FranchiseVerdict
Original Rainbow Cone logo
FV-01844·MODERATEStandard76

Original Rainbow Cone

Food & Beverage - Ice Cream & DessertsFranchising since 2019Website
Investment
$205K – $3.2M
37th pct Ice Cream & D…
Avg revenue
59th pct Ice Cream & D…
Royalty
6.0%
27th pct Ice Cream & D…
Units
25
54th pct Ice Cream & D…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $205K – $3.2M including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 4 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Five Flavors Franchising LLC
Incorporated in
Illinois
HQ
7075 Veterans Blvd., Burr Ridge, IL 60527
Auditor
R.J. Augustine & Associates, Ltd.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$582K
vs $741K 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 Original Rainbow Cone unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $205K–$3.2M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $15K–$75K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

4%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$75K
EBITDA margin
10.0%
Total invested
$1.8M
Payback
281 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

Franchisees operate ice cream and frozen dessert retail locations, likely counter-service model. Day-to-day operations include inventory management, point-of-sale transactions, staff scheduling, food preparation/serving, and local marketing to drive walk-in traffic.

CEO
Mike Buonavolanto
Founded
2018
FDD year
2025
States available
6

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$205K – $3.2M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$15K – $75K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
6.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
25
Opened
4
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
19
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
24%
vs corporate-owned
Multi-unit owners
9.1%
Net growth (yr3)
+200.0%
Net unit change last year
2023
6+9
Franchised units
2024
2
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 5 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 · 5 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
4
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

62
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE62 / 100

Early-stage, rapidly expanding franchise with undisclosed unit economics, franchisor financial concerns, and extreme growth metrics that prioritize recruitment over proven profitability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 financial disclosure (average revenue/net income not disclosed) — impossible to validate ROI claims
  2. 02MINORExtreme unit growth of 200% YoY is unsustainable and suggests aggressive recruitment over profitability focus
  3. 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, indicating potential financial instability at franchisor level
  4. 04MINORWide investment range ($205K–$3.2M) with no clarity on what drives 15x cost variance or unit economics
  5. 05MEDOnly 25 total units suggests early-stage system with limited track record and higher failure risk
  6. 06HIGHNo litigation disclosed, but combined with lack of financial transparency, raises opacity concerns

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius or Population
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
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Illinois

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
0 hrs
On-the-job training
135 hrs
POS system
Toast
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

6 numbers

Locked
(708) 749-••••
Carlo Buonavolanto
IL
(941) 227-••••
Erica Campbell Laflin LLC
FL
(518) 473-••••
NY

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Original Rainbow Cone · FDD (2025) PDF

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