Bottom line
- Total investment $78K – $125K including a $35K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $444K/year (median $466K). Estimated payback in 0.4 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 50/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 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 Sticky Fingers Cooking unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
48%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Sticky Fingers Cooking units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$622K
on $3.1M purchase
Total debt
$2.5M
SBA $1.6M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Sticky Fingers Cooking franchisees operate experiential cooking schools or meal-prep studios where customers (typically families and children) participate in hands-on cooking classes and culinary events. Day-to-day operations include scheduling and hosting classes, managing inventory of ingredients, teaching food safety and techniques, and maintaining kitchen facilities.
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
Early-stage cooking franchise with unverified financial claims, explosive but potentially unstable growth, and missing critical Item 19 disclosure raises material due diligence concerns.
Score breakdown · what drove the 50 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot independently verify claimed $444K avg revenue or $235K net income figures
- 02MINORExplosive 166.7% YoY unit growth (from 6 to 10 units) suggests either rapid scaling without operational maturity or inflated growth metrics; insufficient track record
- 03HIGHGoing Concern indicator is FALSE — unclear if this means franchisor has disclosed going concern warnings or if data is simply unavailable
- 04MINOR8% royalty on gross revenue (not net) is aggressive and will erode margins during slow periods
- 05MEDOnly 10 total units system-wide indicates early-stage franchise with limited operational data and higher failure risk
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
26 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Sticky Fingers Cooking · FDD (2025) PDF