FranchiseVerdict
The Dog Stop logo
FV-02625·STRONGExcellent91

The Dog Stop

Personal Services - Pet CareFranchising since 2013Website
Investment
$554K – $1.1M
87th pct Pet Care
Avg revenue
$917K
43rd pct Pet Care
Royalty
6.0%
18th pct Pet Care
Units
37
67th pct Pet Care
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $554K – $1.1M including a $60K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • Average unit revenue of $917K/year (median $830K). Estimated payback in 5.2 years.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 39/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 69 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 72.2% CAGR over 3 years with 37 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
The Dog Stop Franchising, LLC
Incorporated in
Pennsylvania
HQ
1632 William Flinn Highway, Glenshaw, PA 15116
Auditor
REESE CPA LLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$2.1M
vs $2.4M prior year

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 Dog Stop unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
FDD Item 19 reports $917,252
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: automotive
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $554K–$1.1M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $23K–$104K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

17%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$156K
EBITDA margin
17.0%
Total invested
$897K
Payback
69 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing

What would 25 The Dog Stop units return on equity?

Edit assumptions

Equity IRR · 5-yr

49.9%

7.57× MOIC

Year-1 DSCR

1.88×

EBITDA ÷ debt service

Equity required

$1.8M

on $9.2M purchase

Total debt

$7.3M

SBA $4.6M + senior + seller note

Overview

About

The Dog Stop franchisees operate pet care facilities providing grooming, boarding, daycare, and training services for dogs. Day-to-day operations involve managing staff (groomers, trainers, kennel attendants), scheduling appointments, handling pet care logistics, maintaining facility cleanliness and safety standards, and managing customer relationships and retail sales.

CEO
Jesse Coslov
Founded
2012
FDD year
2025
States available
13

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$554K – $1.1M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$23K – $104K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$60K
Royalty
6.0%
Percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.0%
vs 9–13% typical
Payback period
5.2 yrs
From v3 / Item 19

Item 19

Financial Performance

Avg gross sales
$917K
Per unit, per year
Median gross sales
$830K
Item 19 type
Actual
Sample size
24 units
vs category median 12
Range (low → high)
$379K$2.6M
Cohort dispersion
Transparency
10 / 5
vs category median 4 / 5 · above
Revenue rank43th
vs Personal Services - Pet Care peers
Investment cost rank87th
Lower investment ranks lower (better)
Royalty rate rank18th
Lower royalty = lower percentile (better)
Unit count rank67th
vs Personal Services - Pet Care peers
Risk score rank2th
Lower risk = lower percentile (better)

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
37
Opened
12
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
6
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
84%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+63.2%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+72.2%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
31+12
Franchised units
2024
19
Franchised units
2025
18
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 12 · 13 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.

13

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
69
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

39
Risk · 0-100
STRONG39 / 100

The Dog Stop presents moderate-to-caution risk due to undisclosed financial representations, corporate going concern issues, and aggressive growth that may outpace support systems, despite strong unit expansion and no litigation.

Score breakdown · what drove the 39 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) disclosed — cannot validate the $917,252 average revenue claim independently
  2. 02HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE, indicating potential financial instability at corporate level despite 63.2% unit growth
  3. 03MINORHigh investment range ($553.5K–$1.1M) relative to reported net income ($161K), creating 3.4–6.9 year payback period with no contingency
  4. 04MINORRapid 63.2% YoY unit growth may indicate aggressive expansion outpacing operational infrastructure or franchisee quality control
  5. 05MINOR6% royalty on gross sales (not net) extracts $55K annually from average unit, reducing actual take-home margins

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius, zip codes, or geographic boundaries
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Pennsylvania

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
24 hrs
On-the-job training
35 hrs
POS system
Pet Exec
Operating tech stack

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.

No franchisee contacts available for The Dog Stop. This brand's FDD Item 20 did not include a contactable franchisee list.

FDD download

The Dog Stop · FDD (2025) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above