Bottom line
- Total investment $718K – $1.1M including a $35K franchise fee, 4.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $3.2M/year (median $3.1M).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 55/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 4 loans (below the industry average).
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 Sonny’s BBQ unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
54%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Sonny’s BBQ units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
25.7%
3.14× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
3.24×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$16.4M
on $30.6M purchase
Total debt
$14.2M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Sonny's BBQ franchisees operate fast-casual or full-service barbecue restaurants, managing daily operations including food prep, smoking meats, customer service, staffing, and inventory. Operators handle P&L responsibility for a high-labor, commodity-dependent business with significant food cost volatility and equipment maintenance demands.
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 · 9 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
Declining unit base combined with non-disclosed profitability metrics and high capital requirements creates meaningful investment risk despite strong average revenue.
Score breakdown · what drove the 55 / 100 rating
- 01MINORUnit count declining 3.2% YoY (91 units) suggests system contraction and potential market saturation or performance issues
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 prevents ROI analysis and obscures profitability reality for franchisees
- 03MEDHigh initial investment ($717.5K–$1.11M) against undisclosed net income creates significant financial risk without transparent earnings data
- 04MINORModest royalty rate (4.5%) may indicate franchisor relies on franchise fees rather than system health, concerning for ongoing support
- 05MINOR20-year term is lengthy commitment in QSR space where market conditions shift rapidly; difficult to exit underperforming locations
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
97 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Sonny’s BBQ · FDD (2024) PDF