Bottom line
- Total investment $24K – $38K including a $15K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $158K/year (median $123K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 49/100.
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 GROUT DOCTOR® unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
78%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 THE GROUT DOCTOR® units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$285K
on $1.4M purchase
Total debt
$1.1M
SBA $0.7M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate a grout and tile cleaning/restoration service, performing on-site residential and commercial cleaning, sealing, and repair work. Revenue depends heavily on local service density, repeat customer acquisition, and seasonal demand. Day-to-day involves sales calls, job estimates, field service delivery, and customer relationship management.
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 · 25 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
Moderate-to-high risk: system contraction, non-transparent profitability, aggressive royalty structure on low revenue, and ambiguous going concern status warrant careful validation before investment.
Score breakdown · what drove the 49 / 100 rating
- 01MINORDeclining unit count (-1.2% YoY) suggests system contraction and potential franchisee satisfaction issues
- 02MEDNo average net income disclosed prevents assessment of actual profitability and ROI despite $158k average revenue
- 03MINORTiered royalty structure with 9% floor on low-volume sales (up to $8k) creates high effective rates for underperforming locations
- 04HIGHGoing Concern status is 'False' — ambiguous wording; requires clarification if franchisor faces financial instability
- 05MINORLow franchise fee ($15k) relative to startup cost ($23.7k-$37.8k) suggests high ongoing royalty dependence for franchisor revenue
- 06HIGHNo litigation disclosed but declining units + profit opacity raises red flags about franchisee disputes being underreported
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
61 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
THE GROUT DOCTOR® · FDD (2025) PDF