Yale framework · 5-tool workbench

Run any brand through Yale's five franchise frameworks.

Pick a brand to pre-fill all five calculators with FDD data, or run them with the default values to feel out the math first. Cited sources: Mistretta & Wasserstein, Beck & Wasserstein, and Shantz & Wasserstein · Yale SOM 2023–2024.

Pick a brand

FV-00512Chick-fil-A FV-00775Domino's Pizza FV-01597McDonald’s FV-01979PLANET FITNESS FV-02483Subway FV-02658The Joint Chiropractic Browse all brands

Returns model · single-unit ROIC

What would one Demo Brand unit return on the cash you put in?

From FDDCategory estimateYou overrode an FDD value

Revenue · per unit, per yearFDD

FDD Item 19 reports $750,000 per unit

Franchisor take · royalty + ad fundFDD

RoyaltyFDDtyp 6–8%

Ad fundFDDtyp 3–5%

Operating costs · generic category estimateest.

COGSest.

Laborest.

Rent / occupancyest.

Other operatingest.

Total invested capital · what you put in to openFDD

Initial investmentFDD

FDD Item 7: $200K–$350K (midpoint used)

Working capitalFDD

FDD reports $30K–$80K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

Estimated return on your total franchise investment, before any debt financing.

32%

Within the 30–60% "attractive franchise" band

0%30–60% attractive band80%

Store EBITDA · annual

$105K

EBITDA margin

14.0%

Total invested

$330K

Payback

38 mo

Single-unit 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 point.

These tools implement frameworks from Yale SOM case studies on franchise investing for educational and analytical purposes only. Outputs are model estimates, not investment advice. Verify all assumptions against the brand's actual FDD before committing capital.