Saladworks
Formerly known as Liquidation Outlet
Bottom line
- Total investment $484K – $678K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $781K/year (median $768K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 53/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 86 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 SALADWORKS 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 SALADWORKS units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.1M
on $5.5M purchase
Total debt
$4.4M
SBA $2.7M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Saladworks franchisees operate fast-casual salad and healthy bowl restaurants, managing daily operations including food prep, customer service, inventory, and staffing. Day-to-day responsibilities involve executing standardized menu offerings, maintaining food safety protocols, controlling food costs, and driving local marketing to compete in the competitive QSR segment.
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 · 23 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
Saladworks presents a CAUTION-level investment: declining unit economics, undisclosed profitability metrics, historical litigation, and going concern status offset by reasonable franchise fee and protected territory.
Score breakdown · what drove the 53 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 5.7% YoY (84 units) suggests system contraction and potential market saturation or operational challenges
- 02MEDNet Income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — inability to assess actual profitability despite $781K avg revenue
- 03HIGHLitigation history (2014-2015 breach of contract/fraud suit by equity holder) indicates governance and valuation disputes at ownership level
- 04HIGHGoing Concern status (True) raises solvency/sustainability questions about franchisor financial stability
- 05MINORHigh investment threshold ($484-$678K) combined with declining unit count creates unfavorable risk-to-growth ratio
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
92 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
SALADWORKS · FDD (2026) PDF