FranchiseVerdict
Little Kitchen Academy logo
FV-01512·MODERATEExcellent86

Little Kitchen Academy

OtherFranchising since 2020Website
Investment
$436K – $881K
83rd pct Other
Avg revenue
$560K
20th pct Other
Royalty
6.0%
17th pct Other
Units
2
14th pct Other
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $436K – $881K including a $65K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $560K/year.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100.
  • 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

Legal entity
Little Kitchen Academy USA, Inc.
Parent company
Little Kitchen Academy Ltd.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite #2907, Los Angeles, CA 90067
Auditor
A&G LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.5M
vs $1.3M prior year
⚠ Going-concern note
Disclosed in FDD 2025
Auditor flagged doubt about continued operations. Verify against the latest FDD before deciding.

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 Kitchen Academy unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $560,252
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $436K–$881K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $30K–$60K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

11%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$78K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$704K
Payback
108 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Little Kitchen Academy units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$784K

on $3.9M purchase

Total debt

$3.1M

SBA $2.0M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

Little Kitchen Academy operates children's culinary education centers offering cooking classes, camps, and birthday parties for kids. Franchisees manage facility operations, instructor hiring/training, class scheduling, event marketing, and direct parent/customer engagement in their protected territories.

CEO
Brian Curin
Founded
2020
FDD year
2025
States available
2

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$436K – $881K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$30K – $60K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$65K
Royalty
6.0%
percentage · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
3.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
9.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$560K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
Item 19 type
Gross Sales
Sample size
2 units
vs category median 20 · small
Range (low → high)
$278K$843K
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
3 / 5
vs category median 3 / 5 · typical
Revenue rank20th
vs Other peers
Investment cost rank83th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank17th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank14th
vs Other peers
Risk score rank64th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
2
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
3
Turnover rate
150.0%
Company-owned
2
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
2023
0-2
Franchised units
2024
3
Franchised units
2025
1
Franchised units

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

Item 12 · 2 states 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.

2

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

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

65
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE65 / 100

Early-stage franchisor with minimal operating units, undisclosed profitability, and insufficient franchisee base for meaningful validation—investment viability cannot be assessed without Item 19 financials.

Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINOROnly 2 existing units with unknown growth trajectory suggests minimal track record and severe scalability concerns
  2. 02MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 makes ROI analysis impossible; average revenue of $560k may not translate to viable owner income
  3. 03MINORWide investment range ($436k-$881k) with vague cost allocation raises transparency concerns and suggests inconsistent build-out standards
  4. 04MED6% royalty on gross sales (not net) combined with non-disclosed profitability creates cash flow risk
  5. 05MEDExtremely limited franchisee base (2 units) makes validation difficult and indicates franchisor may be pre-revenue or in early survival mode

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
geographic area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
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
Delaware

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
29 hrs
On-the-job training
19 hrs
POS system
Microsoft Office 365 Business
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

4 numbers

Locked
(512) 964-••••
CO
(412) 983-••••
CO
(650) 743-••••
WI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Little Kitchen Academy · FDD (2025) PDF

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