Little Diggers
Bottom line
- Total investment $217K – $482K including a $50K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $275K/year. Estimated payback in 4.5 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100.
- Emerging franchise — only 1 year of franchising with 2 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.
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 Little Diggers unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
10%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Little Diggers units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$330K
on $1.6M purchase
Total debt
$1.3M
SBA $0.8M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Little Diggers appears to be a children's activity or educational franchise (likely outdoor play, STEM, or excavation-themed experiences). Franchisees likely manage day-to-day operations including customer acquisition, class/activity scheduling, equipment maintenance, staff supervision, and facility management. Revenue model unclear—may be membership-based, per-class fees, or event-driven.
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 20 · 6 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
Early-stage franchise with unvalidated unit economics, missing financial disclosures, and minimum royalty terms that could consume one-third of franchisee profits.
Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 2 existing units with unknown growth trajectory suggests minimal system validation and high execution risk
- 02HIGHNo 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
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
8 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Little Diggers · FDD (2025) PDF