FranchiseVerdict
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FV-02705·MODERATEExcellent81

The Seals

Food & Beverage - Full ServiceFranchising since 2019Website
Investment
$101K – $147K
7th pct Full Service
Avg revenue
57th pct Full Service
Royalty
8.0%
90th pct Full Service
Units
6
29th pct Full Service
SBA default

Bottom line

  • Total investment $101K – $147K including a $49K franchise fee, 8.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100.
  • No Item 19 financial performance representation. Without franchisor-disclosed revenue data, you'll need to gather unit economics directly from existing franchisees.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
The Seals Franchising, LLC
Parent company
Clintar, Inc. d/b/a EverSmith Brands
Incorporated in
North Carolina
HQ
6700 Forum Drive, Suite 150, Orlando, Florida 32821
Auditor
Plante & Moran, PLLC
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$22.2M
vs $35.0M prior year

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 Seals 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: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $101K–$147K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $30K–$45K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

60%

Above typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$98K
EBITDA margin
13.0%
Total invested
$162K
Payback
20 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 Seals operates marine animal-related entertainment or educational facilities (likely seal encounters, shows, or experiences). Franchisees manage day-to-day operations including animal care, guest experiences, staff scheduling, marketing, and venue maintenance.

CEO
Ken Hutcheson
Founded
2019
FDD year
2025
States available
3

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$101K – $147K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$30K – $45K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$49K
Royalty
8.0%
percentage of gross billings · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
10.0%
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
6
Opened
2
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Turnover rate
0.0%
Company-owned
1
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
83%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+66.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+150.0%
Compounded over last 3 years
2023
5+2
Franchised units
2024
3
Franchised units
2025
2
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 13 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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 13 states
Not registered

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

65
Risk · 0-100
MODERATE65 / 100

The Seals presents elevated risk due to going concern doubts, minimal scale, undisclosed financials, and lack of transparent performance data despite material franchise fees.

Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — franchisor may have financial viability issues
  2. 02MEDFinancial performance metrics (revenue and net income) completely undisclosed — impossible to validate unit economics
  3. 03MINOROnly 6 units system-wide — extremely small franchise network limits support infrastructure and brand recognition
  4. 04MINORAggressive 66.7% YoY unit growth from tiny base (likely 3-4 units last year) — may indicate unsustainable expansion or unreliable data
  5. 05MINORHigh franchise fee ($49,000) relative to total investment ($101,200-$147,300) means 33-48% of capital goes to franchisor upfront
  6. 06MINORNo Item 19 financial disclosures — franchisees cannot benchmark expected returns against other units

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Retail Food Service Locations
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
10 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
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
Florida

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
12 hrs
On-the-job training
42 hrs

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

16 numbers

Locked
(701) 328-••••
ND
(212) 416-••••
NY
(312) 856-••••
IL

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

The Seals · FDD (2025) PDF

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