
38
Opened
12
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
4
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
90%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+50.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
Outlier (see FDD)
Likely small-sample artifact
2023
36+12
Franchised units
2024
24
Franchised units
2025
10
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 8 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 · 8 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
4
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

52
Risk · 0-100
STRONG52 / 100

KongDog shows promise with 50% growth and no litigation, but opacity around financials (no Item 19), vague investment requirements, and gross-revenue royalties create material uncertainty around unit economics and franchisee profitability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 (average unit volumes) disclosed — impossible to validate ROI claims or compare to $162.75k–$660.5k investment range
  2. 02MINORExtreme investment range spread ($497.75k variance) suggests inconsistent buildout costs or unclear initial capital requirements
  3. 03MINOR50% YoY unit growth with only 38 total units indicates very small base — growth rate may not be sustainable or statistically meaningful
  4. 04MINOR6% royalty on gross revenue (not net) creates profitability pressure; franchisee must cover all costs before royalty kicks in
  5. 05MINOR10-year term is longer than industry standard (5–7 years typical), locking franchisees into relationship without performance benchmarks

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/Population
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Illinois

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
18 hrs
On-the-job training
12 hrs
POS system
Cloudhood 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

22 numbers

Locked
(978) 896-••••
MA
(773) 865-••••
IN
(267) 324-••••
NC

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

KongDog · FDD (2025) PDF

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