Sugaring LA
Bottom line
- Total investment $313K – $432K including a $60K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $617K/year (median $571K). Estimated payback in 2.8 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 53/100.
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
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 Sugaring LA unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
32%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Sugaring LA units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.9M
on $9.3M purchase
Total debt
$7.4M
SBA $4.6M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate sugaring salons providing hair removal services (full-body waxing alternative using sugar paste). Day-to-day involves scheduling appointments, performing sugaring treatments, managing 1-3 staff members, maintaining inventory/supplies, and handling client relations in a service-based retail environment.
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.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Sugaring LA is a micro-franchise with reasonable unit economics but concerning stagnation risk, high capital requirements relative to net returns, and limited growth infrastructure typical of pre-scale brands.
Score breakdown · what drove the 53 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 8 units system-wide with unknown/stagnant growth trajectory raises scalability concerns
- 02MINORHigh investment-to-net-income ratio: $313k-$431k investment against $131k avg net income means 2.4-3.3 year payback with no growth buffer
- 03MINOR6% royalty on $617k average revenue ($37k annually) is substantial given modest profitability margins (~21% net)
- 04MINORSmall unit count limits franchisee referral networks and brand recognition leverage
- 05HIGHNo disclosed litigation is positive, but tiny franchise size means less public scrutiny/disclosure requirements
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
35 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Sugaring LA · FDD (2025) PDF