The Original Hot Chicken
Bottom line
- Total investment $215K – $698K including a $25K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 77/100.
- Emerging franchise — only 3 years of franchising with 1 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.
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 Original Hot Chicken unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
22%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Franchisees operate quick-service restaurants specializing in hot chicken sandwiches and related menu items. Day-to-day operations include food preparation, customer service, inventory management, and staff supervision in a limited-service format. The model targets fast-casual diners seeking spicy chicken offerings.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
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
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 6 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
Single-unit franchise with going concern status, no financial transparency, and no growth track record presents extreme execution and franchisor stability risks.
Score breakdown · what drove the 77 / 100 rating
- 01HIGHGoing Concern issue — franchisor may have serious financial/operational viability problems
- 02MINOROnly 1 operating unit — no proven system scalability or multi-unit success track record
- 03MINORNo financial disclosure (Item 19) — cannot validate $215K-$698K investment ROI claims
- 04MINORWide investment range ($482K spread) — suggests inconsistent unit economics or undefined costs
- 05MINORUnknown unit growth trajectory — signals stagnation or potential contraction
- 06MINORMinimal franchise fee ($25K) relative to total investment — may indicate franchisor under-capitalization
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
9 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
The Original Hot Chicken · FDD (2023) PDF