Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Little Susie's Coffee & Pie is a cafe franchise serving specialty coffee and fresh-made pies. Franchisees run the cafes, managing baking, coffee service, and counter service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie franchise requires a total initial investment of $144K – $317K, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 8.0% royalty[2]. The 2026 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 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $144K – $317K
- 5th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Company-owned only
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- 35th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 4
- 6th pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Full-Service Restaurants 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 $144K – $317K including a $40K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSFinancial statements are unaudited; franchisor (Little Susies Franchise Company LLC) formed August 23, 2025, with only an unaudited opening balance sheet dated March 5, 2026 (all values blank/zero). No three years of audited statements.
- RISKVerdict D (Below average), verdict score 36/100 (higher is better).
- DATAItem 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands. Ask franchisees directly for full unit-level revenue.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Little Susies Franchise Company LLC
- Parent company
- None
- CEO title
- Owner
- Daniel Martino
- Incorporated in
- PA
- HQ
- 2532 E Lehigh Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19125
Overview
About
- CEO
- Daniel Martino
- Headquarters
- PA
- Founded
- 2025
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 1
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 80% below the typical full-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $40K | $40K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $3K | $10K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $101K | $267K |
| Total initial investment | $144K | $317K |
Source: Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie 2026 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
- $144K – $317K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $3K – $10K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 8.0%
- percentage · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 9.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 8.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $50 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $4K |
| Inventory (initial) | $2K – $2K |
| Total fee load | 9.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 19
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie 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 Susie’s Coffee & Pie unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
29%
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: 2026 FDD
Financial Performance
Financial statements are unaudited; franchisor (Little Susies Franchise Company LLC) formed August 23, 2025, with only an unaudited opening balance sheet dated March 5, 2026 (all values blank/zero). No three years of audited statements.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
- Item 19 type
- gross sales by outlet
- Sample size
- 4
- vs category median 18 · small
- Transparency tier
- limited
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2026
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2026
- The FDD edition these figures were read from
- Transparency
- 3 / 10
- vs category median 3 / 10 · typical
Compared against 805 Full-Service Restaurants 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 9.0% — above the Full-Service Restaurants average of 7.6%.
Disclosure
Item 19 reports outlet revenue, but not in a form that yields a per-outlet average we can compare across brands.
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 Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2026 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 4
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 4
- 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
Undercapitalized micro-franchise with financial transparency issues, minimal unit base, and unclear unit-level profitability poses substantial risk to franchisee ROI.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation required to be disclosed.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
No audited financials on file
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 36 / 100 verdict
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates potential financial instability or accounting irregularities at franchisor level
- 02MINOROnly 4 units system-wide with unknown growth trajectory — unusually small and stagnant franchise system raises sustainability questions
- 03MEDNet Income not disclosed in Item 19 — prevents ROI analysis; $461K avg revenue may not support $143.5K-$317K investment payback
- 04MINORHigh royalty burden (8% of Net Sales) combined with unknown profitability makes unit economics opaque
- 05MINOR5-year term is relatively short; franchisor may be testing viability rather than establishing stable brand
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 9.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2026 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 5 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | protected |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory radius | 5 mi |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 5 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 1 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Pennsylvania |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | PA |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 0 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 12 hrs
- Training location
- Philadelphia, PA (headquarters and/or affiliate-owned outlet)
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- Franchisee with franchisor approval
- 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
2 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie franchise?
The total investment to open a Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie franchise ranges from $144K – $317K, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie franchise owners earn?
Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie 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 Susie’s Coffee & Pie 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 Susie’s Coffee & Pie FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie (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 Susie’s Coffee & Pie franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie has 4 total units in the United States, including 0 franchised units and 4 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie as a D-grade franchise with a verdict score of 36 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?
If you represent Little Susie’s Coffee & Pie, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
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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.