Puffy Cotton Candy
Bottom line
- Total investment $130K – $323K including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $464K/year. Estimated payback in 1.6 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 63/100.
- Emerging franchise — only 2 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 Puffy Cotton Candy unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
18%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Puffy Cotton Candy units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$278K
on $1.4M purchase
Total debt
$1.1M
SBA $0.7M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate small-format cotton candy retail kiosks or storefronts, selling colored sugar-spun confections to walk-in customers. Day-to-day work involves machine operation, flavor preparation, customer service, and inventory management. Revenue model depends entirely on foot traffic density and discretionary spending in the chosen location.
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 · 24 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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Puffy Cotton Candy presents high risk due to pre-growth-stage franchising (only 2 units), unverified financial claims, franchisor going concern issues, and complete lack of standardized performance data.
Score breakdown · what drove the 63 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 2 operating units with unknown growth trajectory indicates minimal system maturity and unproven scalability
- 02HIGHGoing Concern status is False, suggesting financial instability or uncertainty at franchisor level
- 03MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed, making revenue/profit claims unverifiable and unusually risky for prospective franchisees
- 04MINORWide investment range ($129,800–$322,900) suggests undefined buildout costs and potential for scope creep
- 05MINORExtremely small unit count (2 stores) makes financial averages statistically unreliable and vulnerable to single-unit performance swings
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
24 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Puffy Cotton Candy · FDD (2025) PDF