FranchiseVerdict
Pod Plug logo
FV-01992·CAUTIONExcellent86

Pod Plug

RetailFranchising since 2025Website
Investment
$52K – $106K
6th pct Retail
Avg revenue
$1K
0th pct Retail
Royalty
8.0%
67th pct Retail
Units
1
2nd pct Retail
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $52K – $106K including a $35K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $1K/year (median $1K).
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 77/100.
  • Emerging franchise — only 1 year of franchising with 1 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Pod Plug Franchising, LLC
Parent company
Pod Plug, Inc.
Incorporated in
Texas
HQ
220 S. Sylvania Avenue, Suite 106, Fort Worth, Texas 76111

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 Pod Plug unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $1,162
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: retail
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $52K–$106K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $8K–$10K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

0%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$76
EBITDA margin
6.5%
Total invested
$88K
Payback
13949 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

Pod Plug franchisees appear to operate compact pod-based service locations (likely self-storage, laundry, mail services, or similar modular retail). Day-to-day activities likely include customer service, maintenance of pod units, payment processing, and potentially restocking or cleaning, though the specific service model is unclear from available data.

CEO
Ethan Kohan
Founded
2024
FDD year
2025
States available
1

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$52K – $106K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$8K – $10K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$35K
Royalty
8.0%
Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
0.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
20.5%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
Effectively never
Investment too high vs revenue to recover

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$1K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$1K
Item 19 type
Average and Median Monthly Gross Revenue, Gross Margin, and Net Margin per Active Machine
Sample size
83 units
vs category median 52
Range (low → high)
$200$5K
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
9 / 5
vs category median 3 / 5 · above
Revenue rank0th
vs Retail peers
Investment cost rank6th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank67th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank2th
vs Retail peers
Risk score rank97th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
1
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
2023
0±0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 14 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 · 14 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.

No SBA loan data available for this brand.

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

Risk & Legal

77
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION77 / 100

Pod Plug is a non-scaling, financially unstable franchise system with a single unit of questionable profitability, no clear franchisor financial backing, and severely inadequate income projections.

Score breakdown · what drove the 77 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINOROnly 1 franchised unit with unknown growth trajectory indicates system is not scaling and may be pre-revenue or failing to attract franchisees
  2. 02HIGHGoing Concern = False suggests franchisor financial instability or inability to support franchisee operations long-term
  3. 03MINORReported average net income of $587.11 is implausibly low (potentially $587.11/month = $7,046/year after 8% royalties), indicating either severely underperforming unit(s) or unreliable financial reporting
  4. 04MINORNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) despite providing revenue/income figures creates legal exposure and suggests cherry-picked or unaudited data
  5. 05MINORZero franchise fee with $52k-$105k investment is unusual; unclear what initial capital actually funds or if franchisor has financial incentive to support franchisees
  6. 06MINOR10-year term with only 1 unit suggests franchisor lacks confidence to offer shorter commitments or has difficulty retaining franchisees

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Geographic area defined by streets, highway boundaries, zip codes, or other boundaries
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
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Texas

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
20 hrs
On-the-job training
12 hrs
POS system
QuickBooks Online
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

16 numbers

Locked
(804) 371-••••
VA
(701) 224-••••
ND
(605) 773-••••
SD

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Pod Plug · FDD (2025) PDF

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