Waterloo Turf
Bottom line
- Total investment $106K – $152K including a $59K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.0M/year. Estimated payback in 0.8 years.
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 50/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 2 loans (below the industry average).
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
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 Waterloo Turf unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
75%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Waterloo Turf units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$839K
on $4.2M purchase
Total debt
$3.4M
SBA $2.1M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Waterloo Turf franchisees operate lawn care and turf management services, including lawn installation, maintenance, and landscaping for residential and commercial clients. Day-to-day operations involve crew scheduling, equipment maintenance, customer acquisition/retention, and field service delivery across assigned customer territories.
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 · 4 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
Waterloo Turf is a micro-franchise with unverified unit economics, no territorial protection, and minimal system scale—presenting substantial execution and franchisor stability risk despite no disclosed litigation.
Score breakdown · what drove the 50 / 100 rating
- 01MINOROnly 5 units system-wide with unknown growth trajectory indicates minimal scale and unproven replicability
- 02MINORNo territorial protection leaves franchisees vulnerable to direct competition from same franchisor or encroachment
- 03MINORHigh franchise fee ($59,000) represents 55% of minimum total investment, creating significant upfront capital risk with small support network
- 04MINORRoyalty burden of 6% on claimed $1.05M average revenue ($63K annually) coupled with unverified Item 19 financials
- 05MINORMicro-franchise size (5 units) raises questions about franchisor viability, support infrastructure, and whether financial claims are accurate across diverse markets
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
4 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Waterloo Turf · FDD (2025) PDF