Verified — real FDD extraction
Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender
HOT DOG ON A STICK
Food & Dining · independent · est. —
Hot Dog on a Stick is a quick-service brand famous for its battered, deep-fried corn dogs and fresh hand-stomped lemonade, typically in mall food courts. A franchisee runs a small food-court or kiosk location preparing the signature corn dogs and drinks to order.
HOT DOG ON A STICK net unit count declined -8.0% from 2022–2024 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Too new to judge
Distress
18 franchised units over 3 disclosed years is not a track record — systems this early have realized only a fraction of their eventual failures. Judge the disclosures, not a verdict.
Exit rate · latest year
11.1%
vs 8.2% across 146 food & dining systems
Cost to open
$541K–$679K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
Too few resolved
4 loans exist; too few resolved to rate
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2022–2024
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2024, 2 of 18 franchised outlets left the system — a 11.1% annualized exit rate, vs 8.2% across 146 food & dining systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 50 | 50 | 49 |
| Opened | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Transfers | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Outlets at end | 50 | 49 | 46 |
| Net change | 0 | -1 | -3 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 4 SBA-backed loans to HOT DOG ON A STICK franchisees since 2016. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.
—
2 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$162,500
what recent franchisees borrowed
33 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
0 vs 1
distinct banks — pulling back
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO HOT DOG ON A STICK BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $25K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $541K–$679K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$541K–$679K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$25K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$60K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$600K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for HOT DOG ON A STICK with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 5 wage cases against operators of this system, recovering $2K in back wages for 30 workers, including 3 child-labor cases. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
5
Back wages owed
$2K
Employees affected
30
Since 2020
2
3 of these cases involved child-labor violations, covering 27 minors across the system's franchised locations.
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual HOT DOG ON A STICK franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not HOT DOG ON A STICK itself. The franchisor is not the respondent and in most cases is not a party. What the record shows is how this system's operators run their payrolls, which is worth knowing before you become one of them. Counts rise with system size and with age: a 20-year-old, 10,000-unit system will out-count a young one regardless of conduct. Source: DOL Wage and Hour Division concluded compliance actions, FY2005–present, most recent finding 2024.
Modeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
The public record puts this brand toward the riskier end of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.
Risk percentile (range)
73–97 / 100
Directional
Modeled SBA charge-off
18.5%
Observed SBA charge-off
no resolved cohort
Top drivers: System size (log units) (raises) · Net unit growth (raises) · Item 20 exit rate (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (lowers). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
Hot Dog on a Stick Acquired by Amazing Brands in Bankruptcy Deal at 80 Years Old
news:L’Express Franchise · 1mo ago
Las Vegas-Based Amazing Brands Acquires 'Hot Dog on a Stick' for $8 Million in Bankruptcy Court Sale
news:Nevada Globe · 2mo ago
Pinkbox owner buys food court staple Hot Dog on a Stick out of bankruptcy
news:KSNV · 2mo ago
8 questions to ask a HOT DOG ON A STICK franchisee
Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls
The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These are the questions built from what HOT DOG ON A STICK has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.
- 01
HOT DOG ON A STICK’s own Item 20 shows 2 of 18 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2024 — about 11.1%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?
A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.
FDD Item 20 · FY2024
- 02
The system went from 50 units to 46 over 3 disclosed years. What's the explanation you've been given, and do you believe it?
A shrinking system means fewer owners funding the ad fund and support staff you're paying for.
FDD Item 20 · FY2022–FY2024
- 03
You pay 6.0% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?
Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.
FDD Item 6
- 04
HOT DOG ON A STICK makes an earnings claim in Item 19. Does your unit look like that number — and do you know which units they included to build it?
Item 19 is legal to build from a flattering subset. Ask whether they excluded new units, closed units, or company stores.
FDD Item 19 · 2025
- 05
How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?
Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.
Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner
- 06
What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?
Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.
FDD Items 6, 8, 11
- 07
If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?
The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.
Ask every owner you speak to
- 08
Who else should I call — including someone who left?
The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.
Ask every owner you speak to
Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?
I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if HOT DOG ON A STICK’s numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing HOT DOG ON A STICK's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.
HOT DOG ON A STICK franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of HOT DOG ON A STICK franchises closed last year?
In HOT DOG ON A STICK's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2024), 2 of 18 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 11.1% — compared with 8.2% across 146 food & dining systems tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a HOT DOG ON A STICK franchise cost?
Per HOT DOG ON A STICK's 2025 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $25K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $541K–$679K (Item 7).
What royalty does HOT DOG ON A STICK charge?
HOT DOG ON A STICK charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2025 FDD.
Does HOT DOG ON A STICK disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — HOT DOG ON A STICK makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2025 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.