FranchiseVerdict
THE OUTSIDE SCOOP logo
FV-02685·CAUTIONStandard67

The Outside Scoop

Food & Beverage - Ice Cream & DessertsFranchising since 2025Website
Investment
$222K – $2.2M
49th pct Ice Cream & D…
Avg revenue
59th pct Ice Cream & D…
Royalty
4.0%
3rd pct Ice Cream & D…
Units
0
0th pct Ice Cream & D…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $222K – $2.2M including a $25K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 75/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 1 loans (below the industry average).
  • Emerging franchise — only 1 year of franchising with 0 units. Early-stage systems carry higher risk but may offer better territory availability.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Murphy Ice Franchising, LLC
Parent company
Murphy Ice, Inc.
Incorporated in
Iowa
HQ
2510 SW White Birch Dr. Suite 8 Ankeny, Iowa 50023

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 OUTSIDE SCOOP 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: $222K–$2.2M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $25K–$50K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

8%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$105K
EBITDA margin
14.0%
Total invested
$1.2M
Payback
143 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

The Outside Scoop is an ice cream or frozen dessert retail concept where franchisees operate storefront locations selling premium ice cream, gelato, or specialty frozen treats. Day-to-day operations include inventory management, staff scheduling, point-of-sale management, customer service, and potential seasonal fluctuations common to ice cream retail.

CEO
Miranda Gerdes
Founded
2025
FDD year
2025
States available
0

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$222K – $2.2M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$25K – $50K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
4.0%
percentage of gross revenues · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
0.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
4.0%
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
0
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
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.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
1
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

75
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION75 / 100

An early-stage franchise with zero operating units, undisclosed financials, and franchisor going concern issues presents extreme execution and survival risk.

Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing Concern Status: FALSE indicates the franchisor itself may be financially unstable or facing viability questions
  2. 02MEDZero Disclosed Units: No current franchise locations means no operating system to validate, no peer network, and unproven concept in franchise model
  3. 03MINORNo Financial Disclosure (Item 19): Absence of average revenue and net income data prevents ROI assessment and suggests franchisor cannot or will not substantiate earnings claims
  4. 04MINORExtreme Investment Range ($222K–$2.2M): 10x variance indicates undefined business model, poor cost controls, or vastly different unit types with no clarity on what drives variance
  5. 05MEDRoyalty Structure Sustainability Risk: 4% of gross (not net) revenues means franchisees pay even during losses; with no disclosed profitability data, this could be unsustainable
  6. 06MINORNo Operating History in Franchise Model: Starting from zero units means no proven Unit Economics, no case studies, and franchisees are beta testers

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 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
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
Iowa

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
12 hrs
On-the-job training
38 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.

Franchisee contacts

3 numbers

Locked
(515) 490-••••
IA
(515) 444-••••
IA
(515) 444-••••
IA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

THE OUTSIDE SCOOP · FDD (2025) PDF

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