Bottom line
- Total investment $98K – $198K including a $60K franchise fee.
- Average unit revenue of $475K/year. Estimated payback in 0.8 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 50/100.
- Emerging franchise — only 3 years of franchising with 4 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 Shutter House unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
34%
In Yale's "attractive" band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 The Shutter House units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$475K
on $2.4M purchase
Total debt
$1.9M
SBA $1.2M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
The Shutter House franchisees operate retail/service locations selling and installing window shutters, blinds, and related window treatments. Day-to-day operations include customer consultations, product design/measurement, installation coordination, and ongoing customer service in a 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 · 3 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
Early-stage franchise with minimal operating history, aggressive growth trajectory, and opaque financial performance creates elevated risk despite reasonable unit economics and no litigation.
Score breakdown · what drove the 50 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 4 units in system with no Item 19 financial disclosure creates validation difficulty for $97.5K-$198.3K investment
- 02MINORExtremely aggressive unit growth (50% YoY) from micro base (4 units) suggests unsustainable expansion or recent launches
- 03MINORRoyalty floor of $25,000/year on average net income of $195K represents 12.8% effective tax, compressing margins significantly
- 04MEDHigh franchise fee ($60K) represents 61.5% of total minimum investment ($97.5K), leaving limited working capital
- 05MINORProtected territory with only 4 units suggests either new concept or market saturation concerns in existing territories
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
3 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
The Shutter House · FDD (2025) PDF