The Learning Experience
Bottom line
- Total investment $686K – $5.6M including a $60K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $2.0M/year (median $2.0M).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 46/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 513 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 21.2% CAGR over 3 years with 366 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 Learning Experience unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
9%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 The Learning Experience units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
32.6%
4.10× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.48×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$6.4M
on $16.3M purchase
Total debt
$9.9M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate early childhood education and daycare centers serving infants through pre-K children, managing daily curriculum delivery, staff hiring/training, parent communications, and facility operations. Revenue comes from monthly tuition fees, with centers typically serving 50-150+ children across multiple age groups and operating year-round with seasonal enrollment fluctuations.
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 · 4 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
The Learning Experience presents meaningful risk due to undisclosed profitability, historical litigation precedent, modest growth trajectory, and opacity around actual franchisee earnings despite substantial capital requirements.
Score breakdown · what drove the 46 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHHistorical litigation with franchisees over contract disputes and FTC compliance issues (1990s cases with Weissman/Tutor Time) suggests potential franchisor-franchisee relationship problems
- 02MEDNo Item 19 (Average Unit Volume) disclosed despite $2.03M average revenue claim — lack of transparency on profitability and actual franchisee earnings
- 03MEDHigh initial investment range ($685K-$5.6M) with 7% royalties on gross revenue creates significant break-even burden without disclosed net income data
- 04MINORModest unit growth of 8.3% YoY is below industry standards for childcare franchises and may indicate market saturation or franchisee satisfaction issues
- 05MINORWide investment variance ($4.9M spread) suggests inconsistent unit economics or undefined territory/scope definitions
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
The Learning Experience · FDD (2024) PDF