Bottom line
- Total investment $4.9M – $9.3M including a $50K franchise fee, 4.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.8M/year.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 59/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 40 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 110.1% CAGR over 3 years with 175 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
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 Tommy’s Express unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
4%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Tommy’s Express units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
29.7%
3.68× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
2.71×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$8.7M
on $19.6M purchase
Total debt
$10.9M
SBA $5.0M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Tommy's Express franchisees operate fast-lube automotive service centers providing oil changes, fluid top-offs, tire rotations, and basic maintenance. Daily operations include customer check-in, vehicle servicing, parts inventory management, staff scheduling, and quality control. Franchisees manage 3–8 service bays and typically employ 5–12 technicians.
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 · 19 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
Regulatory violations, hidden profitability metrics, and aggressive expansion create elevated risk despite strong unit growth and protected territories.
Score breakdown · what drove the 59 / 100 rating
- 01MINORMulti-state regulatory consent orders for unregistered franchise sales and disclosure violations indicate compliance failures at corporate level
- 02MEDNet income not disclosed in FDD Item 19 makes ROI impossible to verify; avg revenue of $1.79M means high operating costs are unknown
- 03MINORAggressive 35% YoY unit growth (175 units) suggests rapid expansion that may outpace operational support and quality control
- 04MEDHigh initial investment range ($4.9M–$9.3M) combined with undisclosed profitability creates significant financial risk
- 05HIGHOfficer bankruptcy not initially disclosed, then revealed only through regulatory action, indicates governance and transparency issues
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
100 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Tommy’s Express · FDD (2024) PDF