Bottom line
- Total investment $296K – $363K including a $39K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $477K/year (median $391K).
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 65/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 1 loans (below the industry average).
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 Zen Massage unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
30%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 Zen Massage units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.5M
on $7.6M purchase
Total debt
$6.1M
SBA $3.8M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
Franchisees operate massage therapy clinics providing services such as Swedish, deep tissue, hot stone, and specialty wellness treatments. Day-to-day operations involve managing licensed massage therapists, scheduling clients, maintaining HIPAA/health compliance, inventory management, and delivering customer service in a professional spa environment.
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 · 25 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
Zen Massage presents elevated risk due to undisclosed profitability data, micro-scale franchise system, going concern status, and high capital requirements relative to unproven unit economics.
Score breakdown · what drove the 65 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNo Item 19 (Average Net Income) disclosed — cannot verify actual profitability despite $476.5K average revenue
- 02MEDOnly 9 units system-wide indicates extremely limited scale and growth potential; unit growth trajectory unknown
- 03HIGHGoing Concern status is FALSE — suggests financial instability at corporate level or unresolved operational issues
- 04MEDHigh initial investment ($295.5K–$362.5K) relative to system size creates concentration risk and limited support infrastructure
- 05MINORMassage/wellness sector highly dependent on local licensing, staffing, and client retention — difficult to scale consistently
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
33 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Zen Massage · FDD (2025) PDF