Zorzee is independent franchise intelligence built from the filings themselves: what a brand costs, what its Item 19 numbers disclose, and whether it fits your capital and operating style. So you rule a brand in or out in week one, not month six. No commissions. No franchisor revenue.
Send Me Tuesday's ReportMost people research a franchise the way they'd shop for a car. Test a few, trust the brochure, follow a gut feeling. Six months later they've spent their most valuable commodity, their time, on a brand that was never built for their capital, their market, or the life they actually want.
And they don't just lose the brand. They lose the belief. They walk away convinced franchising failed them, or that ownership was never right for them and their family.
Zorzee exists to give you a fighting chance. Independent intelligence on what the filings disclose, what the numbers reveal, and which brands fit your capital, goals, and operating style, so the months you spend move you toward a real decision instead of a wrong turn.
See how Zorzee works ›Entrepreneur ranks the brands. Zorzee shows you the filings behind the ranking: the real numbers, the full fee load, and the fine print. No franchisor edits.
| Rank | Franchise | Total Investment | Units | Item 19 | FDD Source | Dossier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jersey Mike's SubsFood | $436,176 to $1,162,228 | 3227 | Disclosed | Current FDD acquired2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, April 10, 2026 | View Dossier |
| 2 | Taco BellFood | $1,859,750 to $4,312,200 | 7998 | Disclosed (projections only) | Current FDD acquired2026 Traditional Franchise Disclosure Document, 3/26/2026 | View Dossier |
| 3 | Dunkin'Beverages | $527K to $1.8M | 8780 | Disclosed | Current FDD acquired2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, 3/26/2026 | View Dossier |
| 4 | Ace HardwareRetail | $611,928 to $2,018,550 | 5250 | Disclosed (no combined average) | Current FDD acquired2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, Mar 25, 2026 | View Dossier |
| 5 | KumonYouth Enrichment | $101,630 to $233,780 | 1710 | Not Disclosed | Current FDD acquired2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, 3/27/2026 | View Dossier |
| 6 | WingstopFood | $310,400 to $1,048,500 | 2586 | Disclosed | Current FDD acquired2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, 4/21/2026 | View Dossier |
| 7 | The UPS StoreHome Services | $222,368 to $606,081 | 5503 | Disclosed | Current FDD acquired2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, April 23, 2026 | View Dossier |
| 8 | Hampton by HiltonLodging | $17,043,739 to $24,732,532 | 2390 | Disclosed (hotel metrics) | Current FDD acquired2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, March 30, 2026 | View Dossier |
| 9 | Culver'sFood | $3,406,350 to $10,294,100 | 1041 | Disclosed | Current FDD acquired2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, 3/30/2026 | View Dossier |
| 10 | McDonald'sFood | $1,472,000 to $2,807,000 | 13706 | Disclosed | Current FDD acquired2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, 4/15/2026 | View Dossier |
The point is not more research. It is knowing which brands deserve a deeper look, which questions to ask next, and which opportunities fit the life and business you want to build.
Every read starts with the Franchise Disclosure Document, not a brand's brochure.
Get one franchise breakdown every week: the economics, strengths, risks, and questions that show whether a brand deserves a deeper look, so you can move with confidence or move on.
Search 650+ brands by investment range, fees, royalties, Item 19 status, and category so your shortlist gets smaller and your decisions get quicker.
Use Zorzee's guides, templates, and models to pressure-test the numbers, compare the claims, and decide whether a promising brand fits your goals.
FDDs, state filings, renewal records, litigation notes, and public operating signals come before opinion.
Item 7, Item 19, fees, litigation, closures, transfers, and renewal language are read as an operating file.
Startup cost, working capital, royalty drag, gross margin, and unit-level return are translated into a buyer view.
Each breakdown ends with the questions a buyer should answer long before signing, funding, or opening a territory.
The same diligence tools the pros use, built for operators. Coming soon.
The audio edition of The Zorzee Report. FDD breakdowns and unit economics, in your ears before a brand makes your shortlist.
Each Tuesday, Zorzee decodes one franchise's filing: the economics, the risks, and the questions to ask long before you sign. Free.
Item 19 is the only place in a Franchise Disclosure Document where a franchisor may state what its units actually earn, and it is optional, so read what is there and what is left out. A strong Item 19 gives average unit volume or a full profit-and-loss with the sample size and the share of units that hit the average. A weak one shows only a top-quartile figure, a system-wide total with no per-unit number, or no Item 19 at all. Zorzee reads every brand's Item 19 from its most current publicly accessible filing and flags whether the number is real, structural, or absent. No commissions, no franchisor revenue, independent analysis only. The Zorzee Report decodes one brand's filing every Tuesday, free.
The median royalty across the franchise brands Zorzee reads is 6% of gross revenue, and most fall between 5% and 7%. Royalty is only part of the bill. Add the brand fund and the ad or support fees and the full ongoing burden runs a median near 8.6%, most commonly 7% to 10%. That combined Item 6 load is what pulls on your margin every month, which is why Zorzee shows the full fee burden, not just the base royalty, on every dossier, read from the current filing.
Usually yes, and it works like real estate: a franchise consultant is paid a commission by the brand at closing, the same way a buyer's agent is paid from the seller's side, so the help costs you nothing. What decides whether that help is any good is the analysis behind it. Zorzee's analysis takes no commissions and no franchisor revenue, so the read you get is independent of any brand. When you want a person to talk it through, Zorzee points you to an independent consultant who works on that same no-cost-to-you basis. The Zorzee Report sends one independent brand breakdown every Tuesday, free.
The clearest warning signs sit in four items. A very high ongoing fee burden in Item 6 (royalty plus brand fund plus ad and support) that eats the margin before you take a salary. Heavy or repeated litigation in Item 3. High closure, transfer, or non-renewal counts in Item 20, which show whether existing owners are staying or leaving. And a missing or evasive Item 19, where no real earnings number is disclosed at all. Zorzee rates each of these on every dossier through the Signal Tracker, read straight from the current filing. No commissions, no franchisor revenue, independent analysis only. The Zorzee Report breaks down one filing every Tuesday, free.
Total startup cost lives in FDD Item 7, and across brands it runs from under $100,000 for a home-based or mobile concept to several million for a full-service restaurant or hotel. Item 7 covers the franchise fee, buildout, equipment, and the working capital to reach breakeven, so the real question is not the sticker but whether the range fits your capital and how long until the unit funds itself. Zorzee lists the Item 7 investment range for 650+ brands in the Portal, read from each brand's current filing. Compare the numbers before a brand makes your shortlist.