Sam the Concrete Man Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Sam the Concrete Man is a home-services franchise providing residential concrete work, driveways, patios, walkways, and repair. Franchisees run a crew-based operation handling estimates, pours, and finishing in a territory.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Sam the Concrete Man franchise requires a total initial investment of $71K – $151K, including a $45K – $67K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.0M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 37.5% charge-off rate across 100 loans[1]. FranchiseVerdict grade: C (Average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $71K – $151K
- 15th pct Home Services
- Avg gross sales
- $1.0M
- 23rd pct Home Services
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 15th pct Home Services
- Units
- 88
- 56th pct Home Services
- SBA charge-off
- 37.5%
- % of SBA 7(a) loans not repaid · median varies by category
Quick verdict · Home Services · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Home Services avg · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $71K – $151K including a $45K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.0M/year (median $1.0M), with an estimated 94% cash-on-cash return (based on Discretionary Earnings).
- RISKVerdict C (Average), verdict score 40/100 (higher is better). SBA loan charge-off rate of 37.5% across 100 loans (well above the 16% franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2025).
- FLAG28 units terminated last reporting year (31.8% of the system). Ask existing franchisees why.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- SAMCO, LLC
- Parent company
- EMP Prime Holdings LLC
- Ultimate parent
- Eagle Merchant Partners (EMP)
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Todd Stewart
- Incorporated in
- Colorado
- HQ
- 6912 South Quentin Street, Suite 10, Centennial, Colorado 80112
- Auditor
- Kezos & Dunlavy
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $5.8M
- vs $5.5M prior year
Overview
About
- CEO
- Todd Stewart
- Headquarters
- CO
- Founded
- 2013
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 28
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 51% below the typical home services franchise.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $45K | $45K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $10K | $42K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $16K | $64K |
| Total initial investment | $71K | $151K |
Source: Sam the Concrete Man 2025 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $71K – $151K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $10K – $42K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $45K – $67K
- Top 40% of category vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 1.1 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 6.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 2.0% of gross sales |
| Transfer fee | $20K |
| Renewal fee | $6K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 18% below the home services norm.
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 19
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$112K
11.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
82%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
15 mo
cash-on-cash, unlevered
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
FDD-reported earnings vs. model
The FDD reports $189K as Discretionary Earnings. Our model estimates $112K SLEBITDA from the same revenue using category-average cost assumptions. These numbers differ because Discretionary Earnings deducts different expense categories than our model.
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit. The target band for an attractive franchise is 30–60% ROIC. Below that and a passive index fund likely outperforms; above that and the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses. It's the top line only. Operating costs below are category estimates. Override them to match your real lease quote, labor market, and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Sam the Concrete Man unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.
82%
Above the 30–60% band. Verify revenue is per-unit average
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Sam the Concrete Man units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$813K
on $4.1M purchase
Total debt
$3.3M
SBA $2.0M + senior + seller note
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
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.0M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.0M
- Avg discretionary earnings
- $189K
- Reported as Discretionary Earnings in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 93.7%
- Based on Discretionary Earnings / investment midpoint
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 27 outlets
- vs category median 32
- Range (low → high)
- $366K→$1.7M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $577K→$1.4M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Reporting year
- 2024
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2025
- Disclosed in the 2025 filing, covering 2024
- Transparency
- 9 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 321 Home Services brands
Revenue is 9.2x the investment midpoint. At typical franchise margins, this suggests a payback under 3 years.
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $1.0M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 9.2x.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 8.0% (near the Home Services average).
Disclosure
Transparency score 9/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence.
Operator retention
System expanding at 115.0% CAGR over 3 years across 88 units — operators are staying and new ones are joining.
Multi-unit rate
Only 15% of franchisees own multiple units. Could indicate challenging economics or a young system where operators haven't had time to expand.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Home Services averages
How Sam the Concrete Man Compares
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2025 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 88
- Opened
- 35
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 28
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- 34.9%
- Company-owned
- 2
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 98%
- vs corporate-owned
- Multi-unit owners
- 15.1%
- Net growth (3-yr)
- +115.0%
- Net unit change over 3 years
- 3-yr CAGR
- +115.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 35
- Closed (3yr)
- 2
- Terminated (3yr)
- 28
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 6
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Transfer rate
- 6.8%
- Owners selling to other franchisees
- Continuity rate
- 74.1%
- Units that stayed open
- Termination rate
- 31.8%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 2.3%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 28 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 contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Fast growth in a small system. Newer franchisors expanding quickly may not yet have the support infrastructure of larger systems.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 100
- Loan volume
- $14.4M
- Median loan
- $150K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 37.5%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 62.5%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 37.5%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 3
- Defaults
- 6
- Typical loan rate
- 9.2%
- avg rate to borrowers
- Franchised industry avg
- 28.0%
- brand above franchise avg ↑
- Jobs supported
- 203
- 1.5 per loan
- Lender concentration
- 98%
- top lender's share
Borrower mix: 98% went to startups / new businesses, 2% to established operators
Franchise vs independent — in poured concrete foundation and structure contrac, franchised businesses charge off at 28.0% vs 15.3% for independents — franchising is associated with 83% higher SBA default risk in this category.
Vintage analysis
Sam the Concrete Man charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Sam the Concrete Man franchisees
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Sam the Concrete Man's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 3 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 7-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
A 37.5% charge-off rate means roughly 1 in 3 franchisees failed to repay their SBA loan. Investigate what changed.
What could kill this investment?
SBA loans charge off at 37.5% — 134% above the 16.0% national norm, i.e. higher lender-observed risk.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
No litigation or bankruptcy, strong net worth ($36.1M) and rapid +115% unit growth (88 units), audited with Item 19. One concern: net loss of -$1,204,100 and elevated 34.9% turnover rate.
Litigation (Item 3)
No litigation is required to be disclosed in this Item.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Kezos & Dunlavy
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Kickbacks from required suppliers: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 40 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORNet income -$1,204,100
- 02MINORTurnover rate 34.9%
- 03MINORStrong net worth $36.1M
- 04MINORRapid +115% growth
- 05MINORNo litigation or bankruptcy
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 8.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2025 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 2 |
| Territory type | Zip codes based on single-family dwellings |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 50 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Denver, Colorado |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Colorado |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation is required to be disclosed in this Item.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 27 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 13 hrs
- Training location
- On-site
- Time to open
- 3 mo
- From signing to launch
- POS system
- QuickBooks Online
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: QuickBooks Online
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
71 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Sam the Concrete Man · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Sam the Concrete Man franchise?
The total investment to open a Sam the Concrete Man franchise ranges from $71K – $151K, with an initial franchise fee of $45K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Sam the Concrete Man franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Sam the Concrete Man FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.0M. The median is $1.0M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Item 19 in the Sam the Concrete Man 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 Sam the Concrete Man FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Sam the Concrete Man's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Sam the Concrete Man has a charge-off rate of 37.5% across 100 loans, meaning 37.5% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Sam the Concrete Man franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Sam the Concrete Man has 88 total units in the United States, including 86 franchised units and 2 company-owned units. 35 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Sam the Concrete Man a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Sam the Concrete Man as a C-grade franchise with a verdict score of 40 out of 100 (higher is better), based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). 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.