FranchiseVerdict
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FV-01562·CAUTIONExcellent91

Management Recruiters

Formerly known as MRINetwork

Business Services - StaffingFranchising since 1965Website
Investment
$44K – $96K
21st pct Staffing
Avg revenue
$29K
4th pct Staffing
Royalty
9.0%
42nd pct Staffing
Units
203
88th pct Staffing
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $44K – $96K including a $40K franchise fee, 9.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $29K/year (median $24K).
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 71/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 109 loans (below the industry average).
  • System contracting at -23.4% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
HQ MRI Corporation
Parent company
HireQuest, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
111 Springhall Drive, Goose Creek, SC 29445
Auditor
Plante & Moran, PLLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$22.5M
vs $31.0M prior year

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 Management Recruiters unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $28,940
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: $44K–$96K
Working capital
$
Item 7 didn't break this out — defaulted to ~10% of annual revenue

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

5%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$4K
EBITDA margin
13.5%
Total invested
$73K
Payback
224 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.

Overview

About

Management Recruiters franchisees operate staffing and recruitment placement services, primarily focused on identifying and placing mid-to-senior level management candidates with corporate clients. Day-to-day activities include candidate sourcing and screening, client relationship management, job matching, and negotiating placement fees typically earned on successful placements.

CEO
Richard F. Hermanns
Founded
2021
FDD year
2023
States available
42

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$44K – $96K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$0 – $6K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
9.0%
Percentage of Net Cash-In · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
0.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
9.5%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$29K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$24K
Item 19 type
Executive Search Placement and Contract Staffing Information
Sample size
197 units
vs category median 59 · large
Range (low → high)
$196$189K
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
4 / 5
vs category median 0 / 5 · above
Revenue rank4th
vs Business Services - Staffing peers
Investment cost rank21th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank42th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank88th
vs Business Services - Staffing peers
Risk score rank79th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
203
Opened
6
Last reporting year
Closed
49
Turnover rate
24.1%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-17.5%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-23.4%
Compounded over last 3 years
2021
203-43
Franchised units
2022
246
Franchised units
2023
265
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 24 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 24 states
Not registered

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.

Total loans
109
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

71
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION71 / 100

Contracting franchise system with alarming unit decline, undisclosed profitability, extremely low average revenues, unprotected territory, and prior franchisor litigation involving fund mismanagement present high-risk investment profile unsuitable for most investors.

Score breakdown · what drove the 71 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDUnit count declined 17.5% YoY (203 units) indicating system contraction and franchisee viability concerns
  2. 02MINORAverage revenue of $28,940.86 is extremely low for a staffing/recruitment franchise and suggests most units are underperforming
  3. 03MINORNo Item 19 (Net Income) disclosure prevents accurate ROI assessment and raises transparency concerns
  4. 04HIGHPredecessor franchisor litigation history includes $300,000 settlement for encroachment and fund mismanagement—material governance red flag
  5. 05MINORNo territory protection creates direct competition risk and race-to-bottom pricing dynamics among franchisees
  6. 06HIGHGoing Concern status of 'False' suggests franchisor financial instability or restructuring concerns
  7. 07MEDRoyalty structure on disclosed average revenue ($28,940) yields only $2,604 in annual royalties—unit economics appear unsustainable

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Single site non-exclusive
Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
3
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
South Carolina

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
82 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
Applicant Tracking System
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

94 numbers

Locked
(317) 733-••••
IN
(248) 324-••••
MI
(208) 425-••••
ID

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Management Recruiters · FDD (2023) PDF

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