School of Rock
Bottom line
- Total investment $425K – $705K including a $60K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $672K/year (median $640K). Estimated payback in 2.7 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 46/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 181 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 20.4% CAGR over 3 years with 303 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
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 School of Rock unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
13%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 School of Rock units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$672K
on $3.4M purchase
Total debt
$2.7M
SBA $1.7M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
School of Rock franchisees operate music education centers offering group and private instruction in guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, and vocals, with a performance-based learning model culminating in student performances. Day-to-day operations include scheduling lessons, managing student enrollment, hiring and training instructors, marketing locally, managing facility logistics, and coordinating student performances and events.
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 · 12 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
School of Rock presents moderate-to-cautious risk due to missing financial performance data, slower unit growth, parent company litigation, and high capital requirement relative to unvalidated revenue claims.
Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 rating
- 01MINORAbsence of Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) limits ability to validate claimed average revenue of $672,488 and net income of $207,093
- 02MINORModerate unit growth of 8.5% YoY is slower than healthy franchise systems; questions sustainability of expansion claims
- 03HIGHParent company litigation (landlord/tenant dispute) and affiliate settlements involving 'no-poaching' and cybersecurity suggest corporate governance and operational security weaknesses
- 04MEDHigh initial investment ($425k-$705k) paired with 8% royalty creates significant breakeven threshold; limited margin for underperformance
- 05MINORProtected territory is positive, but combined with lack of financial disclosure, territory boundaries and enforcement mechanisms are unverified
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
98 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
School of Rock · FDD (2025) PDF