FacebookMeta
the heading “Advertising and Marketing” for further information. (Franchise Agreement, Section 5(J)). 7. We also may maintain one or more social media sites (e.g., www.x.com; www.facebook.com; or such
From the filings
+40% units YoYHQ-led decisions
Milkshake Factory
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing decisions at Milkshake Factory are controlled by its small corporate team in Michigan, led by Founder and CEO Dana Edwards Manatos and President Dan Reese. The brand does not mandate any specific technology systems in its 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, leaving a wide-open evaluation landscape. With 14 total units and 40% year-over-year growth, the immediate addressable market is small but expanding.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
14
4 franchised
Unit growth YoY
+40%
vs prior filing
AUV
$716K
Item 19, 2024
Royalty
6%
of gross sales
Ad fund
2%
national + local
Initial fee
$60K
per unit
Investment range
$510K–$773K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisor controlled
from the filing
Non-compete
2 years
from the filing
Item 19
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.
8%of gross sales (FY2025)
15% reference
Mandated & recommended tech
The systems vendors compete with
Systems named in Item 11 of this filing. None is recorded as mandated here, which is not the same as the filing mandating nothing. Read Item 11 before treating the category as open.
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
22 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 5 explicit no's; 7 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 will have independent access to the information stored in your Computer System or Required Software, and there is no contractual limit on our right to access such information.
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
(i) a signed Adjusted Gross Sales Report as described more fully in Section 4 of this Agreement on or before Monday of each week;
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
Required Purchases of Goods and Services You are required to purchase equipment, fixtures, food and beverage products, ingredients, furnishings, décor items, supplies and signage for your Shop that meet our specifications for quality and design from suppliers that we approve which may include us or our affiliate(s).
Does the franchisor reserve the right to change designated suppliers or systems at any time?
YesItem 8
We reserve the right to modify the Approved Products at any time in our sole discretion, including the right for us or our affiliate(s) to develop proprietary products, recipes and equipment.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
0Item 8
In our past fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, neither we nor our affiliates derived any revenue in connection with franchisees’ required purchases.
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?
45Item 8
approximately 45% to 75% of all purchases and leases to operate the Franchised Business after the initial start-up phase.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you wish to undertake either of these actions, you must request and obtain our approval in writing before: (i) using or offering the non-approved product or service in connection with your Franchised Business; or (ii) purchasing from a non-approved supplier.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee agrees to direct the telephone company servicing Franchisee, per Franchisor’s request, to disconnect the telephone number used in connection with the Franchised Business or transfer such number to Franchisor or to any person or location of Franchisor’s choosing.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must ensure compliance with all payment card industry (“PCI”) and data security standard (“DSS”) standards, regulations, and requirements.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor will, as it deems appropriate in its sole discretion, conduct inspections and/or audits of the Franchised Business and Premises to ensure that Franchisee is operating its Franchised Business in compliance with the terms of this Agreement, the Manuals and the System standards and specifications.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
We may periodically amend, update or replace the contents of the Manuals.
Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor must approve of Franchisee’s proposed location, as well as the lease for the Premises (the “Lease”) or purchase agreement for the location, prior to Franchisee entering into any such agreement for that location to serve as the Premises of the Franchised Business.
Marketing
Is the franchisee prohibited from operating its own website or social media accounts, or required to use pages the franchisor provides?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee may not establish any separate website or other Internet presence in connection with the Franchised Business, System or Proprietary Marks without Franchisor’s prior written consent.
Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisee must spend a minimum of between $10,050 and $12,000 to promote and advertise the opening of the Franchised Business within the Designated Territory, which must be expended during the time period beginning approximately 30 – 60 days prior to the opening of the Franchised Business through the opening of the…
Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?
YesItem 11
In addition to the Opening Marketing Spend, you must expend a minimum Local Advertising on the local marketing and advertising of your Franchised Business, which is based on the Adjusted Gross Sales generated by your Franchised Business during the preceding calendar month.
Operations
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
You are required to purchase equipment, fixtures, food and beverage products, ingredients, furnishings, décor items, supplies and signage for your Shop that meet our specifications for quality and design from suppliers that we approve which may include us or our affiliate(s).
Payments
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesFranchise agreement
With the exception of the Initial Franchise Fee, Franchisee shall pay all fees and other amounts due to Franchisor and/or its affiliates under this Agreement through an electronic funds transfer program (the “EFT Program”), under which Franchisor automatically deducts all payments owed to Franchisor under this…
People
Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?
YesItem 15
Your franchised Shop must, at all times, be managed and staffed with at least one (1) individual who has successfully completed our Initial Training Program.
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
ensuring that all Shop personnel wear the branded uniforms prescribed in the Manual(s) or otherwise in writing from time to time.
Point of sale
Must the franchisee use a specific point-of-sale system designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesItem 11
You are required to use point of sale system (or “POS System”) and other Computer System hardware we designate in the Manual(s) or otherwise in writing.
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesItem 11
We will have independent access to the information stored in your Computer System or Required Software, and there is no contractual limit on our right to access such information.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesFranchise agreement
Franchisor may, as it deems appropriate in its discretion, develop additional and refresher training courses, and require Franchisee and its management to attend such courses.
The filing answers no to 5 questions
- Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?Item 11
- Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?Item 8
- Does the franchisor charge a fee to evaluate a proposed supplier?Item 8
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer-satisfaction or net-promoter survey program?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Franchise agreement
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 Milkshake Factory
Milkshake Factory is a small but rapidly growing quick-service restaurant concept headquartered in Michigan. According to its 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the system comprises 14 total units, with a heavy tilt toward corporate ownership: 10 locations are company-operated and only 4 are franchised. The brand reported a 40% year-over-year unit growth rate, signaling an aggressive expansion trajectory that will eventually require scalable technology infrastructure.
Average unit volume sits at $715,513, with a 6.0% royalty fee and a standard 10-year initial franchise term. For software vendors, the immediate total addressable market is just 14 locations. The real play here is landing a corporate-level deal now and growing with the chain as it adds franchised and company-owned units.
Who controls software purchasing
Purchasing authority is centralized at the corporate headquarters. The FDD’s Item 1 lists four executives who form the likely buying committee: Dana Edwards Manatos (Founder and CEO), Dan Reese (President), Shawn Smith (Vice President of Operations), and Micah Keith (Vice President of Marketing). In a chain of this size, the CEO and President typically hold final sign-off on any system that touches operations or finance, while the VP of Operations evaluates day-to-day utility and the VP of Marketing weighs in on customer-facing or loyalty platforms.
There are no multi-unit franchisee operators to influence purchasing. The single mapped franchisee operates one location in Wisconsin, meaning no franchisee advisory council or powerful multi-unit owner exists to drive technology decisions from the field.
Mandated and current tech stack
Milkshake Factory’s 2025 FDD does not mandate or recommend any specific technology systems. No point-of-sale vendor, online ordering platform, payroll provider, or inventory management tool is named in the document. This absence of mandated tech is typical for a chain of this size and maturity. It means the brand is either using a patchwork of legacy or off-the-shelf solutions across its 10 corporate stores, or it has not yet formalized a technology strategy in its franchise disclosure.
For a software vendor, this is both an opportunity and a challenge. The lack of an incumbent means no rip-and-replace barrier, but it also means you must build the business case from scratch. Focus on the 10 company-owned units as a proof-of-concept entry point; the 4 franchised locations will likely follow whatever HQ adopts.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
The FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so the formal purchasing model—whether designated supplier, approved supplier, or completely open—is not disclosed in the available data. In practice, chains of this size often operate on an open or informal approved-supplier basis until they reach a unit count that demands standardization.
Renewal conditions, detailed in Item 17, provide a potential trigger for technology conversations. Franchisees seeking a 10-year renewal must execute the then-current form of franchise agreement, complete refresher training, pay a $10,000 renewal fee, and—critically—complete any required renovation and modernization of the business. This modernization clause could encompass technology upgrades if the franchisor updates its system standards between now and a franchisee’s renewal window. Vendors should monitor when the first franchise agreements approach their 10-year mark.
How to read the Milkshake Factory FDD
The full 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document is available for review below. Key sections for software vendors include Item 11 (Franchisor’s Obligations) to confirm the absence or presence of mandated technology, Item 8 (Restrictions on Sources of Products and Services) to understand procurement rules, and Item 17 (Renewal, Termination, Transfer) to identify contract-cycle triggers. The executive team listed in Item 1 gives you the names you need for outreach. For a ranked target list of franchise brands matched to your software category, talk to FranCloud.
Questions vendors ask
Milkshake Factory, answered from the filing
The buying center is concentrated at HQ. Key contacts include Founder and CEO Dana Edwards Manatos, President Dan Reese, VP of Operations Shawn Smith, and VP of Marketing Micah Keith, based on FDD Item 1 disclosures.
The 2025 FDD does not list any mandated or recommended point-of-sale or operational technology systems. Franchisees appear to have autonomy in selecting their tech stack.
There are 14 total units: 10 are company-owned and 4 are franchised. This is a small, emerging quick-service chain with a 40% year-over-year unit growth rate.
The procurement model is not explicitly detailed in the available FDD extracts. The document does not signal a designated or approved supplier program, suggesting a potentially open purchasing environment.
Renewal conditions require executing the then-current franchise agreement, a $10,000 fee, and potential modernization. With a 10-year initial term, windows open as franchisees approach renewal or when the 10 corporate locations refresh systems.
The 2025 FDD is filed with state franchise regulators. You can review the full document using the embedded PDF viewer below to analyze Item 11 and Item 8 details directly.
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 Milkshake Factory files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
1 operators run 1 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit1
Top states by locations
| WI | 1 |
|---|
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated June 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.