Bottom line
- Total investment $90K – $226K including a $24K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $142K/year.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100.
- System growing at 35.7% CAGR over 3 years with 52 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 Waffle Cabin unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
13%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Waffle Cabin units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$255K
on $1.3M purchase
Total debt
$1.0M
SBA $0.6M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate quick-service waffle restaurants, managing inventory, food preparation, customer service, and point-of-sale operations. Daily responsibilities include staffing, quality control, marketing in protected territory, and royalty/fee compliance. Operators focus on high-margin breakfast/brunch service with potential daypart expansion.
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 · 11 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
Waffle Cabin presents caution-level risk due to missing profitability disclosure, unclear franchisor financial health, and unit economics that may not support the mid-to-high investment range.
Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI validation and profitability assessment
- 02HIGHGoing Concern = False indicates franchisor may lack financial stability or has undisclosed operational challenges
- 03MINORWide investment range ($90K-$226K) with modest $141.6K avg revenue creates unfavorable payback period and unclear unit economics
- 04MEDModest unit growth (11.8% YoY) on small base (52 units) suggests limited system momentum and market traction
- 05MINOR5% royalty on gross sales is reasonable, but without net income data, true cost burden is unknown
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
23 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Waffle Cabin · FDD (2024) PDF