Spec
Formerly known as Strategic Property Evaluation Center
Bottom line
- Total investment $578K – $2.0M including a $45K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.6M/year (median $1.5M).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 51/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 52 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 SPEC unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
27%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 SPEC units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
26.6%
3.25× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
3.10×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$13.9M
on $27.0M purchase
Total debt
$13.1M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
SPEC franchisees operate staffing and recruitment services for specialized professional placements (likely education/training based on 'Vara School Professionals' litigation reference). Day-to-day operations involve candidate sourcing, client relationship management, placement matching, and ongoing compliance with franchisor systems.
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 · 16 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
SPEC presents caution-level risk due to undisclosed net income figures, anemic unit growth, litigation history, and high capital requirements relative to system maturity.
Score breakdown · what drove the 51 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — unable to validate profitability claims against $1.59M average revenue
- 02MEDSlow unit growth of 5.9% YoY with only 36 locations suggests limited scalability or market saturation
- 03HIGHLitigation history including franchisor enforcement action and Washington state consent order for unregistered sale indicates compliance and operational issues
- 04MINORHigh investment range ($577K–$2.02M) requires strong ROI validation, but profitability metrics are opaque
- 05MED15-year term is lengthy commitment with limited exit flexibility given modest system size and growth rate
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
31 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
SPEC · FDD (2024) PDF