Bottom line
- Total investment $295K – $482K including a $50K franchise fee, 8.0% 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 4 loans (below the industry average).
- 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
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 Shade unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
37%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Overview
About
The Shade appears to be a window treatment, shade installation, or solar control franchise (exact business model unclear from provided data). Franchisees would likely handle customer acquisition, installation/service delivery, and local marketing in their protected territory. Day-to-day operations presumably involve scheduling appointments, managing installation crews or performing installations, and customer service.
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 · 16 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.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
The Shade presents extreme risk: zero operating units, missing financial disclosures, franchisor going concern issues, and high capital requirements on an unproven business model.
Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating
- 01MINORZero existing franchised units with unknown growth trajectory indicates pre-revenue or failed system expansion
- 02MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosure (missing Item 19) prevents ROI validation and suggests poor unit economics
- 03HIGHGoing concern status is FALSE, signaling potential financial instability or operational distress at franchisor level
- 04MINORHigh initial investment ($295k-$482k) paired with $1,500/month royalty floor creates unsustainable fixed cost burden if revenue is low
- 05MINOR10-year term is lengthy lock-in for unproven concept with zero operating franchisees to reference
- 06MINOR8% royalty on unknown gross revenue creates income uncertainty; minimum floor suggests expectation of underperformance
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
19 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
The Shade · FDD (2026) PDF