Bottom line
- Total investment $98K – $123K including a $50K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $700K/year. Estimated payback in 0.6 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 26 loans (below the industry average).
- Emerging franchise — only 3 years of franchising with 2 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
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 Puddle Pool Services unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
77%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Puddle Pool Services units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$980K
on $4.9M purchase
Total debt
$3.9M
SBA $2.5M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate residential and/or commercial pool maintenance services, including weekly cleaning, chemical balancing, equipment repair, and seasonal opening/closing. Day-to-day work involves customer scheduling, on-site service delivery, inventory management, and potentially managing subcontractors or additional service technicians within their protected territory.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 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).
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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Early-stage pool services franchisor with micro unit count, undisclosed growth, unverified financial claims, and franchisor-level going concern issues presents elevated risk despite moderate investment size.
Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 2 units in system with unknown growth trajectory suggests early-stage or stalled expansion
- 02HIGHGoing Concern flag (False status) indicates potential financial instability or reporting issues at franchisor level
- 03MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot independently verify $700K average revenue claims
- 04MINORRoyalty structure ($600/month minimum) represents 10.3% of claimed average net income, creating cash flow pressure
- 05MINORHigh franchise fee ($49,500) relative to tiny unit count raises sustainability concerns for franchisor support infrastructure
- 06MINORProtected territory language vague — unclear how exclusivity is defined or enforced with only 2 locations
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
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
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Puddle Pool Services · FDD (2025) PDF