Scooter’s CoffeeFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Scooter’s Coffee franchise requires a total initial investment of $692K – $1.5M, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 6.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $915K[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 0.0% charge-off rate across 235 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $692K – $1.5M
- 90th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $915K
- 31st pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- 44th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 849
- 92nd pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Quick-Service Restaurants avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Only 0.0% of 235 SBA loans charged off, well below the 16% franchise average.
Bottom line
- Total investment $692K – $1.5M including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $915K/year (median $881K), with an estimated 12% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 49/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 0.0% across 235 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
- System growing at 57.1% CAGR over 3 years with 849 total units. Strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Scooter’s Coffee, LLC
- Parent company
- Boundless Enterprises, LLC
- Incorporated in
- NE
- HQ
- 11808 Miracle Hills Drive, Suite #400, Omaha, Nebraska 68154
- Auditor
- KPMG LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $56.9M
- vs $65.8M prior year
Overview
About
Scooter's Coffee franchisees operate drive-thru and café-based specialty coffee shops, serving espresso drinks, coffee beverages, and food items. Daily operations include inventory management, barista labor scheduling, customer service, and point-of-sale management across what is positioned as a convenience-format coffee concept competing in the drive-thru coffee segment.
- CEO
- Joe Thornton
- Headquarters
- NE
- Founded
- 1998
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 31
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 11 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $40K | $40K | |
| Initial Opening Support Fee | $20K | $20K | |
| Site and Building Improvements | $639K | $974K | |
| Architectural and Engineering Fees | $26K | $72K | |
| Equipment, fixtures and furniture | $132K | $195K | |
| Signs | $32K | $65K | |
| Point-of-sale system and software | $12K | $14K | |
| Deposits and licenses | $5K | $18K | |
| Initial training: travel and living expenses | $5K | $8K | |
| Opening inventory, supplies, and smallwares | $28K | $31K | |
| Additional funds - 3 months | $16K | $86K | |
| Total initial investment | $955K | $1.5M |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
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
$128K
14.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
11%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
9.0 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $692K – $1.5M
- Below avg, review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $16K – $86K
- Near category avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $40K – $40K
- Below avg, review vs category
- Royalty
- 6.0%
- Net Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 2.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 8.6 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 |
| Technology fee | $350 |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Inventory (initial) | $28K – $31K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $915K
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $881K
- Avg ebitda
- $129K
- Reported as EBITDA in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 11.7%
- Based on EBITDA / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- gross_sales
- Sample size
- 605 units
- vs category median 28 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $240K→$2.1M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 10 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 453 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Revenue is only 0.8x the investment. This means each unit may take 5+ years to recoup the initial outlay at typical margins.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants averages
How Scooter’s Coffee Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 849
- Opened
- 121
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 20
- Turnover rate
- 2.4%
- Company-owned
- 24
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 97%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +13.2%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +57.1%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 96
- Closed (3yr)
- 2
- Terminated (3yr)
- 1
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 36
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 2
- Franchisor bought back
- Termination rate
- 5.0%
- Franchisor-initiated terminations
- Ceased ops
- 10.0%
- Units that stopped operating
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 31 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.
Available to sell in · Item 12
- California
- Indiana
- Michigan
- New York
- South Dakota
- Wisconsin
States where the franchisor is registered to sell new franchises (FDD registration filings).
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 235
- Loan volume
- $237.8M
- Median loan
- $997K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 0.0%
- 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)
- 100.0%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 60
- Defaults
- 0
Vintage analysis
Scooter’s Coffee charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
With a 0.0% charge-off rate across 235 loans, banks have historically viewed this brand favorably for lending.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Scooter's Coffee shows growth metrics offset by unprotected territory, absent financial disclosure transparency, active litigation with a franchisee, and extended payback horizons—warranting cautious due diligence before investment.
Litigation (Item 3)
1 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · KPMG LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 49 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHNo Item 19 financial performance representation (Going Concern: False) — cannot validate if average revenue/income figures are typical or outliers
- 02MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk; with 849 units growing 13.2% YoY, market saturation concerns exist
- 03HIGHActive litigation (AAA arbitration, April 2026 hearing) involving franchisor suing franchisee for unpaid royalties signals potential compliance/collection disputes
- 04MINORHigh investment range ($692K–$1.52M) with modest average net income ($129K) yields 5–11 year payback period at best
- 05MINOR6% royalty on net sales structure may mask declining unit profitability as system expands; no transparency on unit economics trending
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 1 |
| Protected territory | No |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Optional |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 5 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Nebraska |
| Litigation count | 1 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
1 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 75 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 104 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Site selection
- franchisee
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
508 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Scooter’s Coffee · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Scooter’s Coffee franchise?
The total investment to open a Scooter’s Coffee franchise ranges from $692K – $1.5M, with an initial franchise fee of $40K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Scooter’s Coffee franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Scooter’s Coffee FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $915K. The median is $881K. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Scooter’s Coffee's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Scooter’s Coffee has a charge-off rate of 0.0% across 235 loans, meaning 0.0% 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 Scooter’s Coffee franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Scooter’s Coffee has 849 total units in the United States, including 525 franchised units and 24 company-owned units. 121 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Scooter’s Coffee a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Scooter’s Coffee as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 49 out of 100, 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
Are you the franchisor?
If you represent Scooter’s Coffee, you can request corrections or provide updated information.
Claim this brandOther Quick-Service Restaurants franchises
Compare similar franchise opportunities in the Quick-Service Restaurants category
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.