FranchiseVerdict
Pizza Ranch logo
FV-01971·STRONGExcellent95

Pizza Ranch

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 1984Website
Investment
$2.1M – $4.9M
97th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
$1.6M
35th pct Full Service
Royalty
Units
218
90th pct Full Service
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $2.1M – $4.9M including a $30K franchise fee.
  • Average unit revenue of $1.6M/year (median $1.9M). Estimated payback in 12.0 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 174 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Pizza Ranch, Inc.
Incorporated in
Iowa
HQ
204 19th Street SE, Orange City, IA 51041
Auditor
King, Reinsch, Prosser & Co., L.L.P.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$27.0M
vs $29.9M 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 Pizza Ranch unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,647,109
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: $2.1M–$4.9M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$20K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

7%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$243K
EBITDA margin
14.8%
Total invested
$3.5M
Payback
174 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.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 Pizza Ranch units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

38.5%

5.09× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

2.17×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$3.9M

on $12.8M purchase

Total debt

$8.8M

SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note

SBA 7(a) request ($6.4M) exceeds the $5M program cap. Excess capped automatically; backfill via conventional or equity.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate casual-dining pizza restaurants featuring buffet and carry-out service, typically in Midwest small-to-mid-sized markets. Day-to-day operations include managing 30–80 employees, running buffet lines, kitchen production, front-of-house service, inventory/food cost control, and local marketing to drive dine-in and delivery revenue.

CEO
Adrie Groeneweg
Founded
1984
FDD year
2025
States available
14

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$2.1M – $4.9M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $20K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
Greater of $500 or 3.5% of Gross Revenues per month
Ad fund
2.3%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
5.8%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
12.0 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1.6M
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1.9M
Item 19 type
Gross Sales and EBITDA
Sample size
212 units
vs category median 15 · large
Range (low → high)
$278K$5.5M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
10 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank35th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Investment cost rank97th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank93th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank90th
vs Food & Beverage - Full Service peers
Risk score rank18th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
218
Opened
6
Last reporting year
Closed
6
Turnover rate
2.8%
Company-owned
6
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
97%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+0.0%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+3.4%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
212±0
Franchised units
2024
212
Franchised units
2025
205
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 6 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 · 6 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
174
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

52
Risk · 0-100
STRONG52 / 100

Pizza Ranch presents moderate-to-cautious risk: high capital requirements, opaque unit economics (no Item 19), stagnant unit growth, and thin margins in a challenged segment warrant deep validation before commitment.

Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORHigh initial investment ($2.1M–$4.9M) with modest average net income ($292,974) yields 6–16% annual ROI — below typical franchise benchmarks
  2. 02MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representation — cannot verify if $1.65M average revenue and $293K net income are achievable or representative
  3. 03MINORUnit count stagnation — 218 units with 'unknown growth' suggests flat or declining system; no disclosure of unit openings/closures raises accountability concerns
  4. 04MINORSubstantial monthly royalty burden ($500 minimum + 3.5%) on $1.65M average revenue equals ~$57,640–$65,000 annually (3.5–3.9% of gross), limiting franchisee profitability
  5. 05MEDCasual dining category experiencing secular headwinds — pizza and family dining face traffic pressures; no evidence of digital/delivery strength to offset dine-in decline

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, population density, or political boundaries
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 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
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Iowa

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
30 hrs
On-the-job training
400 hrs
POS system
Revel Systems
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

100 numbers

Locked
(563) 382-••••
IA
(515) 961-••••
IA
(319) 337-••••
IA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Pizza Ranch · FDD (2025) PDF

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