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
TE' AMO
Food & Dining · independent · est. —
TE' AMO is a food-and-beverage franchise; based on the name (Spanish for 'I love you') and category, it appears to be a cafe or dessert/drink concept. A franchisee would operate a small food-service outlet selling beverages and/or treats. (Details limited; description is generic based on the name and sector.)
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
Not enough disclosure
Distress
No verified FDD extraction to judge from. Any figures shown are labelled sample data or independent federal records.
Exit rate · latest year
Not disclosed
Cost to open
$186K–$565K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
30.0%
20 loans resolved — directional only
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
2020–2023
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2023, 0 of 0 franchised outlets left the system. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Opened | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 |
| Net change | +1 | 0 | +1 | +5 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 31 SBA-backed loans to TE' AMO franchisees since 2006. Only 20 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 6 of them charged off.
—
20 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$168,333
what recent franchisees borrowed
33 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
6 vs 7
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO TE' AMO BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
United Midwest Savings Bank National Association
13.8% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 35.1% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
69.2%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 31 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to TE' AMO franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $40K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $186K–$565K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes no earnings claim (Item 19) — ask current and former franchisees for real numbers.
To open (Item 7)
$186K–$565K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$40K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
5%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — this brand discloses no Item 19 earnings; validate with current & former owners.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$50K
5% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$500K
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 TE' AMO with an independent CPALabor record
US Dept. of Labor enforcement · franchisee-level · FY2005–present
Federal investigators have concluded 1 wage case against operators of this system, recovering $2K in back wages for 9 workers. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
1
Back wages owed
$2K
Employees affected
9
Since 2020
0
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual TE' AMO franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not TE' AMO 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 2020.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for TE' AMO. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing TE' AMO's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →TE' AMO franchise questions, answered from the filings
How much does a TE' AMO franchise cost?
Per TE' AMO's 2024 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $40K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $186K–$565K (Item 7).
What royalty does TE' AMO charge?
TE' AMO charges an ongoing royalty of 5.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2024 FDD.
Does TE' AMO disclose earnings (Item 19)?
No — TE' AMO'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.