Bottom line
- Total investment $2K – $12K including a $735 franchise fee, 20.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100.
- System growing at 15.2% CAGR over 3 years with 153 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
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 REAL PRODUCERS unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
0%
Negative
Overview
About
Real Producers franchisees typically publish local community/business magazines or digital publications, generating revenue through advertising sales and subscriptions. Day-to-day operations include editorial content sourcing, advertiser relationship management, production/distribution logistics, and circulation growth. Revenue depends entirely on advertising volume and rates, which franchisees must negotiate and secure in their assigned markets.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 39 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
Non-transparent financial reporting, regulatory compliance issues, unorthodox royalty structure, and territorial vulnerability create moderate-to-high execution risk despite low entry cost.
Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents realistic ROI assessment
- 02HIGHRegulatory litigation involving affiliate for illegal franchise sales in two states signals compliance issues within corporate structure
- 03MINOR20% royalty on advertising value is unusual metric—difficult to audit and creates earnings ambiguity vs. standard % of gross revenue
- 04MINOROnly 14.3% YoY unit growth with 153 total units suggests flat/stagnating system
- 05MINORNo protected territory creates direct competition risk between franchisees within same market
- 06MINORLow franchise fee ($735) relative to total investment range ($1,925-$11,910) indicates unclear cost breakdown and potential hidden expenses
- 07MINORShort 3-year term with no renewal protections limits franchisee security and recoupment window
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
REAL PRODUCERS · FDD (2025) PDF