FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

Verified — real FDD extraction

SBA-eligible · directory code S1576 since 2017

Sir Speedy Printing

Other · independent · est. —

Sir Speedy is a printing and marketing-services company that produces business documents, signs, direct mail, and marketing materials for other businesses. Clients use it for printing, design, and promotional campaigns. A franchisee operates a print and marketing center, managing equipment, production staff, and business clients.

Sir Speedy Printing net unit count declined -22.2% from 20202025 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

0
STABLE

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: the system is shrinking.

Exit rate · latest year

8.5%

fiscal 2025, per Item 20

Cost to open

$252K–$299K

Item 7 total investment range

SBA loan defaults

17.3%

vs 14.8% avg across rated brands

Behind the verdict

the record, factor by factor · Item 20

hi-1.0.0
Net unit growth35%

3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1

Weak
Exit quality25%

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

Fair
Transfer / churn15%

transfers vs. base · Table 3

Strong
Promise-keeping10%

actual vs. projected openings · Table 5

Weak
Transparency15%

Item 19 disclosure + completeness

Strong

Systemwide units

2020–2025

-22.2%
153202014120211342022132202312920241192025

Survival record

FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year

In fiscal 2025, 11 of 129 franchised outlets left the system — a 8.5% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.

Show the outlet tables
Status (FTC)202020212022202320242025
Outlets at start157153141134132129
Opened101131
Transfers1574106
Terminations022100
Non-renewals221242
Reacquired by franchisor000000
Ceased — other reasons385029
Outlets at end153141134132129119
Net change-4-12-7-2-3-10

The lender's view

SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present

Banks have made 197 SBA-backed loans to Sir Speedy Printing franchisees since 1991. Of the 150 that have resolved, 17.3% were charged off (defaulted) rather than paid in full, versus 14.8% across 576 rated brands.

Charge-off rate

17.3%

26 of 150 resolved defaulted

Loss given default

48.9%

avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $

Expected loss

8.5%

default rate × loss severity

Avg. loan · FY2020+

$696,800

what recent franchisees borrowed

Median time to default

62 mo

approval → charge-off, defaulted loans

Lenders · FY21+ vs FY16–20

13 vs 11

distinct banks still lending

Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)

13'9425330112033'02101120400'14

SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO SIR SPEEDY PRINTING BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL

The owner's side of the deal

FDD × federal loan record

Manageable debt load

A typical Sir Speedy Printing buyer since 2020 borrowed $697K through SBA — about $80K a year in debt service. Against the brand's own disclosed median unit revenue of $752K, that is 10.6% of every dollar the store takes in — before rent, payroll, food, or royalty.

Who finances it

Readycap Lending, Llc

11.0% of this brand's loans

That lender charges off 31.5% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.

Who buys it

63.5%

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?

16.2pp

multi-unit vs single-unit owners

Owners of multiple units default at 6.9%; single-unit owners at 23.1%.

Computed from 197 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to Sir Speedy Printing 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 $55K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $252K–$299K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.

To open (Item 7)

$252K–$299K

all-in investment range

Franchise fee (Item 5)

$55K

upfront, one-time

Royalty (Item 6)

6%

of sales, ongoing

If a unit does this in annual sales…$1M/yr

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 Sir Speedy Printing with an independent CPA

Modeled risk

FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record

Elevated

Modeled from the public record, this brand looks riskier than 77% of systems we score.

Risk percentile

77 / 100

Measured

Modeled SBA charge-off

16.9%

Observed SBA charge-off

17.3%

Top drivers: Single-lender dependence (raises) · Net unit growth (raises) · System size (log units) (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises). 50+ resolved loans and complete disclosure data — the score is checkable against the brand's observed rate. 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 Sir Speedy Printing. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.

Before you sign anythingfree · 30 min · no commission

A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Sir Speedy Printing's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.

Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →

Sir Speedy Printing franchise questions, answered from the filings

What percentage of Sir Speedy Printing franchises closed last year?

In Sir Speedy Printing's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 11 of 129 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 8.5%. 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 Sir Speedy Printing franchise cost?

Per Sir Speedy Printing's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $55K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $252K–$299K (Item 7).

What royalty does Sir Speedy Printing charge?

Sir Speedy Printing charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.

Does Sir Speedy Printing disclose earnings (Item 19)?

Yes — Sir Speedy Printing makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $752K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.

How often do SBA loans for Sir Speedy Printing franchises default?

Across 197 SBA-backed loans to Sir Speedy Printing franchisees since 1991, 26 of the 150 that have resolved were charged off — a 17.3% default rate, versus about 14.8% across all rated franchise brands. This is the lender's-eye view of franchisee failure, drawn from public SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA data and independent of the franchisor's own disclosures.

Is Sir Speedy Printing a good franchise to buy? Health score, exit rate & costs (2026) · Franchise Watch Desk