Franchise Facts Report → brands → 16 Handles
16 Handles franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk Stable network Item 19 disclosed
16 Handles is a frozen dessert franchise with a moderate initial investment.
Everything below is free, read straight off 16 Handles's registered filing. The $99 report is the part a single FDD can't give you: the earnings figures themselves, and where every number lands against food & beverage peers.
The numbers above tell you what 16 Handles discloses. The report tells you whether that's good:
- The earnings figures themselves — the average unit revenue 16 Handles puts on paper in Item 19, and what it does and doesn't include.
- Where every number ranks — investment, fees, royalty, earnings and churn against food & beverage median and quartile. This is the part no single FDD, and no AI reading one, can produce.
- What's driving the medium risk read — the specific figures behind it, not the label.
- The litigation, split properly — each case, and which ones franchisees brought against the franchisor rather than the reverse.
- The questions to ask before you sign — drawn from what 16 Handles's own filing leaves open, in the words to use on the call.
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Compare 3 brands — $249 See a sample reportFigures above are as disclosed in 16 Handles's most recent FDD (registered 2024). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-28403 — check it yourself. The Item 19 figures, where each number ranks against peers, and the litigation & churn detail are in the full report.
How much does a 16 Handles franchise make?
16 Handles is one of the franchisors that answers this on the record: its most recent FDD makes an Item 19 financial performance representation — actual unit earnings figures, disclosed by the franchisor itself. The average revenue 16 Handles reports, what that figure does and doesn't include, and where it ranks against food & beverage peers are in the full report. See every food & beverage brand that discloses earnings in the Food & beverage franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings ranking.
16 Handles franchise profit vs. revenue
Revenue is not profit. An Item 19 almost always reports sales — what a location takes in — not what an owner keeps. Out of that number come 16 Handles's 6% royalty, the ad fund, rent, payroll, supplies and debt service. No FDD tells you a 16 Handles franchise's profit, because profit depends on your site, your rent and how you run it — so treat any "16 Handles franchise profit" figure quoted elsewhere as someone's estimate, not a disclosure. The full report sets 16 Handles's disclosed revenue against its total ongoing fee load, so you can see what that revenue has to cover before anything reaches you.
16 Handles lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
We do not publish a litigation answer for 16 Handles. Item 3 could not be read reliably from this particular filing, and a claim that a company has no legal history is not one to make on a failed parse — so we say we do not know instead. Item 3 of the FDD itself is the place to check; the methodology page explains what we do and do not machine-read.
16 Handles closures & failure rate
Before you sign, 16 Handles will hand you a list of current owners to call as references — and they choose who's on that list. It won't include the owners who quit, got bought out, or were forced out last year. The FDD does report that number, even though the reference list leaves those people off. Below is what 16 Handles's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a food & beverage of this kind.
The closest thing an FDD has to a failure rate is Item 20 — outlet openings, closures, terminations and non-renewals, reported by the franchisor. 16 Handles's latest tables show a stable franchised network. The actual closure and termination counts, and how 16 Handles's churn ranks against food & beverage peers, are in the full report.
The Item 19 earnings figures, every number ranked against food & beverage peers, and the litigation and churn detail — delivered instantly, yours to keep.
Not useful? Reply to your delivery email within 14 days for a refund — no forms, no argument.
Who owns 16 Handles?
16 Handles's franchise is offered by 16 Handles Franchising, LLC — the franchisor named on the cover of its most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2024), and the entity a franchisee actually signs with. That name comes straight off the filing at CA DFPI; it identifies the franchisor, not necessarily the ultimate parent company behind it.
Food & beverage franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing 16 Handles is really weighing it against the other brands their money could go into. These are the closest by total initial investment (FDD Item 7), each with its own FDD-based page.
16 Handles franchise — frequently asked
Who owns 16 Handles — who is the franchisor?
16 Handles's most recently filed FDD (2024) names 16 Handles Franchising, LLC as the franchisor — the entity you would actually sign the franchise agreement with, as stated on the disclosure document itself. A registry filing names the franchisor, not necessarily its ultimate parent company.
How much does a 16 Handles franchise cost?
16 Handles's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $242,500 – $553,000, with an initial franchise fee of $30,000 and a 6% royalty. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. The full report breaks down every fee line and benchmarks it against food & beverage peers.
How much profit does a 16 Handles franchise make?
16 Handles discloses unit earnings in Item 19, but that figure is revenue — sales — not profit. Royalties (6% of gross for 16 Handles), the ad fund, rent, payroll and supplies all come out of it, and no FDD discloses what an owner nets. Any 16 Handles franchise profit number quoted elsewhere is an estimate. The full report shows the disclosed revenue against the full ongoing fee load it has to cover.
Does 16 Handles disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
Yes — 16 Handles reports unit-level earnings in Item 19. The full report shows the actual revenue figures and how they rank against food & beverage peers.
Are there lawsuits against 16 Handles?
We do not publish a litigation answer for 16 Handles: Item 3 could not be read reliably from this filing, and we would rather say so than assert a clean record we have not verified. Item 3 of the FDD itself is the place to check.
Is 16 Handles a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from 16 Handles's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against food & beverage peers, which is what the full report is for. Our read on this filing is medium risk, stated free above. For $99 you get the figures driving that read, the actual Item 19 earnings (disclosed in this FDD), where every figure ranks against peers, and the specific questions to ask the franchisor before you sign.
A 16 Handles franchise is a $242,500 – $553,000 decision you make once, on a ten-year agreement, usually with a personal guarantee behind it. For $99 you get an independent read of the document that decides it: the actual Item 19 earnings, every figure ranked against food & beverage peers, the litigation split into franchisee and corporate matters, the churn behind the outlet count — and the questions to put to the franchisor before you sign. If it tells you nothing new, reply within 14 days and we'll refund it.
Not useful? Reply to your delivery email within 14 days for a refund — no forms, no argument.
Compare 3 brands — $249Get a free email when something changes on 16 Handles or food & beverage: a new FDD registration, a new lawsuit, an outlet count that shifts, or Item 19 earnings going from undisclosed to disclosed. Pulled straight from the same registries every report is built on.