Bottom line
- Total investment $376K – $797K including a $60K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.7M/year (median $1.8M). Estimated payback in 3.0 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 45/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 18 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 Southern Steer Butcher unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
42%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Southern Steer Butcher units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
36.1%
4.66× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.28×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$4.7M
on $13.9M purchase
Total debt
$9.2M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Southern Steer Butcher franchisees operate full-service butcher shops specializing in premium cuts of beef, pork, and lamb. Day-to-day operations involve meat sourcing/procurement, cutting and preparation, inventory management, customer service, and local marketing. The model emphasizes quality craftmanship and direct consumer relationships rather than high-volume quick service.
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 · 30 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
Early-stage butcher franchise with aggressive growth claims, unverified financial metrics, and high capital requirements presents moderate-to-cautious risk profile suitable only for experienced operators with local market knowledge.
Score breakdown · what drove the 45 / 100 rating
- 01MINORRapid unit growth (33.3% YoY) with only 9 total units suggests early-stage system with unproven scalability and potential instability
- 02MEDNo Item 19 financial performance representations disclosed — cannot independently verify the $195,256 average net income claim across locations
- 03MINORHigh initial investment ($376K-$797K) relative to small system size creates concentration risk if growth stalls or franchisees underperform
- 04MINORTiered royalty structure (6%-4%) incentivizes revenue growth but may mask profitability issues at lower-revenue locations
- 05MEDSpecialty/niche butcher concept has limited addressable market compared to QSR, increasing individual unit dependency on location selection
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
33 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Southern Steer Butcher · FDD (2026) PDF