FranchiseVerdict
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FV-02368·STRONGExcellent91

Snelling

Formerly known as HireQuest Inc.

Business Services - StaffingFranchising since 2019Website
Investment
$45K – $151K
25th pct Staffing
Avg revenue
42nd pct Staffing
Royalty
4.5%
13th pct Staffing
Units
76
67th pct Staffing
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $45K – $151K including a $25K franchise fee, 4.5% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 53/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 18 loans (below the industry average).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
HQ Franchising Corporation
Parent company
HireQuest, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
111 Springhall Drive, Goose Creek, SC 29445
Auditor
Forvis Mazars LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$37.9M
vs $34.6M prior year

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 Snelling unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $45K–$151K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $30K–$75K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

87%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$131K
EBITDA margin
17.5%
Total invested
$150K
Payback
14 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Snelling franchisees operate staffing agencies that place temporary and permanent employees in client organizations. Day-to-day operations include recruiting and screening candidates, managing client relationships, billing and invoicing for placements, and maintaining compliance with employment regulations. Revenue derives from markups on temporary worker billing and fees from permanent placement commissions.

CEO
Richard F. Hermanns
Founded
2019
FDD year
2025
States available
25

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$45K – $151K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$30K – $75K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
4.5%
Percentage of Payroll and Gross Margin · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
5.5%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
0.4 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
76
Opened
3
Last reporting year
Closed
5
Turnover rate
6.6%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-2.6%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+0.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
76-2
Franchised units
2024
78
Franchised units
2025
76
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 23 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 23 states
Not registered

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.

Total loans
18
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

53
Risk · 0-100
STRONG53 / 100

Snelling presents moderate-to-high risk due to shrinking unit count, opaque financials, complex layered royalties, and recent litigation suggesting franchisee-franchisor tension.

Score breakdown · what drove the 53 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORDeclining unit count (-2.6% YoY) suggests system contraction and potential market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
  2. 02MEDNo disclosed average revenue despite disclosed net income ($223k) raises transparency concerns and makes ROI analysis impossible
  3. 03MINORComplex royalty structure (4.5% payroll + 18% gross margin + 7% placement fees) creates unpredictable cost burden and potential for disputes
  4. 04HIGHLitigation in 2021 involving trade secret misappropriation and non-compete violation indicates franchisee compliance/enforcement issues
  5. 05HIGHGoing Concern flag is FALSE but this is unclear — requires clarification on franchisor's financial stability
  6. 06MINORHigh royalty on gross margin (18%) is unusual and may disproportionately penalize high-performing locations

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Geographic (Counties, City Limits, or Zip Codes)
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
1
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
South Carolina

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
80 hrs
On-the-job training
40 hrs
POS system
HQ WebConnect
Operating tech stack

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

53 numbers

Locked
(314) 291-••••
MO
(803) 790-••••
SC
(662) 842-••••
MS

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Snelling · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above