Franchise Facts Report → brands → SM
SM franchise — is it worth it?
Medium risk
SM Franchise, Inc.
Everything below is free, read straight off SM's registered filing, with where the numbers land against quick-service restaurant peers. Weighing SM against other options? Get a free shortlist of franchises that fit your budget.
Figures above are as disclosed in SM's most recent FDD (registered 2024). Source: California Dept. of Financial Protection and Innovation — Franchise Registration · filing app-31668 — check it yourself. See every other California-registered franchise.
Considering SM? See what else fits your budget
Tell us your budget and the industries you're open to. We'll match you with 5–10 franchises whose own FDDs fit — ranked by earnings disclosure, growth and closure rate — and email you the list. SM will be on it if it fits.
SM franchise profit — what the FDD discloses
Plainly: SM does not disclose franchise profit or revenue. Its most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-backed earnings figure for SM — any number quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure. The absence is itself worth weighing (56% of quick-service restaurant franchisors in our corpus do disclose); the fees, litigation and outlet churn SM's FDD does contain are on this page. For brands that put earnings on paper, see Fast food & quick-service restaurant franchises with disclosed Item 19 earnings.
SM lawsuits & legal history (FDD Item 3)
SM's most recently filed Franchise Disclosure Document (2024) discloses no litigation in Item 3. That is a real signal rather than a gap: the FTC Franchise Rule requires a franchisor to disclose material litigation involving itself, its predecessors, parents, affiliates and management, so an empty Item 3 in a current filing means there was nothing it was required to report. It is worth reading alongside the churn numbers — a system can have a clean Item 3 and still be losing franchisees, which is what Item 20 shows.
SM closures & failure rate
Before you sign, SM 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 SM's most recent filing shows, and whether it's normal for a quick-service restaurant 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. SM's outlet tables did not machine-read cleanly; Item 20 of the source FDD has them.
Who owns SM?
SM's franchise is offered by SM Franchise, Inc. — 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.
Quick-service restaurant franchises at a similar investment level
Anyone weighing SM 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.
SM franchise — frequently asked
Who owns SM — who is the franchisor?
SM's most recently filed FDD (2024) names SM Franchise, Inc. 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 SM franchise cost?
SM's most recently filed FDD (Item 7) puts the total estimated initial investment at $418,644 – $1,458,700. That price is the franchisor's own estimate of what it takes to open, not a quote. Against quick-service restaurant peers it sits in the lower quartile (median $604,609).
How much profit does a SM franchise make?
SM makes no Item 19 financial performance representation, so there is no franchisor-disclosed revenue or profit figure for SM at all — and profit would never be disclosed even where earnings are, because it depends on your rent, labor and how you operate. Any profit figure quoted elsewhere is an estimate, not a disclosure.
Does SM disclose financial performance (Item 19)?
No — SM's most recent FDD makes no Item 19 financial performance representation. Its absence is worth weighing: 56% of quick-service restaurant franchisors in our corpus do disclose.
Are there lawsuits against SM?
No — SM's most recently filed FDD (2024) discloses no litigation in Item 3. Franchisors must disclose material litigation involving themselves, their predecessors, parents, affiliates and management, so an empty Item 3 is a genuine signal rather than an omission.
Is SM a good franchise to buy?
Nobody can answer that from SM's numbers alone — it comes down to how its investment, earnings, litigation and franchisee churn stack up against quick-service restaurant peers and against your own budget. Our read on this filing is medium risk. Every figure behind that read is on this page for free. If you're comparing options, the free shortlist on this page matches you with 5–10 franchises that fit your budget and industry.
Get a free email when something changes on SM or quick-service restaurant: 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 state registries this page is built on.