Pizza World Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $139K – $287K
- Disclosed sales
- not disclosed
- SBA charge-off
- Under 10 loans (5)
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Pizza World is a pizza franchise serving pizza and related menu items for dine-in and takeout. Franchisees run the restaurants, managing food prep, staffing, and service.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Pizza World franchise requires a total initial investment of $139K – $287K, including a $15K – $20K franchise fee and an ongoing 2.8% royalty[2]. This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: high - issued more than two years ago
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored4 of 5 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing; the rest are marked “Not cited” beside the figure.
Overview
- Investment
- $139K – $287K
- 5th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- N/A
- Royalty
- 2.8%
- 1st pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 9
- 12th 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 median · 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 $139K – $287K including a $15K franchise fee, 2.8% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSThis franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that.
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 54/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHFlat: no net change in franchised outlets in the latest year (0 opened, 0 closed) (Item 20).
- DATAThis franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Pizza World USA Franchise Corp.
- Ultimate parent
- Pizza World USA, Inc.
- FDD Item 1, page 7 of the 2024 FDD
- CEO title
- Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President
- Eric Wortham
- Founder active
- Yes
- Original founder still leading the business
- Incorporated in
- MO
- HQ
- 3400 W. Highway 76, Branson, MO 65616
- Auditor
- Jeremy Plank, CFE, CPA, Forensic Accounting & Consulting Services, Inc.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $102K
- vs $116K prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Eric Wortham
- Headquarters
- MO
- Founded
- 2001
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 4
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 69% below the typical full-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 5–7
Full Item 7 breakdown12 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee (Store Front)not refundable | $20K | $20K | |
| Travel and Living Expenses While Training (Store Front) | $2K | $6K | |
| Real Estate Rent Deposits and Pre-Paid Expenses (3 months, Store Front) | $3K | $8K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures, Equipment and Decor (Store Front) | $40K | $93K | |
| Construction of Leasehold Improvements (Store Front) | $25K | $75K | |
| Inventory and Supplies (Store Front) | $6K | $8K | |
| Insurance (3 months) / Business Licenses and Permits (Store Front) | $2K | $4K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising (Store Front) | $3K | $6K | |
| Computer, Software, POS and Office Supplies (Store Front) | $5K | $5K | |
| Signage (Store Front) | $4K | $7K | |
| Accountant and Attorney Fees (Store Front) | $3K | $5K | |
| Additional Funds (3 Months) (Store Front) | $27K | $50K | |
| Total initial investment | $139K | $287K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $139K – $287K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $27K – $50K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $15K – $20K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 2.8%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 0.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 4.8%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 2.8% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 0.0% |
| Transfer fee | $5K |
| Renewal fee | $3K |
| Inventory (initial) | $6K – $8K |
| Total fee load | 4.8% of rev |
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
Pizza World makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD - a voluntary item under the FTC Franchise Rule - so no unit revenue figures are disclosed. The return models need a revenue figure to start from, and the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit are in no FDD. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions — nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Pizza World unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for annual revenue, COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
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: 2024 FDD
Financial Performance
No financial performance representation
This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that.
Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
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 4.8% — below the Full-Service Restaurants median of 7.0%.
Disclosure
This franchisor makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD. Item 19 is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and this filing states that it makes none, so no revenue or earnings figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Operator retention
System shrank 10.0% over 3 years. Ask existing franchisees about local market conditions.
Multi-unit rate
Only 18% of franchisees own multiple units. Could indicate challenging economics or a young system where operators haven't had time to expand.
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 medians
How Pizza World Compares
Category median of published Full-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 9
- Opened
- 0
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 18.2%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- -10.0%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- -10.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- 0.00 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 4
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
- Continuity rate
- 100.0%
- Units that stayed open
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 12 · 4 states 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.
4
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
3 current owners across 2 states.
- MO 2
- IL 1
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 5 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 5
- Loan volume
- $1.3M
- Median loan
- $262K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- Under 10 loans (5)
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 5 loans, rate hidden below 10
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Under 10 loans (5)
- 5-yr charge-off
- Under 10 loans (5)
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 3
- Defaults
- N/A
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
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
Pizza World presents caution-level risk due to severe lack of financial transparency, minimal system size, and undisclosed growth trajectory that prevent meaningful ROI validation.
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Jeremy Plank, CFE, CPA, Forensic Accounting & Consulting Services, Inc.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Audited financial statements in Exhibit C are scanned images with no machine-readable figures, so balance sheet items (assets/liabilities/equity/net income) and the auditor/CPA firm name could not be extracted. The only audited figure available in the text is total revenue of $102,007, disclosed in the Item 6 footnote on the marketing/buying rebate ("This was 0% of our total revenue of $102,007, as reported in our most recent audited financial statements"). Whole dollars; franchisor Pizza World USA Franchise Corp. (Missouri).
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 verdict
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Revenue/Net Income) disclosed - unable to validate ROI or profitability claims
- 02MINOROnly 9 units systemwide - extremely small franchise network raises sustainability and support infrastructure concerns
- 03MEDNo disclosed unit growth history - unclear if system is expanding, stagnant, or contracting
- 04MINORFinancial performance metrics completely absent - cannot assess if franchise fee and royalties are justified by returns
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 4.8% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Territory type | Exclusive territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | Yes |
| Territory radius | 2 mi |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 1 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | St. Louis County, Missouri |
| Jury trial waiver | No |
| Governing law | MO |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 27 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 57 hrs
- Training location
- Granite City, IL or Branson, MO or location chosen by franchisor
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Time to open
- 6 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisee with franchisor approval
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- FoodTec Solutions
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: FoodTec Solutions
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
3 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Pizza World franchise?
The total investment to open a Pizza World franchise ranges from $139K – $287K, with an initial franchise fee of $15K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Pizza World franchise owners earn?
Pizza World makes no financial performance representation in Item 19 of its FDD - a voluntary item under the FTC Franchise Rule - so no unit revenue figures are disclosed. Declining to publish one is lawful and is not evidence of how the outlets perform. It does mean that less about this brand can be verified from its filing, and the FranchiseVerdict grade - an editorial assessment, not investment advice - reflects that. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Pizza World?
Pizza World is franchised by Pizza World USA Franchise Corp.. The ultimate parent named in the FDD is Pizza World USA, Inc.. Source: FDD Item 1, 2024 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Pizza World 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 Pizza World FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Pizza World's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Pizza World (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 Pizza World franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Pizza World has 9 total units in the United States, including 9 franchised units and 0 company-owned units.
Is Pizza World a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Pizza World as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 54 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. 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 Pizza World, 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.