Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk Franchise Cost & 2025 FDD Data
38/100
Middle tier
38 this brand51 Quick-Service Restaurants medianlikely 23–53: narrower with more SBA loans (low confidence)
Higher is better · an editorial assessment, not investment advice
#2,660 of 3,068 graded brands
Why a C: Helped by legal record and transparency. Held back by scale. See all six factors
- Total investment
- $130K – $214K
- Avg gross sales
- not extracted
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from the FDD filing. Analysis by FranchiseVerdict · Methodology · Website · Report an error · Franchisor? Claim this listing
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2025 FDD
Per the 2025 FDD, a Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk franchise requires a total initial investment of $130K – $214K, including a $40K franchise fee. Once open, the ongoing royalty is 6.0%. The 2025 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. Verdict grade: C (Middle tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice.
Sources: 2025 FDD · What one unit could make and lose →
Limited operating history: franchising since 2024. A system this young has fewer than three years of Item 20 outlet history and rarely enough SBA loans for a charge-off rate, so its grade rests on less evidence than an established system's. Read its Item 20 tables and talk to its first franchisees before relying on the grade.
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: medium (issued 12 to 24 months ago; a newer filing is likely on file)
Evidence for the headline figures: thin✓ 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 4 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
- RETURNSTotal Revenues, expenses, and Net Income for calendar year 2024 for the 1 company-owned outlet open the full year; a second company-owned outlet opened in 2024 but was not open the full year and is excluded. Royalty and Ad Fee are imputed since the company-owned outlet does not actually pay them.
- GROWTHIn the latest Item 20 year, the number of franchised outlets did not change (0 opened, 0 closed).
AT STAKEOne unit at the Item 7 midpoint: $22K a year in payments on assumed SBA 7(a)-style terms.You put in about $34K of your own cash and personally guarantee a $138K loan. Assumptions are labeled in Sales; not investment advice.See what one unit could make and lose
Things to check before you sign (1)
- The franchisor keeps the right to compete inside your territory (Item 12, territory).
Checked and clear: no auditor doubt that the franchisor can keep operating, no lawsuit naming the franchisor in Item 3, no rule that the owner must run it personally and the full filing on file. Not on file here, so ask: unit trend, SBA charge-off rate against the category median, jury-trial waiver and supplier rebates.
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 65% below 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 Puffy Franchise LLC (Item 1: 1800 Galleria Blvd. Suite 2320, Franklin, TN 37067) and your lender what they require, and keep living costs for the first year outside the deal.
Full Item 7 breakdown15 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $40K | $40K | |
| Rent | $3.5K | $7.5K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $50K | $75K | |
| Fixtures & Equipment | $2K | $3K | |
| Initial Inventory | $1.5K | $2.5K | |
| Insurance | $3K | $6K | |
| Signage | $4.5K | $6.5K | |
| Office Equipment & Supplies | $300 | $400 | |
| Computer Equipment (Hardware, Software, POS System, etc.) | $1.5K | $2.5K | |
| Pre-Opening Expenses | $5K | $7.5K | |
| Training | $0 | $4K | |
| Licenses & Permits | $1K | $3K | |
| Legal & Accounting | $2K | $5K | |
| Grand Opening Advertising | $500 | $1.5K | |
| Additional Funds – three months | $15K | $50K | |
| Total initial investment | $130K | $214K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. The total row is the total as printed in Item 7. Actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 6 · what you pay once you are open
Ongoing fees
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross revenues |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross revenues |
| Technology feeWebsite Internet Fee of $200 per month (may increase up to 10% annually) | $200/month |
| Transfer fee | $20,000 |
| Renewal fee | $20,000 |
| Total fee loadbelow the Quick-Service Restaurants median of 7.0% (lean) | 6.0% of sales |
Items 6 (other fees), 7 (startup costs) and 19 (sales and earnings) · assumptions labeled
What you could make and lose: one unit
What one Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk unit would ask of you, from the filing's Item 7 total and labeled assumptions.
How these figures are worked out
- Loan (assumption): 80% of the $172K Item 7 midpoint is a $138K loan, paid over 10 years at 10.5%: $22K 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 $34K Assumption (the part the loan does not cover of the $172K Item 7 midpoint), plus whatever anything Item 7 leaves out (its notes say what). The loan is $138K.
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
No Item 19 gross sales figure for Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk is on file. The return models need one gross sales figure to start from, plus the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions; nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · one unit
What would one Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk unit leave you each year after the loan payment?
Not disclosed in Item 19. Enter your own gross sales assumption
Gross sales, not profit: the costs below decide what is left.
This brand's Item 19 prints cost or operating-income lines that are not on this page yet. Read them in Item 19 and enter them here.
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 $130K to $214K
Item 7's $15K to $50K 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 annual revenue, COGS, labor, rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
Loan of $138K 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.
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 Puffy Franchise LLC
Financial performance
Total Revenues, expenses, and Net Income for calendar year 2024 for the 1 company-owned outlet open the full year; a second company-owned outlet opened in 2024 but was not open the full year and is excluded. Royalty and Ad Fee are imputed since the company-owned outlet does not actually pay them.
Item 19 covers the parent format. The filing's Item 19 groups describe Puffy Cotton Candy, not this format, so they are printed on the Puffy Cotton Candy page.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants medians
How Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk 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.
System figures: see Puffy Cotton Candy
System figures: see Puffy Cotton Candy
Government records
SBA loan data
Matched to this brand from SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan records.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What are the risks?
Main risk in the grade: scale. 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 C: Middle tier, 38/100 (category median 51); the full grade is at the top of the page.
How the grade is built
Why a C, factor by factor
- Financial health NeutralAudited financials; no going-concern doubt
- Unit economics NeutralNo Item 19 sales figure to set against the investment, so neutral
- Unit growth NeutralNo Item 20 trend on file, so neutral
- Scale Weighs on it, weakest dimensionFranchising since 2024; mostly company-owned (0% franchised)
- Legal HelpsNo litigation naming the franchisor in Item 3
- Transparency HelpsItem 19 status not confirmed (neither credit nor penalty); audited financials
From the six scored dimensions, an editorial assessment, not investment advice. How the score is built
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation disclosed.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Metwally CPA PLLC
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
System figures: see Puffy Cotton Candy
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 6.0% 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
| Protected territory | Yes |
|---|---|
| Exclusive territory | No |
| Territory radius | 5 mi |
| Territory population | 200,000 |
| Online sales rights | Reserved by franchisor |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Who runs it (Item 15) | Owner-operator not required |
| Non-compete (years) | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles) | 25 mi |
| Right of first refusal | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 90 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 10 days |
| Curable defaults | 3 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Williamson County, Tennessee |
| Governing law | Tennessee |
Items 5 (initial fees), 7 (startup costs), 12 (territory) and 20 (outlet counts) · development agreement
Area development (several units)
A development fee of $30,000 per unit you commit to. If you miss the schedule, the development agreement can be ended.
Every term, with its page
- Development fee
- $30,000 per unit committed.
2025 FDD p.10
“The Area Development Fee is $30,000 per additional franchise.” - If you miss the schedule
- The development agreement can be ended; you lose the protected development area.
2025 FDD p.43
“If you fail to adhere to the Development Schedule, we may terminate the Area Development Agreement, and all of your territorial rights will be eliminated.” - Signed, not yet open
- 2 franchises sold but not open at year end (Item 20, Table 5; see Growth). Ask how long they have been waiting and why.
Each unit still needs its own Item 7 investment on top of the development fee ($30K times the units you commit to). Have a franchise attorney read the schedule and the default terms before you sign.
Items 10 (financing), 11 (training and support)
Training and operations
- On-the-job training
- 102 hrs
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- Franchisee selects, franchisor approves
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Square POS
- Operating tech stack
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 Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk franchise?
Per the 2025 FDD, the total investment to open a Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk franchise ranges from $130K to $214K, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. 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 Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk franchise owners earn?
No average owner earnings figure for Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk is on file. Item 19, where a franchisor may disclose what its outlets earn, is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and we have not established what this brand's FDD says. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk?
Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk is franchised by Puffy Franchise LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2025 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk 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 Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk's franchise failure rate?
There is no published franchise failure rate, and Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk 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.
Is Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict gives Puffy Cotton Candy Kiosk a C Verdict grade (Middle tier) with a verdict score of 38 out of 100 (higher is better), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Helped by legal record (no litigation naming the franchisor in Item 3) and transparency. Held back by scale (franchising since 2024). The “Why a C” 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.