FranchiseVerdict
FV-02929·CAUTIONStandard67

Wateria

RetailFranchising since 2024
Investment
$134K – $203K
28th pct Retail
Avg revenue
53rd pct Retail
Royalty
Units
0
0th pct Retail
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $134K – $203K including a $30K franchise fee.
  • 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 1 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

Legal entity
Wateria CA, LLC
Incorporated in
California
HQ
13120 Barton Road, Whittier, California 90605
Auditor
Wisely & Co, LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$0
vs $0 prior year

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 Wateria unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: retail
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $134K–$203K
Working capital
$
FDD reports $12K–$12K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

29%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$53K
EBITDA margin
7.0%
Total invested
$181K
Payback
41 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Wateria franchisees operate water vending stations or delivery routes selling purified and alkaline water to retail/consumer customers. Day-to-day operations include station maintenance, water quality monitoring, customer acquisition/retention, delivery logistics, and payment processing. Revenue depends on gallon volume sold across two product lines with drastically different royalty structures.

CEO
Kelly N. Choi
Founded
2022
FDD year
2024
States available
0

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$134K – $203K
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$12K – $12K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
Purified Water: 2 Cents per Gallon; Alkaline Water: 35% o…
Ad fund
2.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
37.0%
vs 9–13% typical

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

Total units
0
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
0
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
Multi-unit owners
20.0%
2022
0±0
Franchised units
2023
0
Franchised units
2024
0
Franchised units

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).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 3 states
Not registered

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.

Total loans
1
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

75
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION75 / 100

Wateria presents HIGH RISK due to going concern status, zero transparent unit data, missing financial disclosures (Item 19), and unsustainably high tiered royalties that may render franchises unprofitable at typical volumes.

Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing Concern status indicates franchisor financial distress or viability questions
  2. 02MEDZero disclosed unit count with unknown growth trajectory suggests system collapse, startup phase, or data concealment
  3. 03MEDNo average revenue or net income disclosure (missing Item 19) prevents ROI validation and profitability assessment
  4. 04MINORTiered royalty structure on alkaline water (35% down to 25%) is extraordinarily high and may be unsustainable at lower volumes
  5. 05MINORModest initial investment ($134K-$203K) contradicts complex royalty model, suggesting potential underfunding or aggressive unit economics
  6. 06MINOR5-year term is shorter than industry standard (10 years), indicating either high franchisor confidence issues or franchisee protections concerns
  7. 07HIGHNo litigation disclosed but going concern status raises questions about hidden disputes or regulatory issues
  8. 08MINORPurified water royalty (2 cents/gallon) lacks context on volume thresholds or profitability floors

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
0
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
2 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Required
Governing law
California

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
6 hrs
On-the-job training
17 hrs
POS system
Sunny
Operating tech stack

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

Locked
(860) 240-••••
CT
(808) 586-••••
HI
(518) 473-••••
NY

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Wateria · FDD (2024) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above