FranchiseVerdict
The Mini Donut Company logo
FV-02674·CAUTIONStandard71

The Mini Donut Company

Food & Beverage - BakeryFranchising since 2024Website
Investment
$31K – $126K
4th pct Bakery
Avg revenue
70th pct Bakery
Royalty
5.0%
4th pct Bakery
Units
4
17th pct Bakery
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $31K – $126K including a $30K franchise fee, 5.0% 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 protected territory and the franchisor reserves the right to compete in your area. Clarify territorial boundaries before signing.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Mini Donut Franchising LLC
Incorporated in
California
HQ
2865 State Street, San Diego, California 92103
Auditor
Class Advisors GP
Audited financials

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 Mini Donut Company unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: restaurant
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $31K–$126K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $13K–$30K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

90%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$90K
EBITDA margin
12.0%
Total invested
$100K
Payback
13 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.

Overview

About

Franchisees operate retail donut shops (likely kiosks or small storefronts) specializing in mini donuts. Day-to-day operations include food preparation, inventory management, customer service, and point-of-sale transactions. Franchisees manage their own staffing, lease obligations, and local marketing within an unprotected territory.

CEO
Matt Whiffen
Founded
2023
FDD year
2025
States available
2

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$31K – $126K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$13K – $30K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
5.0%
percentage of Gross Sales · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
1.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.0%
vs 9–13% typical

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

Total units
4
Opened
1
Last reporting year
Closed
1
Turnover rate
25.0%
Company-owned
4
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
0%
vs corporate-owned
2023
0±0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units
2025
0
Franchised units

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

Item 12 · 2 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.

2

states with franchisees (per FDD Item 12)

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

72
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION72 / 100

This is a severely underdeveloped franchise system with going concern doubts, zero financial transparency, minimal unit count, and unprotected territory — avoid unless current franchisees demonstrate exceptional profitability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 72 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates potential financial viability issues or regulatory concerns with the franchisor
  2. 02MINOROnly 4 existing units with unknown growth trajectory — extremely small and stagnant system suggests failed expansion or market rejection
  3. 03MINORNo Item 19 financial performance data — franchisor refuses to disclose average unit economics, preventing ROI validation
  4. 04MINORUnprotected territory — franchisees face direct competition from other franchisees and brand cannibalization risk
  5. 05MINORHigh franchise fee ($29,900) relative to total investment and unknown profitability — difficult payback period to justify
  6. 06MINOR5% royalty on gross sales (not net) — franchisee pays royalties even during loss-making periods
  7. 07MINORMinimal franchisee base (4 units) creates insufficient validation sample and liquidity risk for resale

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Protected territory
No
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Granted
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
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
7 hrs
On-the-job training
51 hrs
POS system
Square
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 Mini Donut Company. This brand's FDD Item 20 did not include a contactable franchisee list.

FDD download

The Mini Donut Company · FDD (2025) PDF

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