Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S6700 since 2021
IFOAM
Other · independent · est. —
IFOAM provides spray-foam insulation services for homes and commercial buildings to improve energy efficiency. Crews apply insulation in attics, walls, and crawl spaces. A franchisee operates an insulation-installation business with trucks, equipment, and trained crews.
IFOAM net unit count grew +4400.0% from 2021–2024 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
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The main concern in the record: too many owners are failing outright rather than selling.
Exit rate · latest year
41.4%
fiscal 2024, per Item 20
Cost to open
$172K–$266K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
27.3%
22 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
2021–2024
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2024, 48 of 116 franchised outlets left the system — a 41.4% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 2 | 4 | 33 | 120 |
| Opened | 0 | 25 | 98 | 18 |
| Transfers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Terminations | 0 | 0 | 11 | 48 |
| Non-renewals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 2 | 33 | 120 | 90 |
| Net change | 0 | +29 | +87 | -30 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 68 SBA-backed loans to IFOAM franchisees since 2022. Only 22 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 6 of them charged off.
—
22 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$428,873
what recent franchisees borrowed
29 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
—
distinct banks 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 IFOAM BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
A typical IFOAM buyer since 2020 borrowed $429K through SBA — about $68K a year in debt service. Against the brand's own disclosed median unit revenue of $1.2M, that is 5.5% of every dollar the store takes in — before rent, payroll, food, or royalty.
Who finances it
the Huntington National Bank
91.2% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 9.9% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
5.9%
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 68 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to IFOAM 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 $15K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $172K–$266K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$172K–$266K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$15K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
—
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$0
0% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$0
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 IFOAM 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 $0 in back wages for 0 workers. Some of these cases are recent, not ancient history. These cases name franchisee-owned locations, not the franchisor itself.
Concluded cases
1
Back wages owed
$0
Employees affected
0
Since 2020
1
Read this carefully. The employers in these cases are individual IFOAM franchisees — separately owned businesses operating under the brand name — not IFOAM 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
Modeled from the public record, this brand sits mid-pack: riskier than 54% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
54 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
13.2%
Observed SBA charge-off
27.3%
Top drivers: Single-lender dependence (lowers) · Item 20 exit rate (raises) · Share financed by high-loss lenders (lowers) · Net unit growth (raises). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. 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
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for IFOAM. 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 IFOAM's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →IFOAM franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of IFOAM franchises closed last year?
In IFOAM's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2024), 48 of 116 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 41.4%. 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 IFOAM franchise cost?
Per IFOAM's 2025 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $15K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $172K–$266K (Item 7).
Does IFOAM disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — IFOAM makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2025 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $1.2M. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.