FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

From the filed FDD — automated extraction, check the source

2024 FDD · 1+ year old

POOP 911

Pet waste removal · parent company: not identified

POOP 911 is a pet-waste removal service, primarily scooping and disposing of dog waste from residential yards on a recurring schedule. It also offers commercial and one-time cleanups. A franchisee runs a route-based service business, dispatching technicians to clean customers' yards.

POOP 911 net unit count grew 145.9% over 2021–2023 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. Most numbers on this page come from that document; others come from federal SBA loan records and labor and census data, each labelled with its source:

  • 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, transferred and left the system, the main basis for our verdict, which rates how strong the disclosed record is, or says when the system is too new, the filing too old, or the disclosure too thin to judge.

Our rating · opinion

Strong disclosed record

Enough units and history to judge, and the operating record is good. Units grew 146% (2021–2023: 85 → 209); the fiscal 2023 exit rate was 6.4%, above the 5.2% median across 22 comparable systems (pet services).

Exit rate · fiscal 2023

6.4%

vs 5.2% median across 22 comparable systems (pet services)

Cost to open

$4K–$26K

Item 7 total investment range

SBA loan losses

Too few to rate

0 seasoned resolved loans; 30 needed

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Data as of 2026-10-29. Figures come from POOP 911's public FDD filings (latest: MN 2024, extracted 2026-06-19) and SBA FOIA loan records (through FY2026), extracted by us and possibly containing errors. The rating is our opinion, not investment, legal, or tax advice. Franchisor or owner and see something wrong? Report a correction — we review every request.

What each source says

FDD record · SBA loans · model · auditor

Our answer: Strong disclosed record

The sources broadly agree, and the verdict follows the FDD's operating record.

FDD record · Item 20

Strong operating record

Units grew 146% (2021–2023: 85 → 209); exit rate 6.4% (fiscal 2023) vs 5.2% median.

SBA loans · vs same-year loans

Too few seasoned loans

0 resolved loans approved by FY2020; 30 needed.

Modeled risk

Not scored

Too little evidence for the model.

Auditor opinion · Item 21

Not extracted

We did not extract the audit opinion.

Behind the verdict

the record, factor by factor · Item 20

hi-1.0.0
Net unit growth41%

latest consecutive years · Item 20 Table 1

Strong
Exit quality29%

terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3

Strong
Transfer / churn18%

transfers vs. base · Table 3

Fair
Promise-keeping12%

actual vs. projected openings · Table 5

Strong
Transparencynot in verdict

Item 19 disclosure + completeness · shown, not counted in the verdict

Weak

Systemwide units

2021–2023

+145.9%
85202111120222092023

Survival record

FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year

In fiscal 2023, 7 of 109 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 6.4% (fiscal 2023), vs a 5.2% median across 22 comparable systems (pet services). An exit is not a failure: this counts terminations, non-renewals and "ceased — other reasons" as reported, and excludes transfers to new owners.

Show the outlet tables ↓
Status (FTC)202120222023
Outlets at start7585111
Opened102694
Transfers5133
Terminations003
Non-renewals000
Reacquired by franchisor012
Ceased — other reasons004
Outlets at end85111209
Net change+10+26+98

The lender's view

SBA 7(a)/504 loan outcomes · compared with franchise loans of the same years

Banks have made 4 SBA-backed loans to POOP 911 franchisees since 2021. Only 0 of its loans approved by FY2020 have resolved — fewer than the 30 we need to compare it fairly with other franchise loans, so we don't rate it.

All-time, 0 of 1 resolved loans charged off (0.0%). That raw figure mixes every approval year since 2021 — loans made in 2006–08 failed at several times the rate of loans made in 2010–13 across all franchises — so it is shown as evidence, not as the score. 75% of the brand's loans have not resolved yet.

Loss vs same-year loans

—

0 seasoned resolved · 30 needed

All-time charge-off · raw

0.0%

0 of 1 resolved, every approval year

Loss given default

—

charged-off $ ÷ approved $, defaulted loans

Avg. loan · FY2020+

$261,225

what recent franchisees borrowed

Median time to default

—

shown with 10+ defaults

Lenders · FY21+ vs FY16–20

—

distinct banks lending

Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%) · dashed line = all franchise loans that year

SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO POOP 911 BY SBA FRANCHISE NAME/CODE · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL · EXPECTED = SAME-YEAR RATE ACROSS ALL SBA FRANCHISE LOANS, LOANS ≥ ~6 YEARS OLD

What it costs — and what it drags

FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty

Buying in means a $0 franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $4K–$26K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.

To open (Item 7)

$4K–$26K

all-in investment range

Franchise fee (Item 5)

$0

upfront, one-time

Royalty (Item 6)

25%

a revenue split, not a royalty on sales

Item 6 lists 25% — at that level it is a revenue split between franchisor and franchisee, not a royalty charged on your sales. This estimator can't model a split; read Item 6 and the franchise agreement for what the percentage applies to and who collects the revenue.

This is not profit. It covers what the FDD fixes: what you put in, and the royalty you owe on sales. Your take-home depends on labor, rent, supplies, and the months to breakeven, none of which the FDD fixes for your unit (some Item 19s include cost data — read it).

Build a real pro-forma for POOP 911 with a buyer-paid CPA

Public records

Bankruptcy, closure & federal court records · coverage is selective · dockets are not scored

We have no verified public-record signals published for POOP 911. This is not evidence that no events exist. Check PACER, the FDD's Item 3 (litigation) and Item 4 (bankruptcy), and recent news yourself.

7 questions to ask a POOP 911 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 questions come from what POOP 911 has disclosed. Each one carries the number it came from, so you can check the answer against the record.

  1. 01

    POOP 911’s own Item 20 shows 7 of 109 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2023 — about 6.4%. 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 · FY2023

  2. 02

    3 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2023. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?

    Item 20 counts transfers as neutral, but a transfer can be a good sale or a reluctant exit — the filing does not say which.

    FDD Item 20 · FY2023

  3. 03

    POOP 911’s FDD makes no financial performance representation at all — legally, they've told buyers nothing about earnings. What did your first 24 months actually look like, month by month?

    When a franchisor won't publish numbers, existing owners are the only source. Silence in Item 19 is a choice, not a requirement.

    FDD Item 19 · 2024

  4. 04

    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

  5. 05

    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

  6. 06

    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

  7. 07

    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?

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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. Franchisors: send corrections with the page reference and we will review them against the filing and update or annotate the page. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.

POOP 911 franchise questions, answered from the filings

How many POOP 911 franchised outlets left the system last year?

In POOP 911's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2023), 7 of 109 franchised outlets left the system — an exit rate of 6.4% — compared with a 5.2% median across 22 comparable systems (pet services) tracked here. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons" as the franchisor reported them; it excludes transfers to new owners. The FDD does not say why each outlet left, and an exit is not the same as a failure.

How much does a POOP 911 franchise cost?

Per POOP 911's 2024 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $0 (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $4K–$26K (Item 7).

What royalty does POOP 911 charge?

POOP 911 charges an ongoing royalty of 25.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2024 FDD.

Does POOP 911 disclose earnings (Item 19)?

No — POOP 911's 2024 FDD makes no financial performance representation in Item 19. That is legal and common, but it means the franchisor publishes no earnings claim; ask current franchisees for real numbers.