Bottom line
- Total investment $685K – $945K including a $30K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $212K/year. Estimated payback in 27.4 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 23 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 Salad Spot™ unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
3%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Salad Spot™ units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$254K
on $1.3M purchase
Total debt
$1.0M
SBA $0.6M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Salad Spot franchisees operate fast-casual restaurants focused on customizable salad bowls and healthy prepared foods. Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, point-of-sale transactions, staff scheduling, and customer service in a quick-service environment.
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 · 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
Extremely high capital requirement relative to modest unit economics, unproven system viability with only one location, and zero territorial protection create substantial downside risk with decade-plus breakeven timelines.
Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 1 unit in system with unknown growth trajectory indicates either new/unproven concept or failing system
- 02MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk and cannibalization of sales
- 03MINORPayback period exceeds 23 years ($684,800 investment ÷ $29,740 net income) even at best-case scenario
- 04MINOR8% royalty on modest $211,593 average revenue leaves thin margins ($16,927 annually pre-tax)
- 05MINORHigh investment-to-revenue ratio of 3.24x suggests capital intensity not justified by returns
- 06MINORSingle unit data point makes financial projections unreliable and non-generalizable
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
26 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Salad Spot™ · FDD (2025) PDF