1 document warning3 things to verify

Maui Wowi — full diligence report

Opening one costs $29k–$279k.

Item 7 · 75 open units

That range is the franchisor’s own, straight out of the disclosure document. What is masked below is the rest of the analysis — and the capital check that follows measures your cash against that opening range.

11 sections · 71 cited figures · 2 operational tripwires · 10 diligence questions

Everything below is in the report. Every figure is cited to an FDD Item and page, and labelled with where the number came from. The labels are free. The numbers are what you are buying.

Franchise Edge automates franchise diligence. We read the franchisor’s own Franchise Disclosure Document — the filing a franchisor is legally required to hand you at least 14 days before you sign anything or pay anything — and run the work that takes a buyer weeks by hand: every disclosed cost, the unit economics behind the headline, the full fee stack, and what happened to the units that opened before you.

Your analysis is ready. The framework is below — every section, every cited figure, every question, exactly as it appears in the report.

New to FDDs? Here is what is in one

An FDD runs to 23 numbered Items and a few hundred pages. Four of them do most of the work in this report:

  • Item 7— what it costs to open, low to high. That is the range above, and it is the franchisor’s own estimate.
  • Item 19 — what units actually earn. A franchisor is not required to publish one at all; when it is missing, or when it reports profit where you expected revenue, that is itself a finding.
  • Item 20 — openings, closures, transfers and terminations, year by year. This is where churn shows up, and where a growth story either holds or does not.
  • Item 6 — the ongoing fees. Royalty and ad fund get quoted on a discovery call; the rest of the list usually does not.

Every figure in the report is cited to its Item and page, so you can check any of it against the document yourself.

Questions before you buy? jason@foundersplinko.com — a person, not a ticket queue.

Disclosedstated in this FDDDerivedour calculation from disclosed figuresBenchmarkour industry range, because the FDD does not disclose itInferredAI classification
Drag to enter the capital you have available.

Against the total investment the franchisor discloses in Item 7. What it means for your loan, your coverage ratio and your payback is locked.

What it costs to open

11 locked

Item 7, as the franchisor states it. 11 line items.

Initial Franchise FeeDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked
Travel and Living Expenses while trainingDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked
Mobile Operating UnitDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked
Coffee EquipmentDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked
Optional EquipmentDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked
Opening InventoryDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked
POS System, Credit Card Processing and Back Office Computer EquipmentDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked
Miscellaneous Opening CostsDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked
Additional Funds - 3 monthsDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked
Business InsuranceDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked
Total investmentDisclosedItem 7, pp. 35-36Locked

Buyer-fit underwriting

5 locked

What the deal asks of you, against what you told us you have.

Capital gapDerivedLocked
Loan neededDerivedLocked
Net worth requirementDisclosedItem 5Locked
Liquid capital requirementDisclosedItem 5Locked
Margin after fees, rent and debtDerivedLocked

The cash ladder — Item 19 top line

13 locked

13 rungs, monthly, from disclosed revenue down to what the operator actually keeps. Every rung is labelled with where its number came from.

1. Gross revenueDerivedLocked
2. − Franchise feesDerivedLocked
3. − Fixed monthly feesDerivedLocked
4. − Rent & occupancyDerivedLocked
5. = Margin after fees & rentDerivedLocked
6. − Cost of goodsDerivedLocked
7. − LaborDerivedLocked
8. − Other operating costsDerivedLocked
9. = Operating EBITDADerivedLocked
10. − Debt serviceDerivedLocked
11. = Cash after debt, before owner drawDerivedLocked
12. Debt-service coverage ratioDerivedLocked
13. Years to recover the build-outDerivedLocked

How you pay for it

9 locked

The loan this unit would need, and whether the unit can carry it.

Loan amountDerivedLocked
RateBenchmarkLocked
TermBenchmarkLocked
Monthly paymentDerivedLocked
Cash you put inDerivedLocked
Cash after debtDerivedLocked
Return on your cashDerivedLocked
Debt-service coverage ratioDerivedLocked
What this unit could supportDerivedLocked

Ongoing fees and hidden costs

9 locked

9 separate charges in the agreement. Most buyers find four.

Brand fundDisclosedItem 6Locked
Local advertisingDisclosedItem 6Locked
Optional Snack Program FeeDisclosedItem 6Locked
Technology FeeDisclosedItem 6Locked
Data FeesDisclosedItem 6Locked
POS System Software, Maintenance, Support, and Upgrade ContractDisclosedItem 6Locked
Advertising Fee on PurchasesDisclosedItem 6Locked
Annual Meeting Registration FeeDisclosedItem 6Locked
Lease Guarantee FeeDisclosedItem 6Locked

What units actually make

Read — nothing disclosed

This franchisor makes no earnings claim

Item 19 is optional, and this franchisor chose to leave it out. That silence is itself a disclosure, and it binds them: under the FTC Franchise Rule a franchisor that publishes no financial performance representation may not give you sales, revenue or profit figures anywhere else either — not on a call, not at discovery day, not through a broker. Every other number in this report still holds. This one has no source, so we have not invented one.

Item 20 lists the franchisees in the system and the ones who left, with contact details. Those owners may tell you what their units make. The franchisor may not — and a seller who offers you a figure anyway has just handed you your first finding.

What we found in the document

0 locked

7 Items located and parsed. Every figure above cites one of them.

Item 1Item 5Item 6Item 7Item 19Item 20Item 21

Before you commit

3 locked

3 things this document cannot settle, and how to settle them.

Item 19 earnings basisOperational tripwires
Locked finding
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Operational tripwires

2 locked

2 clauses that change what you signed up for. 1 is rated high.

1 high1 medium
Locked finding
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System scale and turnover

5 locked

Item 20, year-end.

Total unitsDisclosedItem 20, p. 78Locked
OpenedDisclosedItem 20, p. 78Locked
ClosedDisclosedItem 20, p. 78Locked
Changed handsDisclosedItem 20, p. 78Locked
Owner turnoverDerivedLocked

78 outlets is this record's reconstruction of the starting count, worked back from the year-end total and the year's openings and closures rather than read from Item 20 Table 1. Every rate below is a share of that starting count, not of today's. Check the reconstruction against Table 1 in your own copy.

Leaving — renewal, exit and transfer

Not yet read for this brand

Item 17 — how long you are in, what ends the agreement, what it takes to sell the business, and what you are still bound by after you leave.

How long you are inHow it endsHow you sell itWhat happens after

Who to call, and what to ask

9 locked

10 questions, grouped for operators running a unit today, operators who left last year.

What do you actually run for cost of goods, as a percent of sales?
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Who runs it

5 locked

5 executives, with tenure and prior operating history.

Chief Executive OfficerChief Financial OfficerChief Operating OfficerChief Legal OfficerSenior Vice President of Development
Locked finding
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Maui Wowi Franchise Review (2026): Cost, Item 19 Earnings, Fees — from the actual FDD