Bottom line
- Total investment $476K – $813K including a $60K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $582K/year (median $562K). Estimated payback in 21.1 years.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 62/100.
- System growing at 160.9% CAGR over 3 years with 64 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 NOW unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
18%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 The NOW units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.7M
on $8.7M purchase
Total debt
$7.0M
SBA $4.4M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
The NOW appears to be a wellness, fitness, or lifestyle experience brand where franchisees operate a physical location serving customers. Day-to-day operations likely include managing staff, customer experience delivery, facility maintenance, marketing, and community engagement within 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 · 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
The NOW presents a CAUTION-to-HIGH RISK profile due to going concern status, active founder litigation, inadequate unit economics (royalties consume 98% of net income), and lack of transparent financial performance data despite rapid growth.
Score breakdown · what drove the 62 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — indicates potential financial instability at corporate level despite 36.4% YoY unit growth
- 02HIGHActive litigation involving founders (Ehrman v. Post) over breach of contract, fiduciary duty, and misrepresentation raises governance and trustworthiness concerns
- 03MINORRoyalty structure minimum of $2,500/month ($30,000 annually) represents 98% of average net income ($30,558), leaving minimal profit margin for franchisee
- 04MINORHigh initial investment ($476k-$813k) combined with thin margins creates extended payback period and capital recovery risk
- 05MINORNo Item 19 (Financial Performance Representations) provided — unable to validate if $582k average revenue and $30.5k net income are system-wide or cherry-picked
- 06MINORRapid expansion (36.4% YoY growth) may indicate aggressive recruitment over franchisee support and sustainable unit economics
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
80 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
The NOW · FDD (2024) PDF