Question 1

Is Once Upon A Child or Shipley Do-Nuts cheaper to open?

Accepted Answer

Once Upon A Child costs $355,700–$485,900 and Shipley Do-Nuts costs $503,461–$1,024,946 to open (FDD Item 7). Once Upon A Child has the lower entry cost.

Question 2

Which earns more, Once Upon A Child or Shipley Do-Nuts?

Accepted Answer

Once Upon A Child reports $1,268,984 average annual unit revenue vs $928,180 for Shipley Do-Nuts (FDD Item 19). Once Upon A Child is higher.

Question 3

Which is safer, Once Upon A Child or Shipley Do-Nuts?

Accepted Answer

SBA 7(a) charge-off rate is 3.6% for Once Upon A Child and 0.0% for Shipley Do-Nuts. Lower is safer, so Shipley Do-Nuts has the stronger loan-repayment record.

Question 4

Which is the better franchise, Once Upon A Child or Shipley Do-Nuts?

Accepted Answer

FranchiseVerdict grades Once Upon A Child A and Shipley Do-Nuts A, from FDD Items 5–7, 19–21 and SBA loan performance. See the full side-by-side above.

Metric	Once Upon A Child	Shipley Do-Nuts
Verdict Grade	AStrongest tierStrongest tier	AStrongest tierStrongest tier
Investment Range	$356K – $486K	$503K – $1.0M
Franchise Fee	$25K	$40K
Royalty Rate	5.0%	5.0%
Average Revenue (Item 19)	$1.3M	$928K
SBA Charge-Off Rate	3.6% (228 loans)	0.0% (27 loans)
Total Units	441	366
Unit Growth (YoY)	N/A	N/A
Year Began Franchising	1993	2020
FDD Year	2026	2025

Once Upon A Child vs Shipley Do-Nuts