The Baked Bear
Bottom line
- Total investment $280K – $871K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $743K/year.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 52/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 9 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 43.5% CAGR over 3 years with 34 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
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 The Baked Bear unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
13%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 The Baked Bear units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$520K
on $2.6M purchase
Total debt
$2.1M
SBA $1.3M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
The Baked Bear franchisees operate a build-your-own dessert concept, likely focusing on customizable baked goods (cookies, brownies, etc.) and ice cream. Day-to-day operations involve managing inventory, staffing front-of-house counter service, fulfilling custom orders, and maintaining food safety standards in a QSR-style environment.
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 · 16 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
Moderate-to-caution risk profile: While litigation-free with protected territory, the absence of Item 19 financial disclosures, modest growth trajectory, and wide investment variance prevent validation of profitability claims and make this franchise difficult to due diligence objectively.
Score breakdown · what drove the 52 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 — impossible to validate ROI or profitability claims
- 02MINORWide investment range ($279K-$870K) suggests inconsistent unit economics or hidden costs
- 03MINORModest unit growth of 13.8% YoY with only 34 locations indicates slow system expansion and potential market saturation
- 04MED6% royalty on $742K average revenue = $44.6K annually — combined with undisclosed operating costs, actual net margins are opaque
- 05MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (typically 10 years), creating renewal uncertainty and higher re-franchising risk
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
The Baked Bear · FDD (2026) PDF