ScramblersFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Scramblers franchise requires a total initial investment of $547K – $1.1M, including a $40K franchise fee and an ongoing 4.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2025 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.1M[2]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2025 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $547K – $1.1M
- 35th pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- 12th pct Service Resta…
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- 3rd pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 27
- 31st pct Service Resta…
- SBA default
- 0.0%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Full-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Full-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
25% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA). Within the 15-30% range most franchise investors consider acceptable.
Bottom line
- Total investment $547K – $1.1M including a $40K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.1M/year (median $1.1M), with an estimated 25% cash-on-cash return (based on EBITDA).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 30/100.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Scramblers Brands Franchise Development, LLC
- Incorporated in
- OH
- HQ
- 2778 Centennial Road, Suite B, Toledo, OH 43617
- Auditor
- William Vaughan Company
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $920K
- vs $950K prior year
Affiliated brands
- Ten Star Enterprises
- owned Scramblers restaurant
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
Scramblers franchisees operate casual dining or quick-service restaurants specializing in egg-based dishes, breakfast/brunch concepts, and related menu items. Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, staffing, and customer service in a fast-casual or full-service dining environment with typical restaurant operational demands.
- CEO
- Shain Buerk
- Headquarters
- OH
- Founded
- 2005
- FDD year
- 2025
- States available
- 3
FDD Item 7 · 2025 filing · 17 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $40K | $40K | |
| Travel and Living Expense During Training | $2K | $3K | |
| Rent | $5K | $12K | |
| Security Deposits | $6K | $9K | |
| Architectural Fees | $19K | $31K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $285K | $675K | |
| Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment | $125K | $210K | |
| Signage | $4K | $12K | |
| Small Wares and Office Supplies | $15K | $21K | |
| Opening Inventory | $9K | $12K | |
| Professional and Legal and Business Fees/Permits/Licenses | $5K | $8K | |
| Insurance | $4K | $4K | |
| Catering | $500 | $1K | |
| Printing | $2K | $4K | |
| Uniforms | $1K | $3K | |
| Grand Opening Expenses | $6K | $12K | |
| Additional Funds for First 3 Months | $20K | $40K | |
| Total initial investment | $547K | $1.1M |
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
$146K
13.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
17%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.8 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $547K – $1.1M
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $20K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $30K – $40K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 4.0%
- Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 5.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
- Payback period
- 4.0 yrs
- From FDD / Item 19
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 4.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $196 |
| Transfer fee | $20K |
| Renewal fee | $5K |
| Inventory (initial) | $24K – $33K |
| Total fee load | 5.0% of rev |
A 5.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.1M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.1M
- Avg ebitda
- $203K
- Reported as EBITDA in FDD Item 19
- Cash-on-cash
- 24.8%
- Based on EBITDA / investment midpoint
- Item 19 type
- Actual
- Sample size
- 24 units
- vs category median 13
- Range (low → high)
- $721K→$1.7M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Transparency tier
- revenue_only
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Transparency
- 10 / 5
- vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Compared against 1264 Full-Service Restaurants brands
vs Full-Service Restaurants averages
How Scramblers Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 27
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Turnover rate
- 0.0%
- Company-owned
- 13
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 52%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +7.7%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +7.7%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Opened (3yr)
- 1
- Closed (3yr)
- 0
- Terminated (3yr)
- 0
- Non-renewed (3yr)
- 0
- Transfers (3yr)
- 0
- Reacquired (3yr)
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 10 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.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA loan disclosures. This brand has only 5 7(a) loans on file; statistical reliability is limited below 10 loans.
- Total loans
- 5
- Loan volume
- $1.5M
- Median loan
- $350K
- 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
- N/A
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 2
- Defaults
- 0
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Scramblers's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 2 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 2 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 4-year lending trend
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Scramblers presents moderate-to-cautious risk due to undisclosed financial data, franchisor financial uncertainty, sluggish unit growth, and thin profit margins relative to capital requirements.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Largest disclosed settlement: $210,000
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · William Vaughan Company
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 30 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot independently verify the $1.12M average revenue claim
- 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, indicating potential financial instability or structural issues at franchisor level
- 03MEDSlow unit growth of only 7.7% YoY with just 27 locations suggests limited brand momentum or franchisee satisfaction
- 04MINORHigh investment-to-net-income ratio: $547K minimum investment against $203K average net income yields ~2.7-year payback assuming consistent performance
- 05MINOR4% royalty on gross sales (not net) creates cashflow pressure during slow periods and reduces franchisee margins
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 | 5 |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Online sales rightsℹ | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Ohio |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 8 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 359 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and corporate
- Site selection
- franchisee
- POS system
- Scramblers Sizzle Proprietary POS
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Scramblers Sizzle Proprietary POS
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
43 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Scramblers · FDD (2025) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Scramblers franchise?
The total investment to open a Scramblers franchise ranges from $547K – $1.1M, 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 Scramblers franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Scramblers FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.1M. The median is $1.1M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Scramblers's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Scramblers (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Scramblers franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Scramblers has 27 total units in the United States, including 12 franchised units and 13 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Scramblers a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Scramblers as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 30 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.
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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.