The Budlong Southern Chicken
Bottom line
- Total investment $135K – $828K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 72/100.
- No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.
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 Budlong Southern Chicken unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
20%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate fast-casual chicken restaurants serving Southern-style chicken dishes (likely fried chicken, sandwiches, sides). Daily operations include food prep, customer service, inventory management, and adherence to brand standards. The model appears QSR-focused with limited location count suggesting either new concept phase or stalled expansion.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 21 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
Micro-brand with litigation exposure, missing financial disclosures, no territory protection, and apparent corporate financial instability presents substantial execution and profitability risk.
Score breakdown · what drove the 72 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 6 units system-wide with unknown/likely stagnant growth indicates minimal scale and unproven model
- 02MEDNo disclosed average revenue or net income (missing Item 19) prevents ROI validation and suggests poor performance
- 03MINOROfficer Joshua Halpern named in counterclaim for misrepresentation and breach of contract at affiliated Big Chicken entity raises credibility concerns
- 04MINORNo protected territory creates direct competition risk and cannibalization between franchisees
- 05HIGHGoing concern status is FALSE, suggesting potential financial instability or undisclosed liabilities at corporate level
- 06MINORWide investment range ($134K-$828K) indicates unclear cost structure and poor financial controls
- 07MED6% royalty on undisclosed revenues provides no benchmarking; actual take-home profitability unknown
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
27 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
The Budlong Southern Chicken · FDD (2025) PDF