Proteinhouse Franchise Cost & 2025 FDD Data
51/100
Second tier
51 this brand51 Quick-Service Restaurants medianlikely 45–57: narrower with more SBA loans (high confidence)
Higher is better · an editorial assessment, not investment advice
#1,641 of 3,068 graded brands
Why a B: Helped by transparency. Held back by financial health, scale and legal record. See all six factors
- Total investment
- $504K – $846K
- Avg gross sales
- $1.7M
- 11 Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY outlets, 2024; not profit
- SBA charge-off
- 1 resolved of 8 loans: too few to judge
Data from the FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records. Analysis by FranchiseVerdict · Methodology · Website · Report an error · Franchisor? Claim this listing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2025 FDD
Per the 2025 FDD, a Proteinhouse franchise requires a total initial investment of $504K – $846K, including a $50K franchise fee. Once open, the ongoing royalty is 4.0%. Per the 2025 FDD, average gross sales were $1.7M (Item 19: 11 Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY outlets, 2024; gross sales, not profit). Verdict grade: B (Second tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice.
Sources: 2025 FDD · What one unit could make and lose →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium (issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file)
Evidence for the headline figures: partial✓ 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 scored8 of 8 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
Quick verdict · vs Quick-Service Restaurants median
Top edge: green = better than the Quick-Service Restaurants median by more than 10%, red = worse by more than 10%, gray = within 10% or no benchmark. Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a).
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Methodology
Bottom line
- RETURNSAverage gross sales of $1.7M/year (outlet median $1.4M; Item 19: 11 Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY outlets, 2024; gross sales, not profit).
- GROWTHIn the latest Item 20 year, the number of franchised outlets grew by 2 (2 opened, 0 closed).
AT STAKEOne unit at the Item 7 midpoint: $87K a year in payments on assumed SBA 7(a)-style terms.You put in about $135K of your own cash and personally guarantee a $540K loan. Assumptions are labeled in Sales; not investment advice.See what one unit could make and lose
Things to check before you sign (3)
- The franchisor keeps the right to compete inside your territory (Item 12, territory).
- The franchisor receives rebates or payments from suppliers you buy from (Item 8, required suppliers).
- Item 15 (owner participation) requires the owner, or a principal the franchisor approves, to run the business day to day. Ask how much of the business that principal must own.
Checked and clear: no auditor doubt that the franchisor can keep operating, no net loss of franchised outlets in the latest Item 20 years, no pending lawsuit naming the franchisor and the full filing on file, and an Item 19 average from 11 units. Not on file here, so ask: SBA charge-off rate against the category median and jury-trial waiver.
What to do next
Step 1: Read the FDD itself.
Free: the franchisor must give it to you at least 14 days before you sign or pay. Or look it up in a state registry (Wisconsin, Minnesota, California). What to read first.
Step 2: Talk to current and former owners.
Free: Item 20 of the FDD lists every current owner and those who left last year, most with a phone number. Questions to ask.
Step 3: Talk to an SBA lender.
Free: the SBA's Lender Match. Ask what you would personally guarantee and what the monthly payment would be. If you plan to use retirement savings, ask a CPA about the rules for that first.
Step 4: Have a franchise attorney review the FDD and agreement.
Free: your state bar's lawyer referral service can name franchise lawyers, and many offer a short first consultation. Bring the checks listed above.
Research steps, not investment or legal advice.
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost (the Item 7 midpoint) is 39% above the Quick-Service Restaurants median ($487K).
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7 (fees and startup costs)
Do you qualify? The filing states no minimum net worth or liquid capital. Ask ProteinHouse Franchising, LLC (Item 1: 4965 Blue Diamond Road, Suite 100, Las Vegas, NV 89139) and your lender what they require, and keep living costs for the first year outside the deal.
FDD Item 7 (startup costs) · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $50K | $50K |
| Working capital (first 3 months) | $25K | $40K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $429K | $756K |
| Total initial investment | $504K | $846K |
Source: Proteinhouse 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 6 · what you pay once you are open
Ongoing fees
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fundBrand-wide marketing pool. 1% of monthly Gross Sales, not to exceed $1,000/month (Brand Fund Fee) | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology feePOS system fee, supplier's then-current fee, currently $460/month for two terminals | $460/month |
| Training feeAdditional training charge listed in Item 6 | $3,500 |
| Renewal fee | $5,000 |
| Total fee loadbelow the Quick-Service Restaurants median of 7.0% (lean) | 5.0% of sales |
A 5.0% total fee load is below the Quick-Service Restaurants median of 7.0% (lean). More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average gross sales are 80% above the Quick-Service Restaurants median ($950K).
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19 (sales and earnings)
Items 6 (other fees), 7 (startup costs) and 19 (sales and earnings) · assumptions labeled
What you could make and lose: one unit
What one Proteinhouse unit would ask of you, from the filing's Item 7 total and labeled assumptions.
Average gross sales are $1.7M (FDD p.49), and the royalty and ad fund take about $85K of that a year (Item 6). Seeded from this brand's Item 19. Lines the filing does not print stay for you to fill in. So this box does not estimate a profit. To cover the loan payment alone, one unit has to clear $87K a year after its food, labor, rent and other costs and the franchisor's fees.
How these figures are worked out
- Loan (assumption): 80% of the $675K Item 7 midpoint is a $540K loan, paid over 10 years at 10.5%: $87K a year. SBA 7(a)-style terms on a long-term rate; your lender sets yours.
What you put at risk
Your own cash in: about $135K Assumption (the part the loan does not cover of the $675K Item 7 midpoint), plus whatever anything Item 7 leaves out (its notes say what). The loan is $540K.
Personal guarantee. SBA 7(a) loans require a personal guarantee from anyone who owns 20% or more of the business. If the unit cannot pay, the lender can collect from you personally, which can include your savings and your home. The worst case is losing the cash you put in and still owing the rest of the loan.
Gross sales are not profit, and none of these figures is take-home pay until tax and every operating cost are paid. The assumptions are ours, not the filing's. Not investment advice.
Returns modelOne unit · several units · editable
One unit
One unit: what is left after the loan payment
Gross sales, minus the franchisor's fees and the operating costs, is the unit's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). Minus an assumed loan payment, that is what is left for you, before tax. Gross sales are not profit.
Seeded from this brand's Item 19 (Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY2024), FDD page 49. Lines the filing does not print stay for you to fill in. Invested capital is the Item 7 total, which already includes its working-capital (additional funds) line.
Returns model · one unit
What would one Proteinhouse unit leave you each year after the loan payment?
Item 19: $1,709,592 average for 11 outlets (Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY2024). Use a figure for outlets like yours if yours differ.
Gross sales, not profit: the costs below decide what is left.
Item 6, as stored, a year. A fixed fee, so it comes off EBITDA as dollars, not a share of sales.
Seeded from this brand's Item 19 (Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY2024), FDD page 49. Lines the filing does not print stay for you to fill 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.
Item 7 midpoint of $504K to $846K
Item 7's $25K to $40K additional funds are already in the total
Left after the loan payment · per year
The unit's EBITDA minus the assumed loan payment. Before tax, depreciation and any cost your inputs leave out (insurance, accounting and legal, licenses, technology fees): not take-home pay.
Gross sales are not profit. Neither the filing nor a stated assumption on this page supplies rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
Loan of $540K at 10.5% over 10 years, an assumption, not a quote. Return and payback are before tax, depreciation and the costs above. The loan usually needs your personal guarantee.
Buying several existing units? The acquisition scenario
Buying several units
What buying a few existing units could return
Prices an existing operator of a few units off the single-unit EBITDA above, after shared services, and finances it with an SBA 7(a) loan, a conventional loan and a seller note. It shows the yearly return on your cash (IRR), whether year-1 earnings cover the loan payments (DSCR) and how the price is paid for. It starts at 5 units; every deal term is an assumption you can change, and none is from the FDD.
Not modelled yet
Gross sales are not profit. Neither the filing nor a stated assumption on this page supplies rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
This scenario starts from a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in the one-unit model above and it runs on that figure, or take it to the full ROI workbench, where the multi-unit and acquisition models accept your own per-unit economics.
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: 2025 FDD · filed by ProteinHouse Franchising, LLC
Financial performance
- Range (low → high)
- $912K→$3.8MSource: 2025 FDD, page 49
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
Percentile ranks within Quick-Service Restaurants
Each rank is among the Quick-Service Restaurants brands that report that figure (the count is under each bar).
Item 19 · 4 groups · FDD p.49
Item 19 by group
The 2025 filing reports gross sales for 4 groups of outlets. The headline average on this page is the “Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY2024” group (11).
| Group | n | Average | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY2024headline above | 11 | $1.7M | $1.4M |
| Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY2023 | 9 | $1.6M | $1.2M |
| Affiliate-Owned Cafés FY2024 | 2 | $2.5M | |
| Affiliate-Owned Cafés FY2023 | 2 | $1.9M |
Costs and profit, as the filing prints them
The cost lines for 4 groups (FDD pp.49, 49)
| Line, as the filing names it | Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY2024n=11 | Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY2023n=9 |
|---|---|---|
| Average gross sales | $1.7M | $1.6M |
| % of Labor Costs | 33.18% | 32.89% |
| Cost of Goods Sold | 33.73% | 33.44% |
| Line, as the filing names it | Affiliate-Owned Cafés FY2024n=2 | Affiliate-Owned Cafés FY2023n=2 |
|---|---|---|
| Average gross sales | $2.5M | $1.9M |
| % of Labor Costs | 24.50% | 27.00% |
| Cost of Goods Sold | 34.00% | 34.50% |
vs Quick-Service Restaurants medians
How Proteinhouse compares
Category median of published Quick-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.
Who are you contracting with?
ProteinHouse Franchising, LLC.
Item 21 (audited financials) · audited statements · 2025 FDD
The franchisor's own finances
The franchisor paid out about 106% of its latest net income as dividends, and related companies owe it $158K, 29% of its assets. A franchisor that keeps little of its own profit has less of a cushion if the system has a bad year; ask how support and the ad fund are funded.
The figures, with their pages
- Net income
- $350Klatest year · FDD Item 21
- Dividends paid
- $372K106% of net income (our arithmetic) · FDD p.165
- Owed by related companies
- $158K29% of total assets (our arithmetic) · FDD p.163
- Total assets
- $543KFDD Item 21
- Equity
- -$329KFDD Item 21
Item 1 (the franchisor) · who you're contracting with
The franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- ProteinHouse Franchising, LLC
- CEO title
- Founder and Member (CEO of affiliate LRAB, LLC)
- Larissa Reis
- Incorporated in
- NV
- HQ
- 4965 Blue Diamond Road, Suite 100, Las Vegas, NV 89139
- Auditor
- Velez Hardy CPAs and Advisors
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $1.1M
- latest fiscal year in the 2025 FDD; $778K the year before
Overview
About
Fast-casual restaurants ("Cafés") offering a menu of healthy food items made with high-quality ingredients, operated under the ProteinHouse® Marks.
- CEO
- Larissa Reis
- States and territories listed
- 11
- registered or offered in, as the filing lists them (DC and territories included); not where units may open
Is the system healthy?
+4 franchised outlets over the two years to 2024 (9 to 13).
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20 (outlets opened, closed and transferred)
Item 20 (outlet counts) · unit dynamics
The growth chart
- Company-owned
- 2
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 87%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 rates and pipeline
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 3
- 0.20 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 6
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Item 20 · franchised units at year end
Franchised units rose from 9 in 2022 to 13 in 2024
Axis does not start at zero.
Source and method
Government records
SBA loan data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 8 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Loans on file
- 8
- SBA 7(a) loans matched to this brand, incl. those still being repaid
- Loan volume
- $5.3M
- Average loan
- $664K
- loan volume divided by loans
- Charge-off rate
- 1 resolved of 8 loans: too few to judge
- Insufficient SBA coverage: 8 loans, rate hidden below 10
- Paid in full
- 1 resolved of 8 loans: too few to judge
- Recent-loan charge-off
- 1 resolved of 8 loans: too few to judge
- Lenders
- 6
Cumulative: every 7(a) loan matched to this brand in the SBA’s FOIA files, approved FY1991 onward. Historical lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
What are the risks?
Main risk in the grade: financial health, then scale and legal. The reasons are below.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Verdict grade + FDD Items 3 (litigation), 4 (bankruptcy), 8 (required suppliers), 16 (what you may sell), 21 (audited financials)
Risk and legal
Grade B: Second tier, 51/100 (category median 51); the full grade is at the top of the page.
How the grade is built
Why a B, factor by factor
- Financial health Weighs on it, weakest dimensionAudited financials; no going-concern doubt; franchisor net income positive; negative net worth; dividends paid equal to 106% of net income; 29% of its assets are owed to it by related companies (Item 21; shown, not scored)
- Unit economics NeutralAvg gross sales $1.7M on a $675K investment midpoint, 2.5x (gross sales, not profit)
- Unit growth Neutral+4 franchised outlets over the two years to 2024 (9 to 13); growth is not graded below a 10-outlet starting base; turnover 0.0%
- Scale Weighs on it13 franchised units, +2 company-owned (15 in all); franchising since 2015
- Legal Weighs on it1 matter naming the franchisor among the Item 3 matters we list (6.7 per 100 outlets)
- Transparency HelpsItem 19 discloses financial performance; audited financials
From the six scored dimensions, an editorial assessment, not investment advice. How the score is built
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: the franchisor is a named party (plaintiff).
ProteinHouse Franchising, LLC v. Eat Strong, LLC et al. (D. Nev., Case No. 2:18-cv-00938) — franchisor sued former franchisee for post-termination breach (non-compete, Marks use, confidential info) and Lanham Act violations; settled Oct. 2018 with franchisee paying $250,000 termination payment; case dismissed with prejudice.
Largest disclosed settlement in the franchisor's own cases: $250,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Velez Hardy CPAs and Advisors
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
Ask what the franchisor earns on the supplies it sells you or the rebates it takes (Item 8).
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Franchisor takes supplier rebates: Yes
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: Yes
Litigation case detail1 matter · Item 3
Litigation cases
The franchisor
Concluded (1)
ProteinHouse Franchising, LLC v. Eat Strong, LLC, Dante J. Esquibel, Rylee L. Gehrke, Gary M. Stoddard, and Terri L. Stoddard
settledBrought against a franchisee · filed 2018-05-22 · U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada · 2:18-cv-00938
“… In the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, Case No. 2:18-cv-00938.”Page 10 of the 2025 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “Eat Strong also agreed to pay us a total of $250,000 as a termination payment, secured by a confession of judgment. We and Eat Strong agreed to release one another and dismiss the lawsuit.” (page 11)
Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 5.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before your own operating costs.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12 (territory), 15 (owner participation) and 17 (renewal, termination and disputes)
Contract and territory detail
| Allowed renewals | 2 |
|---|---|
| Protected territory | Yes, on conditions |
| Territory condition | Protected Area is generally a 3-mile radius from the Café's front door (may be reduced to less than 1 mile in densely-populated areas; no Protected Area at Non-Traditional Locations); not exclusive - franchisor retains broad rights to compete via other channels, brands, non-traditional locations, and food trucks within the area. |
| Exclusive territory | No |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Who runs it (Item 15) | The owner, or a principal the franchisor approves, must run it |
| Non-compete (years) | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles) | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusal | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination grounds | 25 |
| Curable defaults | 6 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Clark County, Nevada (American Arbitration Association) |
Items 10 (financing), 11 (training and support)
Training and operations
- Classroom training
- 35 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 64 hrs
- Training location
- Las Vegas, Nevada (affiliate Café) and franchisee's own Café
- Site selection
- franchisee
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
Items 5 (initial fees) & 11 (training and support)
Franchisor support
Franchisee contacts
We hold no owner list for this brand. Item 20 of the FDD lists the current and former owners; the free FDD is the source.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to open a Proteinhouse franchise?
Per the 2025 FDD, the total investment to open a Proteinhouse franchise ranges from $504K to $846K, with an initial franchise fee of $50K. This is the Item 7 total in the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD): the startup costs the franchisor lists, such as build-out, equipment, inventory and working capital. It usually leaves out buying land or a building; Item 7's notes say what is excluded.
What do Proteinhouse franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Proteinhouse FDD, average gross sales were $1.7M (11 Franchisee-Owned Cafés FY outlets, 2024; gross sales, not profit). The median is $1.4M. What an owner keeps depends on location, operating costs and management.
Who owns Proteinhouse?
Proteinhouse is franchised by ProteinHouse Franchising, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Proteinhouse 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 Proteinhouse FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Proteinhouse's franchise failure rate?
There is no published franchise failure rate, and Proteinhouse has too few resolved SBA 7(a) loans on file (fewer than 10) to show an SBA charge-off rate that would mean anything. The SBA charge-off rate is the share of a brand's resolved SBA 7(a) loans to its franchisees that the SBA wrote off, including purchased guarantees. Resolved means paid in full or charged off; active loans are excluded because their outcome is not yet known. It is a lending outcome, not a count of closed businesses. Review the turnover and closure figures in Item 20 of the FDD and speak with current and former franchisees.
How many Proteinhouse franchise locations are there?
Per the 2025 FDD, Proteinhouse has 13 franchised units and 2 company-owned (15 in all). In the latest year, the number of franchised outlets grew by 2 (2 opened, 0 closed).
Is Proteinhouse a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict gives Proteinhouse a B Verdict grade (Second tier) with a verdict score of 51 out of 100 (higher is better), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Helped by transparency. Held back by financial health (audited financials), scale (13 franchised units, +2 company-owned: 15 in all) and legal record (1 matter naming the franchisor among the Item 3 matters we list: 6.7 per 100 outlets). The “Why a B” section on this page lists all six dimensions and any adjustment. Speak with current franchisees before making any investment decision.
Other Quick-Service Restaurants franchises
Similar investment first, then by grade
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.