FranchiseVerdict
Sunbelt Business Brokers logo
FV-02493·STRONGStandard76

Sunbelt Business Brokers

Formerly known as Network Lead Exchange

Real EstateFranchising since 2006Website
Investment
$61K – $115K
54th pct Real Estate
Avg revenue
32nd pct Real Estate
Royalty
4.0%
10th pct Real Estate
Units
130
63rd pct Real Estate
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $61K – $115K including a $50K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 51/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 12 loans (below the industry average).
  • No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
MMI Business Brokers, LLC
Parent company
SB Administrative Services, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
7100 E. Pleasant Valley Road, Suite 300, Independence, Ohio 44131
Auditor
Ciuni & Panichi, Inc.
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.8M
vs $1.5M prior year

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 Sunbelt Business Brokers unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $61K–$115K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $15K–$45K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

102%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%
ROIC above 100% usually means the revenue figure is a system-wide aggregate or top-cohort number rather than a single-unit average. Verify the "Revenue · per unit" field against the brand's FDD Item 19 detail tables before relying on this output.

Store EBITDA · annual
$120K
EBITDA margin
16.0%
Total invested
$118K
Payback
12 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Sunbelt Business Brokers franchisees operate as intermediaries facilitating the sale of small-to-mid-market businesses, earning commissions on successful transactions. Day-to-day work involves lead generation, client prospecting, business valuation, deal structuring, and negotiation between buyers and sellers. Revenue is entirely transaction-dependent with no recurring revenue model.

CEO
Brian Knoderer
Founded
2005
FDD year
2025
States available
44

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$61K – $115K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$15K – $45K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$50K
Royalty
4.0%
Monthly Marketing Fee · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
n/d
Total fee load
4.0%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
130
Opened
9
Last reporting year
Closed
1
Turnover rate
0.8%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
99%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+6.6%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+7.5%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
129+8
Franchised units
2024
121
Franchised units
2025
120
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 17 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 17 states
Not registered

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.

Total loans
12
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

51
Risk · 0-100
STRONG51 / 100

Sunbelt presents moderate-to-caution risk due to missing financial disclosure, unprotected territories, slow growth, and opaque fee structures that prevent meaningful ROI analysis before investment.

Score breakdown · what drove the 51 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosed in FDD (Item 19) — impossible to assess ROI or validate $61-114k investment viability
  2. 02MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk — multiple franchisees can operate in same area with no exclusivity
  3. 03MINORSlow unit growth (6.6% YoY) on 130-unit system suggests market saturation or franchisee dissatisfaction
  4. 04MINORHigh initial franchise fee ($49,500) represents 81% of minimum investment with no guaranteed performance metrics
  5. 05MED4% monthly royalty + undisclosed marketing fee structure lacks transparency on total cost of revenue

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area)
Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Ohio

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
16 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
Sunbelt Brokerage Management System (SBMS)
Operating tech stack

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

79 numbers

Locked
(228) 388-••••
MI
(919) 858-••••
MI
(813) 230-••••
FL

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Sunbelt Business Brokers · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above