Waffle Cabin Mobile Franchise Cost & 2024 FDD Data
71/100
Strongest tier
71 this brand51 Quick-Service Restaurants medianlikely 53–89: narrower with more SBA loans and a newer filing (low confidence)
Higher is better · an editorial assessment, not investment advice
#479 of 3,068 graded brands
Why an A: Helped by legal record and transparency. See all six factors
- Total investment
- $90K – $188K
- Trailer/Truck format
- Avg gross sales
- not extracted
- SBA charge-off
- Not SBA-matched
Data from the FDD filing. Analysis by FranchiseVerdict · Methodology · Website · Report an error · Franchisor? Claim this listing
This data is from a 2024 FDD. Current terms may differ. Always verify with the franchisor's latest disclosure document.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2024 FDD
Per the 2024 FDD, a Waffle Cabin Mobile franchise requires a total initial investment of $90K – $188K for the Trailer/Truck format (the filing prices $90K to $226K across two formats), including a $24K franchise fee. Once open, the ongoing royalty is 5.0%. The 2024 FDD on file does not yield a unit-revenue figure we can publish. Verdict grade: A (Strongest tier), an editorial assessment, not investment advice.
Sources: 2024 FDD · What one unit could make and lose →
Sources, dates and evidence
FDD issued: · Last cited check: · Staleness risk: high (issued more than two years ago)
Evidence for the headline figures: thin✓ Investment (Item 7)✗ Item 19 status✗ Units and owners (Item 20)✗ SBA loan coverage✓ Litigation (Item 3)✓ Financial statements (Item 21)✓ Franchisor identityhow this is scored4 of 4 headline figures on this page cite a page of the filing.
Overview
Quick verdict · vs Quick-Service Restaurants median
Top edge: green = better than the Quick-Service Restaurants median by more than 10%, red = worse by more than 10%, gray = within 10% or no benchmark. Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a).
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Methodology
Bottom line
- RETURNSItem 19 reports 2023 systemwide Gross Sales for 14 company-owned cabins (total $2,708,968) and 38 franchisee-owned cabins (total $4,654,426), broken out per-location with high/low/average/median; no single systemwide average figure is stated, so no systemwide average is shown, rather than present a per-location figure as if it were systemwide.
AT STAKEOne unit at the Item 7 midpoint: $18K a year in payments on assumed SBA 7(a)-style terms.You put in about $28K of your own cash and personally guarantee a $111K loan. Assumptions are labeled in Sales; not investment advice.See what one unit could make and lose
Things to check before you sign (2)
- The franchisor keeps the right to compete inside your territory (Item 12, territory).
- An owner must run the business personally (Item 15, owner participation). Ask whether a trained manager can ever stand in.
Checked and clear: no auditor doubt that the franchisor can keep operating, no lawsuit naming the franchisor in Item 3, no supplier rebates to the franchisor and the full filing on file. Not on file here, so ask: unit trend, SBA charge-off rate against the category median and jury-trial waiver.
What to do next
Step 1: Read the FDD itself.
Free: the franchisor must give it to you at least 14 days before you sign or pay. Or look it up in a state registry (Wisconsin, Minnesota, California). What to read first.
Step 2: Talk to current and former owners.
Free: Item 20 of the FDD lists every current owner and those who left last year, most with a phone number. Questions to ask.
Step 3: Talk to an SBA lender.
Free: the SBA's Lender Match. Ask what you would personally guarantee and what the monthly payment would be. If you plan to use retirement savings, ask a CPA about the rules for that first.
Step 4: Have a franchise attorney review the FDD and agreement.
Free: your state bar's lawyer referral service can name franchise lawyers, and many offer a short first consultation. Bring the checks listed above.
Research steps, not investment or legal advice.
Can you afford it, and what does the money buy?
Entry cost (the Item 7 midpoint) is 71% below the Quick-Service Restaurants median ($487K).
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 5–7 (fees and startup costs)
Do you qualify? The filing states no minimum net worth or liquid capital. Ask Atomium, Inc. (Item 1: 18 Night Pasture Lane, South Chittenden, Vermont 05701) and your lender what they require, and keep living costs for the first year outside the deal.
Item 7 (startup costs) · 2 formats · 2024 FDD
Every building format
The filing prints a separate Item 7 table for each format.
2 formats, from $90K to $226K
| Format | Total investment | Page |
|---|---|---|
| Brick And Mortar | $93K – $226K | p.17 |
| Trailer/Truck(the range shown above) | $90K – $188K | p.18 |
Full Item 7 breakdown13 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Fee | $23.5K | $23.5K | |
| Delayed Opening Fee | $0 | $15K | |
| Vehicle | $35K | $90K | |
| Equipment | $15K | $25K | |
| Initial Inventory - Proprietary Items (does not include delivery charge) | $2.47K | $2.68K | |
| Initial Inventory - Other (does not include delivery charge) | $1.53K | $2.92K | |
| Point-of-Sale System | $1K | $1.5K | |
| Travel, lodging and meals for initial training | $0 | $3.5K | |
| Insurance – 3 Months | $500 | $500 | |
| Grand Opening Advertising | — | — | |
| Licenses and Permits | $250 | $1K | |
| Professional Fees | $1K | $5K | |
| Additional Funds – 3 Months | $10K | $17.5K | |
| Total initial investment | $90K | $188K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. The total row is the total as printed in Item 7. Actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Item 6 · what you pay once you are open
Ongoing fees
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fundBrand-wide marketing pool. None at this time. When established, up to 2% of Gross Sales | 0.0% of gross sales |
| Technology feeWebsite Fee of $30, payable together with the Royalty Fee, for development and maintenance of franchisee's web page on franchisor's website | $30 |
| Transfer fee | $7,500 |
| Renewal fee | $2,000 |
| Total fee loadbelow the Quick-Service Restaurants median of 7.0% (lean) | 5.0% of sales |
Items 6 (other fees), 7 (startup costs) and 19 (sales and earnings) · assumptions labeled
What you could make and lose: one unit
What one Waffle Cabin Mobile unit would ask of you, from the filing's Item 7 total and labeled assumptions.
How these figures are worked out
- Loan (assumption): 80% of the $139K Item 7 midpoint (Trailer/Truck format) is a $111K loan, paid over 10 years at 10.5%: $18K a year. SBA 7(a)-style terms on a long-term rate; your lender sets yours.
What you put at risk
Your own cash in: about $28K Assumption (the part the loan does not cover of the $139K Item 7 midpoint), plus whatever anything Item 7 leaves out (its notes say what). The loan is $111K.
Personal guarantee. SBA 7(a) loans require a personal guarantee from anyone who owns 20% or more of the business. If the unit cannot pay, the lender can collect from you personally, which can include your savings and your home. The worst case is losing the cash you put in and still owing the rest of the loan.
Gross sales are not profit, and none of these figures is take-home pay until tax and every operating cost are paid. The assumptions are ours, not the filing's. Not investment advice.
Returns modelOne unit · several units · editable
No Item 19 gross sales figure for Waffle Cabin Mobile is on file. The return models need one gross sales figure to start from, plus the operating costs that turn gross sales into a profit. Enter your own and the calculator runs on your assumptions; nothing here is modelled until you do.
Returns model · one unit
What would one Waffle Cabin Mobile unit leave you each year after the loan payment?
Not disclosed in Item 19. Enter your own gross sales assumption
Gross sales, not profit: the costs below decide what is left.
No Item 19 figures are on file for this brand. Enter your own costs from a lease quote, a payroll plan and calls with current owners.
Illustrative category typicals, not sourced to any filing, survey or sample. Replace them with figures from franchisee validation calls before you rely on the output.
Item 7 midpoint of $90K to $188K
Item 7's $10K to $18K additional funds are already in the total
Left after the loan payment · per year
The unit's EBITDA minus the assumed loan payment. Before tax, depreciation and any cost your inputs leave out (insurance, accounting and legal, licenses, technology fees): not take-home pay.
Gross sales are not profit. Neither the filing nor a stated assumption on this page supplies annual revenue, COGS, labor, rent / occupancy and other operating costs. Enter your own (a lease quote, owner calls) and the model runs on it.
Loan of $111K at 10.5% over 10 years, an assumption, not a quote. Return and payback are before tax, depreciation and the costs above. The loan usually needs your personal guarantee.
These models are for research and scenario planning only. Not investment advice. Actual results depend on your specific location, management, and market conditions. Consult a franchise attorney and accountant before signing any franchise agreement.
Item 19 · Source: 2024 FDD · filed by Atomium, Inc.
Financial performance
Item 19 reports 2023 systemwide Gross Sales for 14 company-owned cabins (total $2,708,968) and 38 franchisee-owned cabins (total $4,654,426), broken out per-location with high/low/average/median; no single systemwide average figure is stated, so no systemwide average is shown, rather than present a per-location figure as if it were systemwide.
Item 19 covers the parent format. The filing's Item 19 groups describe Waffle Cabin, not this format, so they are printed on the Waffle Cabin page.
vs Quick-Service Restaurants medians
How Waffle Cabin Mobile compares
Category median of published Quick-Service Restaurants brands that report the figure; the middle half spans the 25th to 75th percentile and n counts the brands behind it. Medians are used because a few very large systems pull an average far from the typical brand. Revenue is disclosed gross sales, not profit.
Who are you contracting with?
Atomium, Inc.
Item 1 (the franchisor) · who you're contracting with
The franchisor
Corporate structure & franchisor financials
- Legal entity
- Atomium, Inc.
- CEO title
- Chief Executive Officer
- Peter E. Creyf
- Incorporated in
- Vermont
- HQ
- 18 Night Pasture Lane, South Chittenden, Vermont 05701
- Auditor
- McCormack, Guyette & Associates, PC
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $872K
- latest fiscal year in the 2024 FDD
Overview
About
- CEO
- Peter E. Creyf
Item 20 (outlet counts) · unit dynamics
The growth chart
- % franchised
- 73%
- vs corporate-owned
Last fiscal year · Item 20 rates and pipeline
- Signed, not yet open
- 0
- Item 20 Table 5
- Projected new
- 2
- Franchisor's next-year forecast
No multi-year history disclosed and no opening/closing activity in the last reporting year.
Government records
SBA loan data
Matched to this brand from SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan records.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
What are the risks?
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA · FDD Items 3, 21
Verdict grade + FDD Items 3 (litigation), 4 (bankruptcy), 8 (required suppliers), 16 (what you may sell), 21 (audited financials)
Risk and legal
Grade A: Strongest tier, 71/100 (category median 51); the full grade is at the top of the page.
How the grade is built
Why an A, factor by factor
- Financial health NeutralAudited financials; no going-concern doubt
- Unit economics NeutralNo Item 19 sales figure to set against the investment, so neutral
- Unit growth NeutralTurnover 0.0%
- Scale NeutralFranchising since 2012
- Legal HelpsNo litigation naming the franchisor in Item 3
- Transparency HelpsItem 19 status not confirmed (neither credit nor penalty); audited financials
From the six scored dimensions, an editorial assessment, not investment advice. How the score is built
Litigation (Item 3)
Subject: officers or affiliates. The franchisor is not a named party in these cases.
No litigation disclosed in Item 3.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · McCormack, Guyette & Associates, PC
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
Ask what the franchisor earns on the supplies it sells you or the rebates it takes (Item 8).
- Franchisor sells you products: Yes
- Franchisor takes supplier rebates: No
- Must buy proprietary products: Yes
- Restricted to system-approved products: Yes
- Can negotiate own supplier terms: No
What are you signing up for?
Ongoing fees run about 5.0% of sales (royalty + ad fund), before your own operating costs.
Source: FDD 2024 · Items 11, 12, 17
FDD Items 12 (territory), 15 (owner participation) and 17 (renewal, termination and disputes)
Contract and territory detail
| Allowed renewals | 1 |
|---|---|
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Exclusive territory | Yes |
| Territory radius | 3 mi |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Who runs it (Item 15) | Owner must run it |
| Non-compete (years) | 2 years |
| Non-compete (miles) | 10 mi |
| Right of first refusal | Yes |
| RoFR response window | 30 days |
| Transfer requires consent | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Arbitration location | Vermont (Rutland County) |
| Governing law | Vermont |
Items 10 (financing), 11 (training and support)
Training and operations
- On-the-job training
- 9 hrs
- Ongoing training
- Optional
- Time to open
- 8 mo
- From signing to launch
- Site selection
- Franchisor approves sites franchisee locates; franchisor provides written site selection guidelines and may conduct one on-site evaluation
- Franchisor financing
- Not offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- ShopKeep
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 (initial fees) & 11 (training and support)
Franchisor support
Franchisee contacts
We hold no owner list for this brand. Item 20 of the FDD lists the current and former owners; the free FDD is the source.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to open a Waffle Cabin Mobile franchise?
Per the 2024 FDD, the total investment to open a Waffle Cabin Mobile franchise ranges from $90K to $188K for the Trailer/Truck format, with an initial franchise fee of $24K. Across every format the filing prices, totals run from $90K to $226K (two formats). This is the Item 7 total in the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD): the startup costs the franchisor lists, such as build-out, equipment, inventory and working capital. It usually leaves out buying land or a building; Item 7's notes say what is excluded.
What do Waffle Cabin Mobile franchise owners earn?
No average owner earnings figure for Waffle Cabin Mobile is on file. Item 19, where a franchisor may disclose what its outlets earn, is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and we have not established what this brand's FDD says. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
Who owns Waffle Cabin Mobile?
Waffle Cabin Mobile is franchised by Atomium, Inc. Source: FDD Item 1, 2024 filing.
What is Item 19 in the Waffle Cabin Mobile FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. FranchiseVerdict extracts these figures directly from the Waffle Cabin Mobile FDD and qualifies whose outlets they describe.
What is Waffle Cabin Mobile's franchise failure rate?
There is no published franchise failure rate, and Waffle Cabin Mobile has too few resolved SBA 7(a) loans on file (fewer than 10) to show an SBA charge-off rate that would mean anything. The SBA charge-off rate is the share of a brand's resolved SBA 7(a) loans to its franchisees that the SBA wrote off, including purchased guarantees. Resolved means paid in full or charged off; active loans are excluded because their outcome is not yet known. It is a lending outcome, not a count of closed businesses. Review the turnover and closure figures in Item 20 of the FDD and speak with current and former franchisees.
Is Waffle Cabin Mobile a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict gives Waffle Cabin Mobile an A Verdict grade (Strongest tier) with a verdict score of 71 out of 100 (higher is better), an editorial assessment, not investment advice. Helped by legal record (no litigation naming the franchisor in Item 3) and transparency. The “Why an A” section on this page lists all six dimensions and any adjustment. Speak with current franchisees before making any investment decision.
Other Quick-Service Restaurants franchises
Similar investment first, then by grade
This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.