Bottom line
- Total investment $90K – $189K including a $47K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $182K/year (median $179K). Estimated payback in 2.9 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 39/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 6 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 185.7% CAGR over 3 years with 21 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
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 SPECIAL STRONG unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
36%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 SPECIAL STRONG units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$835K
on $4.2M purchase
Total debt
$3.3M
SBA $2.1M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Special Strong franchisees operate adaptive fitness centers offering specialized strength training and exercise programs for people with physical and mental health challenges. Day-to-day operations include delivering one-on-one or small-group personal training sessions, managing client progress, maintaining equipment, handling memberships/billing, and marketing to disability communities and healthcare referral sources.
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 · 25 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, rapidly-scaling fitness service franchise with unverified financial claims, opaque royalty mechanics, and typical sector headwinds requiring deep franchisee validation.
Score breakdown · what drove the 39 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 financial performance representation disclosed — cannot independently verify claimed $181.5K avg revenue or $47.4K avg net income
- 02MINORRoyalty floor ($625-$3,625/month) may not scale proportionally with territory size — risk of margin compression for smaller territories
- 03MINORRapid unit growth (122% YoY to 21 units) suggests early-stage system maturity risk and potential franchisee saturation concerns
- 04MINORService-based fitness franchise model historically shows high failure rates due to customer acquisition costs and retention challenges
- 05HIGHLimited disclosed litigation history unusual for fitness/wellness sector — may indicate incomplete FDD transparency or recent conflicts not yet surfaced
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
50 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
SPECIAL STRONG · FDD (2026) PDF