The Driveway Company
Bottom line
- Total investment $89K – $169K including a $60K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $263K/year (median $205K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 51/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 14 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 300.0% CAGR over 3 years with 36 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 DRIVEWAY COMPANY unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
22%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 THE DRIVEWAY COMPANY units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$263K
on $1.3M purchase
Total debt
$1.1M
SBA $0.7M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
The Driveway Company franchisees provide driveway installation, repair, and maintenance services (likely asphalt, concrete, or sealcoating). Day-to-day operations involve managing crews, estimating jobs, sourcing materials, scheduling installations, and managing customer relationships in their protected territory.
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
Rapidly expanding small system with regulatory history and opaque profitability metrics presents moderate-to-cautious risk despite protected territories and reasonable unit growth.
Score breakdown · what drove the 51 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Net Income) disclosed — inability to assess actual profitability despite $262,764 average revenue
- 02MINOR50% YoY unit growth is aggressive for a 36-unit system; sustainability and franchisee quality concerns at this scaling rate
- 03MINOR2014 regulatory settlement with Virginia SCC for operating without valid franchise registration indicates compliance/governance issues
- 04MEDHigh royalty structure (7% of gross sales OR minimum fee) — minimum fee amount not disclosed; could significantly impact unit economics
- 05MINORFranchise fee of $59,900 is substantial; combined with $88,765-$168,980 total investment, ROI timeline is unclear without net income data
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
40 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
THE DRIVEWAY COMPANY · FDD (2022) PDF