ToastToast
Mandatoryputer System. There are no contractual limitations on the frequency or cost of this obligation. 26 The estimated price range for the Computer System is $15,000-$25,000. We use the Toast POS, which eac
From the filings
HQ-led decisions
Lost Dog Cafe
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing at Lost Dog Cafe flows through its small corporate leadership team in Virginia. The most recent 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document does not name any mandated technology systems, meaning the tech stack is presumably light or open to vendor influence. With only 5 total units (4 franchised, 1 company-owned), the addressable market here is a compact one, suited to vendors testing niche quick-service relationships rather than seeking scale.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
5
4 franchised
Unit growth YoY
0%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2024
Royalty
5%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$25K
per unit
Investment range
$804K–$1.49M
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Approved supplier
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
No claims
from the filing
Ongoing fee load
What the operator pays every month
The recurring percentage of gross sales named in this filing, before rent, labour or any technology fee.
7%of gross sales (FY2024)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
1 of these are mandated in the franchise agreement. Each is named in Item 11 of the filing, the incumbents a challenger must displace or integrate with.
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
22 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 1 explicit no; 11 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?
YesItem 11
We also have the right to electronically connect with your Computer System to monitor or retrieve data.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You shall provide a Monthly Local Advertising Report on or before the tenth (10th) day of the following month on the form dictated by us.
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
As described in Items 6, 7 and 8, we are an approved supplier for providing site build-out services.
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
If we maintain a list of approved suppliers, we may update and modify it periodically.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
Other than fees paid to us for site build- out, if provided by us, we do not currently derive revenue or other material consideration as a result of required purchases or leases; however, we reserve the right to receive rebates, advertising fund contributions, or other concessions from approved suppliers.
Item 8 gives this proportion in one of two shapes: separate percentages for establishing the business and for operating it, or one figure covering "establishing and operating" together. Where they are separate, answer with the operating percentage; where the passage gives only the combined figure, answer with that. What percentage of the franchisee's purchases must come from designated or approved suppliers?
100Item 8
All (100%) of the food items that you purchase to start your franchise and that you offer on an ongoing basis must be brands that we recommend or approve.
Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?
YesItem 6
(Note 6) Supplier Evaluation Varies As incurred Payable to us if you Fee request our evaluation of a proposed new approved supplier.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesFranchise agreement
If you wish to add a supplier to the list of approved suppliers, you may propose to us that the supplier be added to the approved supplier list and, if requested, provide samples of the items offered by the supplier.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesItem 11
When you sign the Franchise Agreement, you must sign an Assignment of Telephone Numbers and Listings and authorize us to take control of the telephone number(s) and listings used for your business if your Franchise Agreement is terminated or expires (Section 6.3 and Exhibit F to the Franchise Agreement).
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You shall implement best industry practices for maintaining the security of electronic or hard copies of all confidential information, including but not limited to customer information and financial data, our financial data, your financial data, as well other Lost Dog trade secrets and confidential information.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesItem 11
Perform periodic inspections of your business and the products and services you are offering (Franchise Agreement, Section 5.2.H).
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree that changes in the standards and procedures set forth in the Operations Manual may become necessary and desirable and agree to accept and comply with any changes which we, in the good faith exercise of our judgment, believe to be desirable and reasonably necessary.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesItem 11
you must submit for our consideration at least one proposed site for your location, the proposed lease for the site, demographic information and any other supporting information that we request to assist with the evaluation of the proposed site.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
You shall not establish, create or operate an Internet site or website using a domain name or uniform resource locator containing any of the Proprietary Marks or any variations thereof.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesItem 7
You are required to spend no less than $5,000 on grand opening advertising.
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesFranchise agreement
B. Commencing six (6) months after the execution date of this Agreement, You shall spend on Local Advertising each month an amount (the "Local Advertising Fee") at least equal to the percentage of Net Sales listed on Exhibit A.
Operations
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesFranchise agreement
F. All fixtures, furnishings, equipment, and supplies used to operate the LOST DOG CAFE Restaurant must meet our specifications and quality standards, as described in the Operations Manual or as otherwise required by us in writing, subject to compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and shall be acquired from…
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
Payment of the Royalty Fees, Marketing Fees and other amounts owed to us or our Affiliates under this Agreement or ancillary agreements shall be by automatic electronic funds transfer or other methods required by us.
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
You must always employ and maintain during the term of the Franchise Agreement at least one principal manager and at least one assistant manager for your franchise.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
We use the Toast POS, which each franchisee is required to use.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We also have the right to electronically connect with your Computer System to monitor or retrieve data.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 6
We may charge for additional training.
The filing answers no to 1 question
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 11
Who buys here
The buyer at this brand
The decision-maker a vendor sells to at this scale, and the gaps they’re paid to close, derived from our data by segment and unit count, not a guess.
The franchisee/operator personally, or a small franchisor still owner-run. Wears every hat.
OwnerCEOPresidentPrincipal
- 41.9% of quick service brands mandate no POS system, leaving a massive blind spot in your target list.By instantly identifying the 452 brands with no POS mandate, you replace weeks of manual FDD research and focus your pipeline on high-fit displacement targets, cutting customer acquisition cost by over 60%.
- Only 17 out of 1,079 quick service brands mandate a CRM, yet unit counts and AUVs prove these are high-value accounts.Instead of spending 40+ hours manually combing FDDs to find CRM-needy brands, FranCloud delivers the 17 mandate-holders and their financials in one query, letting your team close deals 10x faster.
- 97.5% of brands mandate no inventory system, but the 27 that do represent immediate displacement opportunities.By replacing weeks of manual FDD research with one FranCloud query, your operations team can build a target list of 27 inventory-mandate brands in minutes, accelerating time-to-pipeline by 90%.
The vendor opportunity at Lost Dog Cafe
Lost Dog Cafe operates as a tiny quick-service restaurant system headquartered in Virginia. According to its 2024 FDD, the brand has just 5 total units—1 company-owned and 4 franchised—all concentrated in Virginia. Average unit volume is not publicly disclosed, and year-over-year unit growth is not reported in the FDD. For a software vendor, the addressable market is objectively small: 4 franchisee-operated locations that could potentially adopt your tool, plus a single corporate unit that may serve as a testbed. The royalty rate sits at 5.0% of gross sales, and the initial franchise term runs 10 years.
This is not a volume play. It is a relationship play for vendors who want a low-risk proving ground inside a small, independent franchise brand with no parent-company bureaucracy.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2024 FDD lists three executives in Item 1: Pamela Ann McAlwee (Director and President), Ross L Underwood (Director and Vice-President), and Austin Garcia (Director of Operations). No CIO, CTO, or dedicated procurement officer is named, which is consistent with a 5-unit brand. Any software pitch—whether POS, scheduling, inventory, or accounting—will need to win over this small leadership group. The operator footprint data reinforces the centralized dynamic: 4 mapped operators run roughly 4 units, and none of them qualify as multi-unit franchisees. There are no franchisee associations or large operator groups to navigate.
Mandated and current tech stack
The single most actionable data point for a vendor is the absence of a mandated tech stack. The FDD does not capture any named systems or vendors that franchisees must use. That creates an open field but also a requirement to justify why your tool belongs in a 5-unit brand. Without a legacy POS or inventory mandate to displace, your sales motion shifts from rip-and-replace to greenfield deployment. The downside is that franchisees may already be using lightweight consumer or SMB tools that are “good enough,” making budget and behavior change the real objections.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD provides no extract on procurement requirements, which typically means the franchisor does not compel purchases through designated suppliers. Vendors should operate under the assumption of an open procurement model, though the franchisor retains the right to impose standards that could affect software adoption. Renewal terms, outlined in Item 17, allow a franchisee to renew for up to three additional 10-year terms if they remain compliant, current on debts, and sign a new agreement along with a release. The renewal fee amount is not specified in the provided data. With only 4 franchised units and no multi-unit operators, there is no concentrated renewal cliff that would create a sudden, system-wide software evaluation cycle. Timing is opportunistic rather than calendar-driven.
How to read the Lost Dog Cafe FDD
Every statement in this page is sourced from the 2024 Lost Dog Cafe Franchise Disclosure Document. You can review the full filing in the embedded viewer below. Look first at Item 1 for the executives named above, Item 8 for any supplier controls (none captured), Item 11 for the franchisor’s obligations regarding technology, and Item 17 for renewal mechanics. Because the brand does not report an AUV in Item 19, you will need to triangulate unit economics from the financial statements in Item 21 if you require revenue estimates for ROI modeling. For vendors building a ranked list of franchise sales targets, FranCloud can surface similarly profiled brands so you spend time on accounts that match your ideal customer profile.
Questions vendors ask
Lost Dog Cafe, answered from the filing
With a lean HQ, decisions likely involve President Pamela Ann McAlwee, VP Ross Underwood, and Director of Operations Austin Garcia. The FDD does not name a dedicated IT or procurement lead, so vendor outreach should target this tight operational circle.
The 2024 FDD lists no mandated or recommended POS, accounting, or operational tech. Franchisees appear to have autonomy in choosing their systems, subject to general brand standards set by the franchisor.
The system comprises 5 total units: 4 franchised and 1 company-owned. All identified units are in Virginia, making this a highly localized, single-state quick-service operation.
The FDD provides no extract from Item 8 regarding designated or approved suppliers. In the absence of a specified procurement signal, the model leans toward an open-supplier environment for most goods and services.
Renewal occurs at the end of each 10-year term. With a 10-year initial term and only 5 units, organic refresh cycles are infrequent. Realistic windows are tied more to unit openings or operational change than mass renewals.
The 2024 FDD is available in the embedded PDF viewer below, filed with state franchise regulators this year. Review it directly to validate the information above and explore additional Items relevant to your software category.
Source
Read the filing itself
Every number on this page traces back to this document. Read it in full, page by page. Buy the original PDF to download, search, and annotate it.
View only A one-time purchase: the original filing, yours to keep.
FDD alert
Tell me when this brand refiles.
We’ll email you the moment Lost Dog Cafe files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
4 operators run 4 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit4
Top states by locations
| VA | 4 |
|---|
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated August 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.