Week 5: Crumbl & Fundraising University
Gourmet cookies + a fundraising franchise
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To franchise owners,
Today’s edition highlights Crumbl and Fundraising University, two up-start franchises - both of which only started franchising in the last 4 years!
Crumbl started with "one big dream, two crazy cousins, and the goal to create the world's best chocolate chip cookie”. Sawyer Hemsley (COO) and Jason McGowan (CEO) dove into the world of baking and tested their cookies 1 ingredient at a time, asking random passerby at local gas stations and grocery stores to try two cookies side-by-side and answer one question: "Which of these two cookies is best?” In just a few years, Crumbl is now known for their high-quality ingredients, iconic pink packaging, and prepping their baked goods directly in front of customers.
Fundraising University is a team of former athletes and coaches who know the pain points of funding sports programs. Franchisees are able to start up fast and operate with low overhead costs. The concept enables franchisees to work with high school and middle school sports teams, with the goal of raising as much money as possible for them in the shortest amount of time.
Both Crumbl and Fundraising University have shown promising unit economics in their FDD’s based on other franchisees performance. Read on for the exact numbers 👇
DISCLAIMER: DO NOT CONSIDER ANYTHING WRITTEN AS INVESTMENT ADVICE. IF YOU DECIDE TO PURCHASE A FRANCHISE, YOU MUST DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH, AND REALIZE ANY INVESTMENT MAY CAUSE BANKRUPTCY.
Crumbl Cookies
Background
Franchising since 2018
Founded in 2017 in Logan, Utah
Offers delivery, pick-up, catering, nationwide shipping, via the Crumbl app
Number of Units
Apologies if you’re reading this from the western half of the United States 😔
Fees, Expenses (2020 FDD)
Initial Franchise Fee: $25,000
Royalty Fee: 8% of gross sales
Brand Development Fund: 2% of gross sales
Initial Investment (2020 FDD)
$227,666 - $567,833
Real estate and improvements include $75k-$250k of the range
Furniture, fixtures, & equipment make up $75k-$100k of the range
Financial Performance (2020 FDD)
The below financial data from Item 19 of Crumbl’s FDD is represented from the 14 franchised units that existed at the start of 2019, and operated for the entire calendar year of 2019
The Wolf’s Take 🍟
Even with an 8% royalty, the franchisees reported an average net margin of 21.58%, which is incredibly strong for a food concept (not to mention the average net profit was $284k off what is projected to be a $567k investment on the high end).
The thing to keep in mind is that this is the most recent data provided, and it’s only from 14 locations in 2019. As you saw based on the remaining territory, this concept has had MONSTROUS growth since it’s founding just 4 years ago!
Any candidate interested in this franchise would get to speak to more recent franchisees, so a few good questions to ask would be how their performance stacks up against the numbers in the FDD, and of course if/how covid has impacted operations.
Nonetheless, this franchise has a great founding story, and if they truly do have the world’s greatest chocolate chip cookie…then it’s no wonder they’ve grown so quickly!
Recent Press
Twitter Watch 👀
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https://twitter.com/franchisewolf
Fundraising University
Background
Franchising since 2020
Founded in 2009, currently based in Loch Lloyd, Missouri
Franchisees raise money for middle school and high school teams
Number of Units
Source: Entrpreneur.com
Fees, Expenses (2020 FDD)
Initial Franchise Fee: $49,500
Royalty: $1,500 per month to start, scales to $4,000 by month 60
National Brand Fund: $500 per month to start, scales to $1,666.67 by month 60
Initial Investment (2020 FDD)
$79,200 - $101,800
Financial Performance (2020 FDD)
Below is financial data from 7 of the company’s affiliate locations from July 1st 2018 to June 30th 2019
The Wolf’s Take 🍟
This is a unique concept that’s in an area I’m definitely not familiar with. The affiliate locations have posted impressive numbers however, and the franchisor has gotten off to a HOT start by selling 48 units in 2020.
I’d definitely do some extra homework on what makes this type of business tick both on a micro and macro level, but if you’re looking for a lower cost franchise that doesn’t require real estate, I’d give this brand a look before more territory is sold.
Lastly, while I wasn’t able to find anything definitive on this, it seems like franchisees make money by essentially taking a small % of the money raised as their own profit, while the rest goes to the school - so understanding the specifics of the contract with schools and ensuring there’s no ethical conflicts of interest is important.
Recent Press
I couldn’t find any press, as the “Fundraising University” search had a lot of cross over with unrelated information. In the absence of press, below is their twitter account, which contains news + updates from the brand:
Fundraising University Twitter
That’s it for this week’s Franchise Breakdowns. Feel free to reply with any questions or feedback, or leave a comment. If someone sent this your way and you haven’t subscribed yet, you can also do that below. Thanks and see you next week!
NOTICE REGARDING FRANCHISE INFORMATION
The Wolf of Franchises does NOT guarantee the financial performance of any franchise mentioned. The decision to purchase a licensed affiliate or franchise must be based on your own independent research. The Wolf of Franchises is not liable for any representation made by an affiliate, associate, marketing material, or Franchise Disclosure Document of a franchise with respect to real estate, financial, operations, or marketing performance of the business being acquired.
This information is not intended as an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, a franchise. It is for informational purposes only, and any financial data and/or projections is clearly based upon information provided by franchises in their respective Franchise Disclosure Document. The offer of a franchise can only be made through the delivery of a franchise disclosure document, from a certified seller of the brand, which The Wolf of Franchises makes no claim to be. Do not consider any information here as a guarantee of financial performance. The Wolf of Franchises has no affiliation or relationship of any kind with any of the brands covered in this newsletter, but simply provides data that is publicly available online or in Franchise Disclosure Documents.
All data from Franchise Disclosure Document’s is based on past performance, and if you were to purchase a franchise covered in the Wolf of Franchises newsletter, it is entirely possible that you lose your entire investment and go bankrupt.
