Lendio
Bottom line
- Total investment $46K – $117K including a $46K franchise fee, 30.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 66/100.
- 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
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 Lendio unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
-77%
Negative
Overview
About
Lendio franchisees operate as loan brokers/lead generators, connecting small business owners with lending options and alternative financing products. Day-to-day operations involve prospecting, client consultations, loan application processing, and relationship management with lenders. Franchisees typically earn commissions on funded loans, with the franchisor taking a substantial cut as royalties.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
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
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 20 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).
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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Lendio presents meaningful financial transparency risks with an unusually punitive royalty model, missing profitability data, and rapid but unvalidated unit growth in a highly regulated industry.
Score breakdown · what drove the 66 / 100 rating
- 01MINORExtremely high royalty structure (30-70% of gross revenues) leaves minimal profit margin for franchisees
- 02MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure in FDD Item 19 prevents realistic ROI modeling
- 03MINORUnit growth of 80.6% YoY suggests either aggressive recruitment or system instability; cannot assess unit quality
- 04MINORWide investment range ($45,650-$117,100) indicates inconsistent territory valuations or hidden costs
- 05MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (10 years), creating renewal uncertainty and frequent renegotiation risk
- 06MINORLending/fintech sector faces increasing regulatory scrutiny; compliance costs not addressed in investment figures
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
30 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Lendio · FDD (2022) PDF