Little Diggers Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Little Diggers is a children's franchise operating indoor play facilities built around specially formulated play sand and sensory play areas. Franchisees run the facilities, managing play areas, staffing, and enrollment.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Little Diggers franchise requires a total initial investment of $217K – $482K, including a $50K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. The 2025 FDD does not disclose unit-level revenue (no Item 19). FranchiseVerdict grade: D (Below average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $217K – $482K
- 50th pct Education
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Company-owned onlyn=2
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 37th pct Education
- Units
- 2
- 8th pct Education
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Education · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Education avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $217K – $482K including a $50K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSNewly formed franchisor (formed Nov 18, 2024); audited statements for period Nov 18-Dec 31, 2024 report no revenue, only $418 G&A expenses resulting in a $(418) net loss and $(418) member equity deficit. No CPA firm name printed in the text of the report.
- RISKVerdict D (Below average), verdict score 31/100 (higher is better).
- DATAItem 19 reports actual historical rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable. Ask franchisees directly for full unit-level revenue.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Little Diggers Franchising, LLC
- Parent company
- Little Diggers Playspace, Inc.
- CEO title
- CEO
- Zach Bowers
- Incorporated in
- OH
- HQ
- 6327 Sawmill Road, Dublin, OH 43017
- Auditor
- Holbrook & Manter
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $0
- Most recent fiscal year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Zach Bowers
- Headquarters
- OH
- Founded
- 2024
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 1
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 47% below the typical education franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50K | $50K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $15K | $30K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $152K | $402K |
| Total initial investment | $217K | $482K |
Source: Little Diggers 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $217K – $482K
- Middle of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $15K – $30K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $50K – $50K
- Middle of category vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 10.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $50 |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Inventory (initial) | $3K – $5K |
| Total fee load | 10.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
Little Diggers did not disclose financial performance in FDD Item 19. The ROIC and return models require Item 19 revenue. Without it all inputs are estimates. You can still run the calculator with your own assumptions by entering an expected revenue figure.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Little Diggers unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
26%
Below the 30–60% attractive-franchise band
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2025 FDD
Financial Performance
Newly formed franchisor (formed Nov 18, 2024); audited statements for period Nov 18-Dec 31, 2024 report no revenue, only $418 G&A expenses resulting in a $(418) net loss and $(418) member equity deficit. No CPA firm name printed in the text of the report.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Based on a sample of only 2
- Item 19 type
- actual historical
- Sample size
- 2
- vs category median 17 · small
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 204 Education brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 10.0% (near the Education average).
Disclosure
Item 19 reports actual historical rather than annual gross sales, so unit revenue is not directly comparable.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Education averages
How Little Diggers Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 2
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 2
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 0%
- vs corporate-owned
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 0
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
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)
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Early-stage franchise with unvalidated unit economics, missing financial disclosures, and minimum royalty terms that could consume one-third of franchisee profits.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Holbrook & Manter
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
Score breakdown · what drove the 31 / 100 verdict
- 01MINOROnly 2 existing units with unknown growth trajectory suggests minimal system validation and high execution risk
- 02MINORNo Item 19 (Going Concern: False) means franchisor has not provided audited financial performance representations to validate the $77,293 average net income claim
- 03MINORMinimum royalty of $500/week ($26,000/year) represents 34% of average net income, creating negative cash flow risk for underperforming locations
- 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($216,600–$482,150) relative to average net income (35.6% ROI best case) with 10-year breakeven timeline
- 05MINORMicro-franchisee base (2 units) creates survivorship bias—no data on failed or struggling locations
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 10.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | exclusive |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 5 mi |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | No |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 30 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 10 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | No |
| Arbitration location | Ohio |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | OH |
| Litigation count | 0 |
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 12 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 95 hrs
- Training location
- Designated Little Diggers facility (immersion), online (classroom/web), and franchisee's own location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 10 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects within approved territory; franchisor must approve within 10 business days
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Square
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Square
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
1 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Little Diggers · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Little Diggers franchise?
The total investment to open a Little Diggers franchise ranges from $217K – $482K, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Little Diggers franchise owners earn?
Little Diggers does not disclose average franchise owner earnings in their FDD Item 19. Not all franchisors are required to make financial performance representations. We recommend asking existing franchisees directly about their financial experience.
What is Item 19 in the Little Diggers FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Little Diggers FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Little Diggers's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Little Diggers (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Little Diggers franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Little Diggers has 2 total units in the United States, including 0 franchised units and 2 company-owned units.
Is Little Diggers a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Little Diggers as a D-grade franchise with a verdict score of 31 out of 100 (higher is better), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
Are you the franchisor?
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.