Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café Franchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
- Investment
- $928K – $1.5M
- Disclosed sales
- $1.6M
- gross sales, not profit
- SBA charge-off
- Limited · 10 loans
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict Research · Methodology
Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café is a full-service franchise serving sweet and savory French crepes, waffles, and coffee. Franchisees run the cafes, managing the kitchen, table service, and staffing.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café franchise requires a total initial investment of $928K – $1.5M, including a $45K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2024 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.6M[2]. FranchiseVerdict grade: B (Above average), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Run a live ROI scan →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Data extracted: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: high - issued more than two years ago
Evidence: strong✓ Investment (Item 7)✓ Item 19 status✓ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored7 of 7 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
- Investment
- $928K – $1.5M
- 91st pct Service Resta…
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- Company-owned only
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 12th pct Service Resta…
- Units
- 13
- 43rd pct Service Resta…
- SBA charge-off
- N/A
Quick verdict · Quick-Service Restaurants · color = vs category peers
Green = favorable by >10% vs Quick-Service Restaurants median · No shading = within ±10% · Red = unfavorable by >10% · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Bottom line
- COSTTotal investment $928K – $1.5M including a $45K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- RETURNSAverage unit revenue of $1.6M/year (company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance).
- RISKVerdict B (Above average), verdict score 61/100 (higher is better).
- GROWTHNegative, pipeline stalled: 38 agreements signed but not yet open against 13 open outlets (Item 20).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Sweet Paris Franchise, LLC
- CEO title
- Founder and Manager
- Ivan Chavez
- Incorporated in
- Texas
- HQ
- 4400 Post Oak Parkway, Suite 2250, Houston, Texas 77027
- Auditor
- David P. Chaney, CPA, P.C.
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $905K
- vs $725K prior year
Affiliated brands
- Sweet Paris College Station
- Inverchavez Holding
- Sweet Paris Coral Gables
- Vaquero Foodie
- Sweet Paris CityCentre
- Sweet Paris Drexel
Other brands the franchisor or its parent operates (Item 1).
Overview
About
- CEO
- Ivan Chavez
- Headquarters
- TX
- Founded
- 2015
- FDD year
- 2024
- States available
- 3
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost runs 150% above the typical quick-service restaurants franchise.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 5–7
FDD Item 7 · 2024 filing
Initial investment breakdown
| Cost component | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise fee | $45K | $45K |
| Working capital (3–6 mo) | $22K | $55K |
| Equipment, build-out, other | $861K | $1.4M |
| Total initial investment | $928K | $1.5M |
Source: Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café 2024 FDD, Items 5 and 7[2]. “Equipment, build-out, other” is computed as total minus disclosed line items above.
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $928K – $1.5M
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $22K – $55K
- Middle of category vs category
- Franchise fee
- $45K – $45K
- Bottom third — review vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 1.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 6.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 1.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $360 |
| Transfer fee | $23K |
| Renewal fee | $11K |
| Inventory (initial) | $11K – $15K |
| Total fee load | 6.0% of rev |
A 6.0% total fee load is unusually lean. More of each revenue dollar stays with the franchisee.
What do units actually make?
Average unit sales run 61% above the quick-service restaurants norm.
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 19
Single-unit · not modelled
Returns at a glance
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit, and the operating costs that turn one into the other are in no filing. We publish no modelled return for Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café until someone supplies them — yours, in the models below.
—
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
Total invested capital · disclosed
$1.3M
Item 7 initial investment plus working capital, as filed — the one figure here that needs no assumption.
ROI & LBO modelsSingle-unit · 25-unit portfolio · editable
What one unit earns on your invested capital
Model A · Single-Unit Return
Computes unlevered return on invested capital (ROIC) for a single franchise unit, read against the 30–60% reference band · Yale SOM, Post-MBA Path Exhibit 2 (2023). Below that band a passive index fund likely outperforms; above it the franchisor has pricing power you're subsidizing.
Note: Item 19 revenue is what the franchisor discloses, and it is the top line only — gross sales are not profit. No FDD discloses the operating costs that turn one into the other, so those fields start empty and nothing is modelled until you supply them from your own lease quote, labor market and build-out budget.
Returns model · single-unit ROIC
What would one Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café unit return on the cash you put in?
Illustrative category typicals — not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
Your modelled return on total invested capital, before any debt financing.
—
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
What 25 units return when you use SBA financing
Model B · Return on Equity: Debt-Financed Acquisition
Models a 25-unit portfolio acquisition financed with an SBA 7(a) loan. Shows equity IRR (your return on cash invested), DSCR (how safely the cash flow covers debt service), and the capital stack (SBA + seller + equity breakdown).
This is the “search fund” or “entrepreneurship through acquisition” scenario: you buy an existing multi-unit operator, use leverage to amplify returns, and either operate or hire management. The 25-unit size is the typical minimum for an SBA-backed franchise portfolio acquisition to pencil as a full-time income.
What “return on equity” means here: if you put in $500K of your own cash and the business generates enough EBITDA to pay down debt and grow, your equity IRR is the annual return on that $500K, including the value created when you eventually sell. Target IRR for a search fund is typically 25–35%.
Not modelled yet
An FDD discloses gross sales, not profit. We hold no sourced figure for COGS, labour, rent / occupancy and other operating costs, and will not substitute an assumed one. Enter your own and the model runs on your assumptions.
A 25-unit return is built on a per-unit EBITDA. Fill in the operating costs in Model A above and this model runs on that figure, or take the whole scenario to the full ROI workbench, where the portfolio and LBO models accept your own per-unit economics directly.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2024 FDD
Financial Performance
Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.6M
- Per unit, per year
Gross sales are revenue before expenses — not profit. Actual owner earnings depend on rent, labor, royalties, marketing fees, and debt service.
- Item 19 type
- gross sales
- Sample size
- 4 outlets
- vs category median 19 · small
- Range (low → high)
- $1.5M→$3.1MCited, not corroborated — printed on page 54 of the 2024 FDD. Nothing else in our record independently restates or re-derives it.
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Reporting year
- 2023
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Source filing
- FDD 2024
- Disclosed in the 2024 filing, covering 2023
- Transparency
- 6 / 10
- vs category median 4 / 10 · above
Compared against 781 Quick-Service Restaurants brands
Operator outlook
What the numbers say
Data-driven interpretation of this brand's financial disclosures, fee structure, and system trajectory.
Unit economics
Average unit generates $1.6M/year in gross sales. Revenue-to-investment ratio: 1.3x. Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance.
Fee burden
Total ongoing fee load of 6.0% — below the Quick-Service Restaurants median of 7.5%.
Disclosure
Transparency score 6/10 — this franchisor discloses detailed breakdowns (quartiles, segments, or cohort data). Buyers can model unit economics with higher confidence. Sample size of 4 outlets — treat as directional only.
Source: FDD Item 19 financial performance representations and publicly filed FDD data. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Verify all figures with the franchisor and current franchisees before making any investment decision.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants medians
How Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café Compares
Category median of published Quick-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Is the system healthy?
Source: FDD 2024 · Item 20
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 13
- Opened
- 1
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 0
- Terminated
- 0
- Franchisor ended the franchise (per Item 20)
- Non-renewed
- 0
- Term expired, not renewed (per Item 20)
- Turnover rate
- N/A
- Company-owned
- 5
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 62%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 exits and transfers
- Terminated
- 0
- Not renewed
- 0
- Transferred
- 0
- Reacquired
- 0
- Franchisor bought back
- Signed, not yet open
- 38
- 2.92 per open outlet · Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 5
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 5 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 contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
Where the owners are · Item 20 owner list
15 current owners across 5 states.
- TX 9
- MN 3
- AL 1
- CA 1
- OK 1
Counts only, from the list the franchisor prints in Item 20. Names and phone numbers are for your own due diligence and are not shown here.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 10
- Loan volume
- $8.7M
- Median loan
- $868K
- average
- Charge-off rate
- Limited · 10 loans
- Limited SBA coverage: 10 loans, rate hidden until 10 have resolved and loans reach 2% of franchised units
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- Limited · 10 loans
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 5
- Defaults
- 0
Vintage analysis
Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café charge-off rate by loan vintage
Top lenders financing Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café franchisees
Showing 3 of 5 lenders. The full breakdown — every lender, state distribution, interest rates & risk ratings — is in the SBA Lending Report below.
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Lender network · 7(a) + 504
SBA Lending Report
Full lending analysis for Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café from SBA 7(a) FOIA data.
Top SBA lenders
| # | Lender | Loans | Volume | Default % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hancock Whitney Bank | 4 | $4.1M | N/A |
| 2 | Simmons Bank | 2 | $1.2M | 0.0% |
| 3 | Merchants Bank of Indiana | 2 | $1.8M | N/A |
| 4 | Platinum Bank | 1 | $1.0M | N/A |
| 5 | Frost Bank | 1 | $598K | 0.0% |
Geographic failure vector
| State | Loans | Defaults | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| TXTexas | 9 | 0 | 0.0% |
| MNMinnesota | 1 | 0 | -- |
Source: SBA 7(a) + 504 FOIA loan-level data, matched by FranchiseVerdict
What could kill this investment?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 4, 8, 16, 21
Risk & Legal
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · David P. Chaney, CPA, P.C.
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Audited statements of Sweet Paris Franchise, LLC (Texas LLC, the franchisor), FY ended Dec 31, 2023 and 2022. Revenue = Royalties $835,083 + Initial franchise sales $58,174 + Other income $12,173 = Total revenue $905,430 (2023); $724,612 (2022). Net worth = member's capital $610,379. Figures in whole USD as stated (not in thousands).
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 61 / 100 verdict
- 01MINORPositive net worth $610,379, net income $433,555
- 02HIGHNo litigation, bankruptcy, or going-concern
- 03MINORGrowth +30% to 13 units
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 6.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before rent and labor.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12, 15, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 5 years |
| Allowed renewalsℹ | 3 |
| Territory type | Protected territory |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territoryℹ | No |
| Territory sizeℹ | Specific area defined by population density, street boundaries, etc. |
| Online sales rights | Restricted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 3 years |
| Non-compete (miles)ℹ | 50 mi |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Termination groundsℹ | 7 |
| Curable defaultsℹ | 2 |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | City where franchisor's headquarters is located (Houston, Texas) |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | Texas |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
No litigation required to be disclosed in Item 3
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 308 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 308 hrs
- Training location
- On-site at franchisee's restaurant and franchisor location
- Ongoing training
- Required
- Site selection
- franchisee, subject to franchisor approval via Site Approval Package
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Toast
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Toast
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
15 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café franchise?
The total investment to open a Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café franchise ranges from $928K – $1.5M, with an initial franchise fee of $45K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.6M. Important context: Company-owned outlets only - not franchisee performance. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
Who owns Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café?
Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café is franchised by Sweet Paris Franchise, LLC. Source: FDD Item 1, 2024 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café's franchise failure rate?
SBA 7(a) loan charge-off data is not available for Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café (fewer than 10 loans on file). Charge-off rates are one way to gauge franchise risk, but not all franchise loans go through the SBA program. We recommend reviewing turnover and closure data in the FDD and speaking with current franchisees.
How many Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café has 13 total units in the United States, including 8 franchised units and 5 company-owned units. 1 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café as a B-grade franchise with a verdict score of 61 out of 100 (higher is better). The grade is a deterministic score built from six weighted dimensions — financial health, unit economics, unit growth, scale, legal, and transparency — then calibrated against SBA loan charge-off rates and FDD age. Transparency is one of the six, so a filing that discloses less scores lower on that dimension than one that discloses more. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
For franchisors
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.