Little School of Music
Bottom line
- Total investment $248K – $619K including a $25K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $538K/year. Estimated payback in 1.0 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100.
- No protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.
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 School of Music unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
14%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Little School of Music units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$538K
on $2.7M purchase
Total debt
$2.2M
SBA $1.3M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate music instruction studios offering lessons in instruments (piano, guitar, violin, etc.) to children and adults. Day-to-day operations include scheduling lessons, managing instructors, handling student registration/billing, facility maintenance, and marketing to local families. Revenue depends entirely on student enrollment and lesson pricing.
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 · 19 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
Single-unit franchise with unverified financials, no territory protection, and franchisor stability concerns presents substantial execution and scalability risk.
Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 1 operating unit with unknown growth trajectory indicates unproven scalability and potential system collapse risk
- 02MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representation despite claiming $537,893 avg revenue—unverifiable claims raise transparency concerns
- 03MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk; franchisor can open competing units in your market
- 04HIGHGoing Concern = False suggests potential franchisor financial instability or operational uncertainty
- 05MINOR8% royalty on $537k revenue = $43k+ annual ongoing fees with only 1 unit for support infrastructure
- 06MINORWide investment range ($248k-$619k spread of 150%) indicates unclear startup costs and poor cost controls
- 07MINOR10-year term is unusually long for an unproven single-unit franchise system
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
Little School of Music · FDD (2025) PDF