Bottom line
- Total investment $346K – $504K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $799K/year (median $798K).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 loans (below the industry average).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 LA Crawfish unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
27%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 LA Crawfish units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.4M
on $7.2M purchase
Total debt
$5.8M
SBA $3.6M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
LA Crawfish franchisees operate casual seafood dining establishments specializing in crawfish boils and Louisiana-style cuisine. Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, point-of-sale systems, and customer service in a quick-service or fast-casual format with protected territorial rights.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 1 state reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
1
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Declining franchise system with hidden profitability metrics, active litigation history, and unit attrition risk outweigh the attractive $798k average revenue figure.
Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 10.5% YoY (18 units) indicates system contraction and potential franchisee dissatisfaction
- 02MEDNet Income not disclosed in Item 19 prevents ROI validation; $346k-$503.5k investment requires clear profitability proof
- 03HIGHTwo litigation cases show franchisor-franchisee disputes over vendor control and advertising fund management, suggesting operational friction
- 04MED6% royalty on $798k avg revenue = ~$48k annual royalty with undisclosed overhead and actual net margins unknown
- 05MINOR10-year term locks franchisees into potentially underperforming concept without clear exit strategy given declining unit trend
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
2 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
LA Crawfish · FDD (2024) PDF