Bottom line
- Total investment $328K – $550K including a $50K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $453K/year (median $435K). Estimated payback in 5.1 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 34/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 178 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 Scenthound unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
21%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Scenthound units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.4M
on $7.0M purchase
Total debt
$5.6M
SBA $3.5M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Scenthound operates mobile and facility-based pet grooming services, with franchisees managing dog washing, nail trimming, ear cleaning, and grooming appointments. Day-to-day operations involve scheduling clients, managing pet handlers/groomers, maintaining grooming equipment, and ensuring customer satisfaction across a protected territory.
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
Scenthound presents moderate-to-cautionary risk: hypergrowth trajectory raises execution and sustainability questions, absent Item 19 prevents financial validation, and net margins appear thin relative to investment size.
Score breakdown · what drove the 34 / 100 rating
- 01MINORExtremely high unit growth (64.8% YoY) raises sustainability and quality control concerns — typical mature franchises grow 10-15% annually
- 02MINORAverage net income of $86,279 on $452,732 revenue yields only 19% net margin, which is thin for a service business after accounting for owner labor and variable costs
- 03MEDNo Item 19 (financial performance representations) disclosed in FDD — cannot independently verify claimed average revenue figures
- 04MINORFranchise fee of $49,900 is moderate, but total investment range ($328K-$550K) is substantial relative to modest net income returns
- 05MEDYoung/scaling system (122 units) has limited historical track record; rapid expansion sometimes precedes franchise model stress
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
93 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Scenthound · FDD (2025) PDF