Bottom line
- Total investment $114K – $288K including a $50K franchise fee, 12.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 56/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 loans (below the industry average).
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
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 RIVER POOLS® unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
27%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
River Pools franchisees manufacture and sell fiberglass swimming pool shells, handling production, sales, installation coordination, and customer service. Franchisees operate as regional distributors leveraging the franchisor's proprietary shell designs and manufacturing technology. Day-to-day work involves managing inventory, responding to dealer/contractor inquiries, managing supply chain logistics, and supporting local pool builders and installers.
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 · 22 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 franchise with opaque financial data, atypical royalty calculation, small unit base, and high capital requirements relative to undisclosed profitability metrics.
Score breakdown · what drove the 56 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure (avg revenue and net income not provided) prevents ROI validation
- 02MINORHigh royalty rate of 12% based on manufacturer's listed price (not actual franchisee revenue) creates unclear fee structure and potential margin compression
- 03MINOROnly 17 units with 54.5% YoY growth indicates small, early-stage system vulnerable to unit churn; absolute growth numbers are marginal
- 04MINORHigh initial investment range ($113.7K-$288.2K) with $50K franchise fee lacks transparent payback period or break-even timeline
- 05MINORBroad territory protection claim requires verification—undefined territory size and density thresholds create expansion risk
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
28 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
RIVER POOLS® · FDD (2022) PDF