A defensible planning range for one mature, standard U.S. Pokeworks restaurant is approximately $19,000 to $157,000 in pre-tax manager-run residual business profit, with a base scenario near $57,000. If the franchisor approves the owner to replace paid management labor, estimated owner-operator benefit rises to about $82,000 to $220,000, including the value of the owner’s full-time work.
Legal franchisor: Beyond Franchise Group LLC. FDD: issued April 10, 2026. Item 19 status: reports 2025 Gross Sales for 52 full-year franchisee-owned restaurants, but no operating profit, net income, cash flow, or owner compensation. Benchmarks: IRS tax-year 2022 corporate food-service data and BLS May 2024 Food Service Manager wages. Checked: July 18, 2026.
The official Pokeworks U.S. franchise website describes the current restaurant franchise opportunity. FDD facts below are cited in plain text because a matching public 2026 FDD was not verified on a franchise-controlled website.
Median Gross Sales
The central 2025 sales observation for the 52 full-year franchisee-owned restaurants in Item 19.
Average Gross Sales
Twenty-one restaurants, or 40% of the reporting cohort, met or exceeded this average.
Full-year reporting restaurants
Franchisee-owned locations operating generally according to standard procedures during the 2025 period.
IRS net-income proxy
Net income less deficit divided by business receipts for all active corporations in food services and drinking places.
Recurring burden at median sales
Approximately 9.5% of Gross Sales plus $3,600 yearly technology cost, before other restaurant expenses.
What does Pokeworks Item 19 actually measure?
Item 19 measures restaurant revenue, not owner earnings. For December 30, 2024 through December 28, 2025, the 2026 FDD reports Average Gross Sales of $1,082,563 and Median Gross Sales of $943,784 for 52 franchisee-owned Pokeworks restaurants. It also reports a $630,723 Bottom 20% Average and a $1,743,199 Top 20% Average. These are official sales figures for a defined full-year cohort, not profit figures.
The FDD defines Gross Sales as revenue generated by a Pokeworks restaurant, excluding sales tax and tips collected. Item 19 expressly says its figures do not present franchise fees, selling, general and administrative expense, occupancy costs, taxes, insurance, or other operating expenses, and that net profit is not presented. In practical terms, the disclosed sales must still pay for seafood and other food inputs, hourly labor, management, rent, utilities, delivery commissions, insurance, supplies, repairs, local marketing, royalties, and technology.
A $943,784 median sales figure cannot be read as owner income. The Federal Trade Commission’s franchise guidance explains why buyers should distinguish a financial performance representation from their own cost and profit analysis and request the written substantiation behind an Item 19 claim.
How broad is the sales sample?
The reported cohort covers 52 full-year franchisee-owned restaurants, but it is not the entire year-end system population. Item 20 reports 63 franchisee-owned outlets at the end of 2025, while Item 19 says 59 franchised restaurants existed as of December 28, 2025 and 52 operated for the full comparison period. The available disclosure does not fully reconcile the 59-versus-63 count in the narrative. That does not invalidate the 52-unit table, but it is a material cohort question for written substantiation.
Item 20 also reports eight franchised openings and five terminations during 2025. New, closed, transferred, nontraditional, or otherwise non-comparable restaurants may produce different economics from the full-year cohort. The scenario range below therefore applies to a mature standard restaurant aligned with the Item 19 population, not a startup ramp period or a Limited Access Location. Sources: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Item 19, pp. 68–70; Item 20, pp. 70–75.
How was the annual owner-earnings range estimated?
The estimate applies transparent profit-margin sensitivities to three official Item 19 revenue anchors. The Conservative case uses the Bottom 20% Average Gross Sales, the Base case uses Median Gross Sales, and the Upside case uses the Top 20% Average Gross Sales. These performance bands are observations from the FDD; they are not probabilities or forecasts.
The central margin proxy is 6.03%, calculated from IRS tax-year 2022 data for all active corporations in “Food services and drinking places”: $35.281 billion of net income less deficit divided by $585.275 billion of business receipts. The IRS defines net income less deficit as reported profit or loss after allowable deductions. This is the strongest reproducible official external benchmark located, but it is much broader than Pokeworks, includes different restaurant concepts and corporate structures, and is not specific to NAICS 722513.
The U.S. Census Bureau definition of NAICS 722513 Limited-Service Restaurants is directionally compatible with a fast-casual Pokeworks restaurant because customers generally order and pay before eating. The scenario nevertheless uses the broader available IRS food-service category, so confidence remains Limited.
What does the manager-run scenario produce?
Pre-tax residual business profit before financing principal and personal income taxes.
Interpretation: The spread is driven by both the official revenue band and the assumed margin. The $57,000 Base result is a scenario midpoint, not a prediction of the most likely outcome.
Sources and formula: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Item 19, pp. 68–70; IRS Corporation Income Tax Returns, Publication 16, Table 1. Estimated residual = FDD revenue anchor × scenario margin. Values rounded to the nearest $1,000.
| Scenario | FDD revenue anchor | Margin assumption | Manager-run residual | Owner-operator benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Conservative Bottom 20% Average Gross Sales |
$630,723 | 3.03% | $19,000 | $82,000 |
|
Base Median Gross Sales |
$943,784 | 6.03% | $57,000 | $120,000 |
|
Upside Top 20% Average Gross Sales |
$1,743,199 | 9.03% | $157,000 | $220,000 |
Which assumptions are official, benchmarked, or editorial?
The revenue anchors and recurring franchise obligations are official FDD facts; the profit margins and owner-labor bridge are estimates. The 3.0% and 9.03% margins are a minus-three and plus-three percentage-point sensitivity around the 6.03% IRS proxy. They are not figures reported by Pokeworks or the IRS and should not be interpreted as a worst case or best case.
- Official FDD: $630,723 Bottom 20% Average, $943,784 median, and $1,743,199 Top 20% Average Gross Sales for the 2025 franchised cohort.
- Official FDD: 6% Royalty Fee, 1.5% Marketing Fund Contribution, 2% Local Marketing Expenses, and a current $300 monthly Technology Fee.
- Official benchmark: 6.03% IRS net-income-less-deficit margin proxy for all active corporations in food services and drinking places, tax year 2022.
- Editorial sensitivity: 3.03%, 6.03%, and 9.03% scenario margins to show how modest margin changes alter annual owner economics.
- Excluded from owner take-home: financing principal, personal income taxes, major capital expenditures, remodels, and owner-specific tax or entity effects.
Accounting treatment: the manager-run scenario assumes normal paid management is already included in the broad IRS deduction base. The IRS category can also include interest, depreciation, and officer or owner compensation as reported by corporations, but the published aggregate does not isolate those amounts. Major capital expenditures, remodel spending, financing principal, and personal income taxes are outside this estimate. This accounting ambiguity is another reason the result is a planning range rather than a direct cash-flow forecast.
The IRS proxy is treated as an all-in net-income benchmark, so the scenario does not subtract Pokeworks royalty, marketing, technology, or normal restaurant expenses a second time. The disclosed fees are shown separately to reveal the operating burden and to help a buyer rebuild a location-specific profit-and-loss statement.
How does owner involvement change the earnings result?
Active operation can increase owner benefit only when the owner genuinely replaces paid management work. Item 15 requires a trained, approved Designated Manager to provide direct on-site supervision and says either the franchisee or Designated Manager must work full-time at the restaurant. It also strongly recommends that franchisees devote substantial time to management, operations, marketing, employee training, bookkeeping, customer service, and food-cost review.
For an owner-operator illustration, the model adds $63,040 to each manager-run residual. That amount is the BLS May 2024 median annual wage for Food Service Managers in food services and drinking places. The BLS wage excludes self-employed workers and does not capture employer payroll taxes, benefits, overtime structure, or market-specific management pay, so it is a labor-value benchmark rather than a guaranteed cash saving.
How much of owner-operator benefit is business profit versus labor value?
Each row compares estimated manager-run residual with the benefit when the owner replaces $63,040 of paid management labor.
Interpretation: The $63,040 gap in every row is compensation for management labor performed by the owner. It is not passive profit, and the actual substitution value depends on approval, staffing design, local wages, payroll burden, and hours worked.
Sources: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Item 15, pp. 55–56; BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook for Food Service Managers, May 2024 wage data. Values rounded to the nearest $1,000.
The base owner-operator benefit of about $120,000 consists of approximately $57,000 of modeled residual business profit plus $63,040 of management labor value. An owner who still employs a full-cost general manager should not add the labor value to profit.
- Gross Sales
- Item 19 revenue excluding sales tax and tips; it is not owner income.
- Manager-run residual
- An estimated pre-tax net-income proxy after normal business deductions, before financing principal and personal income taxes.
- Owner-operator benefit
- Manager-run residual plus the benchmark value of management labor performed by the owner; part business profit, part compensation for work.
- Debt service
- Interest may affect accounting profit depending on the benchmark and entity, while loan principal is a separate cash outflow not deducted in this model.
- Personal taxes
- Not estimated. Take-home pay depends on entity structure, jurisdiction, deductions, and the owner’s individual tax situation.
Which expenses can move Pokeworks owner earnings most?
Food cost, labor, occupancy, and sales productivity are likely to move earnings more than small changes in fixed fees. A poke restaurant depends on fresh seafood and produce, requires restaurant staffing and supervision, and may operate in high-rent metropolitan or suburban retail locations. The FDD’s special-risk disclosure also notes that required inventory or supplies may be purchased from designated sources at prices that could be higher than alternatives, which may reduce anticipated profit.
At the $943,784 Item 19 median, the disclosed recurring percentage obligations equal approximately $89,659: 6% Royalty Fee, 1.5% Marketing Fund Contribution, and 2% Local Marketing Expenses. Adding the current $3,600 annual Technology Fee produces about $93,259 of recurring franchise and required advertising burden before food, hourly labor, manager pay, rent, utilities, insurance, delivery commissions, repairs, and other overhead. Source: 2026 Pokeworks FDD, Items 6 and 11, pp. 15–20 and 41–42.
Why can a small margin change matter so much?
Every one percentage point of margin at median sales is worth about $9,438 per year. A move from a 6% to a 3% margin reduces modeled residual by roughly $28,000 at the same sales level; a move from 6% to 9% adds roughly the same amount. This is why buyer diligence should prioritize a unit-level operating statement rather than focusing only on sales.
The 2026 FDD does not disclose same-brand food cost, labor percentage, occupancy, delivery commissions, store-level profit, EBITDA, net income, owner compensation, or cash flow for franchised restaurants. The broad IRS proxy cannot reveal whether Pokeworks units have structurally higher seafood cost, labor intensity, rent, or required supplier pricing than the industry population.
What should a buyer verify before relying on this range?
A buyer should replace the broad margin proxy with actual Pokeworks unit economics before making an investment decision. Item 19 states that written substantiation for its sales representation is available on reasonable request, and Item 20 identifies current and former franchisees who may provide operating context.
- Request the written Item 19 substantiation and the exact list of the 52 full-year reporting restaurants.
- Ask for a written reconciliation of the Item 19 counts of 59 franchised and 52 reporting restaurants with the 63 franchisee-owned outlets shown at year-end in Item 20.
- Interview several current and former franchisees about food cost, hourly labor, general-manager pay, rent, utilities, delivery commissions, insurance, repairs, and owner hours.
- Obtain unit-level monthly profit-and-loss statements for restaurants resembling the proposed market, square footage, lease type, sales mix, and maturity.
- Confirm whether the proposed ownership structure permits the owner to serve as the approved Designated Manager or otherwise replace paid management labor.
- Model debt principal and interest separately using the buyer’s actual financed amount, rate, term, and lender fees.
- Verify current royalty, Marketing Fund, Local Marketing, technology, supplier, remodel, and renewal obligations in the final agreements and Operations Manual.
What is the strongest defensible earnings view?
The strongest defensible range is approximately $19,000 to $157,000 of annual pre-tax manager-run residual business profit per mature standard restaurant, with a $57,000 Base scenario. This is a scenario-based estimate, not an official Pokeworks profit disclosure. If an approved owner replaces paid management labor, estimated owner-operator benefit is approximately $82,000 to $220,000, with a $120,000 Base scenario; part of that amount compensates the owner for full-time work.
The most important earnings driver is the margin achieved after food, labor, occupancy, required fees, and other operating expenses at the restaurant’s sales level. The largest unresolved uncertainty is the absence of same-brand franchised-unit expense and profit data, compounded by an unreconciled outlet-count difference between Items 19 and 20. Before relying on the range, a buyer should verify the Item 19 substantiation, rebuild the model from comparable franchisee profit-and-loss statements, and test owner involvement and financing against the actual proposed location.