SweetWater Technologies (powered by Gripp)
Bottom line
- Total investment $89K – $191K including a $10K franchise fee, 33.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $147K/year (median $134K).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100.
- 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 SweetWater Technologies (powered by Gripp) unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
-13%
Negative
Overview
About
SweetWater Technologies franchisees provide agricultural irrigation services, likely including system design, installation, maintenance, and consulting for farms and rural properties. Daily operations involve field assessments, equipment servicing, customer billing for acreage-based or hourly services, and ongoing account management within their protected territory.
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 · 9 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
Early-stage irrigation/agricultural services franchise with predatory multi-tiered royalties, minimal unit count, and undisclosed profitability creates elevated financial and operational risk.
Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating
- 01MINORExtremely high royalty burden at 33% of gross sales plus per-acre/hourly fees creates dual-layer extraction that could exceed 40-50% of gross revenue
- 02MEDNet income deliberately not disclosed in FDD — inability to verify profitability claims against the $147,279 average revenue figure
- 03MINOROnly 5 franchised units with unknown growth trajectory suggests nascent or stalled system expansion
- 04MINORDual royalty structure (acreage-based AND sales-based options) is unnecessarily complex and suggests franchisor revenue optimization over franchisee profitability
- 05MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representation limits ability to validate the $147,279 average revenue claim independently
- 06MINORProtected territory language provided but scope/definition not detailed — potential for encroachment disputes
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
19 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
SweetWater Technologies (powered by Gripp) · FDD (2025) PDF