Bottom line
- Total investment $281K – $726K including a $35K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $966K/year (median $1.0M). Estimated payback in 1.9 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 60/100. 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 Tabu Shabu unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
30%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Tabu Shabu 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 $9.7M purchase
Total debt
$7.7M
SBA $4.8M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate Tabu Shabu hot pot restaurants, a table-top cooking experience where customers simmer raw proteins and vegetables in seasoned broths. Daily operations include managing ingredient inventory (particularly fresh proteins with short shelf lives), staff training on specialized table equipment and safety, and creating an authentic dining ambiance. Revenue is highly dependent on managing food costs, table turnover rates, and beverage sales in a labor-intensive format.
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 12 · 2 states reported
The Territory Map
FDD Item 12 reports the state count, but the specific list isn't in our current data. The map will appear once we re-extract from the FDD or enough franchisee contacts are available.
2
states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)
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
Tabu Shabu presents caution-level risk: micro-franchise system with unverified unit economics, franchisor going concern status, and minimal scale to support infrastructure or handle franchisee failures.
Score breakdown · what drove the 60 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status indicates franchisor financial instability despite positive unit-level economics
- 02MINOROnly 8 units total with 33.3% YoY growth suggests an extremely early-stage system vulnerable to collapse
- 03MINORWide investment range ($281k-$726k) without clear disclosure of what drives the variance
- 04MINORNo Item 19 financial performance representation limits ability to verify claimed $965k avg revenue and $268k net income figures
- 05MINOR5% royalty on $965k average revenue yields only ~$48k annually per unit to support franchisor operations across 8 locations
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
4 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Tabu Shabu · FDD (2023) PDF