Bottom line
- Total investment $135K – $699K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $429K/year (median $397K).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 244 loans (below the industry average).
- System contracting at -25.6% CAGR over 3 years. Investigate whether closures are franchisor-driven (consolidation) or franchisee-driven (economics).
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 TCBY unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
9%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 TCBY units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$172K
on $859K purchase
Total debt
$687K
SBA $0.4M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
TCBY franchisees operate frozen yogurt retail shops, managing daily operations including product preparation, customer service, point-of-sale transactions, inventory management, and staff supervision. Franchisees handle local marketing, staffing, and facility maintenance while adhering to brand standards and paying 6% of gross revenues in royalties.
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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
TCBY is a contracting frozen yogurt franchise with negative unit growth, undisclosed profitability, unprotected territories, and potential going concern issues—presenting high operational and financial risk.
Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating
- 01MEDSevere unit decline of 13.8% YoY (125 units) indicates contracting system and potential brand viability concerns
- 02HIGHNo going concern statement is FALSE, suggesting franchisor may have disclosed going concern warnings in FDD Item 5
- 03MEDNet income not disclosed prevents ROI analysis; with $429k avg revenue and 6% royalty, franchisees may struggle to achieve profitability
- 04MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk—multiple franchisees could operate in same market
- 05MINORWide investment range ($135k-$699k) suggests inconsistent unit economics and unclear startup costs
- 06MINORItem 19 (Financial Performance) appears absent, limiting ability to validate earnings claims
- 07MINORDeclining unit base suggests franchisees are exiting faster than entering—red flag for satisfaction and economics
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
99 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
TCBY · FDD (2025) PDF