FranchiseVerdict
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FV-01437·MODERATEStandard76

Kumon

Education - Tutoring & Test PrepFranchising since 1983Website
Investment
$74K – $166K
27th pct Tutoring & Te…
Avg revenue
55th pct Tutoring & Te…
Royalty
Units
1,659
100th pct Tutoring & Te…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $74K – $166K including a $2K franchise fee.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 56/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 100 loans (below the industry average).
  • No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Kumon North America, Inc.
Parent company
Kumon Institute of Education Company, Ltd. (KIE)
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
301 Route 17 North, Rutherford, New Jersey 07070
Auditor
Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$144.5M
vs $153.0M 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 Kumon 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: education
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $74K–$166K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $16K–$22K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

76%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$105K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$139K
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

Kumon franchisees operate tutoring centers offering self-directed, individualized math and reading instruction primarily for K–12 students. Day-to-day operations include student intake and progress monitoring, parent communication, materials management, instructor hiring/training, and marketing to acquire and retain enrolled students.

CEO
Minoru Tanabe
Founded
1958
FDD year
2024
States available
50

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$74K – $166K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$16K – $22K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$2K
Royalty
$36 times the number of full-paying students enrolled, an…
Ad fund
$220 per month for 18 months for New Center Marketing; th…

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
1,659
Opened
54
Last reporting year
Closed
33
Turnover rate
2.0%
Company-owned
22
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
99%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+1.2%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+1.9%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
1,637+13
Franchised units
2023
1,618
Franchised units
2024
1,606
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 5 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 · 5 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

56
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE56 / 100

Kumon presents moderate-to-high risk due to system contraction, opaque unit economics, enrollment-dependent royalties, territorial vulnerability, and absence of financial performance disclosures.

Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORFranchise system declining at 1.2% YoY with only 1,659 units—suggests market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
  2. 02MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents validation of the $73,783–$165,920 investment ROI claim
  3. 03MINORRoyalty structure based on student enrollment ($36/full-paying, $18/partial) creates unpredictable, potentially unstable cash flow with no minimum guarantees
  4. 04MINORUnprotected territory exposes franchisees to direct competition from other Kumon franchisees and company-owned centers
  5. 05MEDVery low franchise fee ($2,000) relative to total investment suggests high hidden costs or ongoing capital requirements not disclosed upfront
  6. 06MED5-year term is short; renewal risk and lack of disclosed renewal rates increase uncertainty

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Not allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
No
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
New Jersey

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
128 hrs
On-the-job training
68 hrs
POS system
CMS Standard / KLMSS / Kumon Connect
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

100 numbers

Locked
(424) 702-••••
CA
(623) 334-••••
AZ
(805) 466-••••
CA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Kumon · FDD (2024) PDF

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