Bottom line
- Total investment $214K – $343K including a $40K franchise fee, 25.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $6.0M/year (median $3.2M).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 44/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 9 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 50% CAGR over 3 years with 211 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 Spherion unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
-31%
Negative
Overview
About
Spherion franchisees operate staffing and recruitment agencies, placing temporary and permanent employees in client companies. Day-to-day operations involve recruiting candidates, marketing to employers, managing placements, handling payroll processing, and maintaining client relationships to generate temporary labor revenue subject to the 25% royalty obligation.
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 · 22 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
Spherion presents moderate-to-high risk due to system contraction, non-transparent profitability, exceptionally high royalties, unprotected territory, and litigation history suggesting operational and relationship challenges.
Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 rating
- 01MINOR25% royalty on temporary gross profits is exceptionally high and creates ambiguity around actual net profitability
- 02MINORSystem declining 2.8% YoY with only 211 units suggests market saturation or operational challenges
- 03MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 prevents accurate ROI assessment on $214K-$343K investment
- 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk from other Spherion franchisees in same market
- 05HIGHActive litigation involving franchisee fraud allegations and prior breach settlement indicate franchisor-franchisee relationship strain
- 06MINORHigh initial investment ($40K franchise fee + $214K-$343K total) combined with 25% royalty leaves thin margins on staffing agency model
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
92 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Spherion · FDD (2024) PDF