Marigold Academy
Bottom line
- Total investment $847K – $2.4M including a $50K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.5M/year. Estimated payback in 2.5 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100.
- 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 Marigold Academy unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
21%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Marigold Academy units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
29.4%
3.63× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.75×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$9.1M
on $20.2M purchase
Total debt
$11.1M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Marigold Academy franchisees operate early childhood education centers, managing day-to-day curriculum delivery, staff hiring/training, student enrollment, parent communication, and facility operations. Daily responsibilities include classroom supervision, activity planning, regulatory compliance (licensing/safety), and revenue generation through tuition collection from families.
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 · 3 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
Marigold Academy presents CAUTION-to-HIGH RISK due to minimal system validation (2 units only), unprotected territory, going concern status, and insufficient financial disclosure to justify $846k+ entry investment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating
- 01MEDOnly 2 units in system with unknown growth trajectory indicates extremely limited track record and franchisee success validation
- 02HIGHGoing Concern status = False suggests financial viability questions at corporate level
- 03MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk within your market and cannibalization potential
- 04MINORHigh investment range ($846k-$2.4M) against only 2 operating units provides minimal comparable performance data
- 05MINOR7% royalty on $2.5M average revenue = $177.5k/year ongoing cost on already-thin 25.6% net margins
- 06MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representations limits ability to validate franchisee profitability claims
- 07MINORExtremely small franchise system creates survival risk if either existing unit fails
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
3 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Marigold Academy · FDD (2025) PDF