QuickBooks
Mandatorycomputer that you own. If you were to purchase a computer, we estimate the cost to be approximately $200 to $1,000. You may need to buy and/or license third-party software such as QuickBooks and Micro
From the filings
+28.295% units YoYHQ-led decisions
Travelin' Tom's Coffee
Quick service restaurantSoftware purchasing decisions at Travelin' Tom's Coffee are centralized at the franchisor level, led by CEO Tony Lamb. The chain mandates QuickBooks for accounting and uses Google Ads, with no dedicated IT executive listed in the 2026 FDD. With 334 total locations (331 franchised) and 28% annual unit growth, the addressable market for vendors is expanding rapidly.
For software vendors selling into US franchise brands.
Live signals
Total units
334
331 franchised
Unit growth YoY
+28.295%
vs prior filing
AUV
—
Item 19, 2026
Royalty
15%
of gross sales
Ad fund
—
national + local
Initial fee
$15K
per unit
Investment range
$185K–$265K
all-in, Item 7
Procurement
Franchisor controlled
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. It is a floor, not a total — the filing discloses one of the two headline fees.
15%+of gross sales (FY2026)
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.
Google Ads
Franchises Available” or similar phrasing. During our most recent fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, the Brand Fund was spent as follows: 61.93% on content creation, 14.86% with Google AdWords, 19.1
Franchisor behaviours
What the franchisor requires
20 requirements the franchisor states in this filing, each in its own words; 7 explicit no's; 7 questions the text does not settle, which is not a no.
Accounting
Must the franchisee submit periodic financial statements (monthly, quarterly or annual) to the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You will deliver the financial statements that we prescribe, which may include a balance sheet, profit and loss statement, statement of cash flows and explanatory footnotes prepared under generally accepted accounting principles applied on a consistent basis or such other items we designate related to the financial…
How the franchisor buys
Is the franchisor or an affiliate itself a supplier of required products, services or systems?
YesItem 8
Some of our officers own an interest in our affiliate, Kona Insurance, which is an approved supplier of comprehensive property and casualty insurance.
Is there a franchisee advisory council, association or committee?
YesItem 11
We intend to create a brand advisory board (“Ad Council”) to help determine the type of advertising (television, radio, billboard, internet, or other medium) we will use.
How much revenue did the franchisor and its affiliates earn from franchisee purchases in the last fiscal year?
15510424Item 8
During our last fiscal year, ended December 31, 2025, we received $15,510,424 in revenue from these required purchases.
Does the franchisor or an affiliate receive rebates, commissions or other revenue from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
We have negotiated purchase arrangements with suppliers and distributors for the benefit of our Franchisees, and we may receive rebates or volume discounts from our purchase of equipment and supplies that we resell to you.
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?
30Item 8
We estimate that approximately 70% of purchases required to open your Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Franchise and 30% of purchases required to operate your Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Franchise will be from us or from other approved suppliers or under our specifications.
Can a franchisee propose a new supplier for the franchisor's approval?
YesItem 8
If you desire to have a non- approved supplier of a product or service designated as an approved supplier, you must submit samples of the supplier’s products or services to us, along with a written statement describing why such items, services, or suppliers should be approved for use in the System.
Communications
Does the franchisor own or control the business telephone numbers, or take them over when the agreement ends?
YesFranchise agreement
Immediately stop using all telephone numbers, advertisements, domain names and social media accounts associated with the Franchised Business.
Data and IT
Must the franchisee comply with PCI, data-security or cybersecurity standards set by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to comply with the then-current Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards as those standards may be revised and modified by the PCI Security Standards Council, LLC, or any successor organization or standards we may reasonably specify.
Franchise management
Does the franchisor conduct periodic inspections, audits or evaluations of the franchised business?
YesFranchise agreement
We may, at any time during your business hours, and without prior notice to you, examine your Franchised Business, bookkeeping, and accounting records, sales and income tax records and returns, and other records.
Can the franchisor change the operations manual and brand standards unilaterally?
YesItem 11
We may modify the Brand Manual periodically to reflect changes in System Standards (Franchise Agreement – Section 9.1).
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 may not maintain a separate website, conduct e-commerce, or otherwise maintain a presence on the Internet in connection with your Franchised Business without our express written permission, which we may revoke at any time, in our sole discretion.
Operations
Must the franchisee buy products from a designated distributor?
YesItem 8
You must obtain services and products from: (1) designated suppliers, (2) approved suppliers, and/or (3) according to our specifications.
Must equipment be purchased from designated or approved suppliers?
YesItem 8
must obtain services and products from: (1) designated suppliers, (2) approved suppliers, and/or (3) according to our specifications.
Payments
Must the franchisee use a payment processor or merchant-services provider designated or approved by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree not to use any Payment Vendor for which we have not given you our prior written approval or as to which we have revoked our earlier approval.
Are royalties and other fees collected by automatic bank debit (ACH or electronic funds transfer) from the franchisee's account?
YesItem 6
We currently require you to pay fees and other amounts due to us and our affiliates via automated clearing house (“ACH”) or other similar means.
Must the franchisee participate in a gift card program?
YesFranchise agreement
You agree to participate in our gift card and loyalty programs, if any, and agree to make gift cards and loyalty programs available for purchase and redemption at your Franchised Business subject to the policies and procedures in the Brand Manual.
People
Must employees wear uniforms specified by the franchisor?
YesFranchise agreement
You must require all your employees to work in clean uniforms approved by us, but furnished at your cost or the employees’ cost as you may determine.
Point of sale
Does the franchisor have independent access to the data in the franchisee's POS or computer system?
YesFranchise agreement
We will have the right at any time to retrieve data and other information from your Technology as we, in our sole discretion, deem necessary or desirable.
Training
Can the franchisor charge the franchisee for additional, refresher or remedial training?
YesItem 11
We may charge a fee for providing training and may require you to reimburse us for our associated costs and expenses.
The filing answers no to 7 questions
- Does the franchisor have direct or independent electronic access to the franchisee's financial, sales or customer records?Item 11
- Must the franchisor approve the franchisee's site or location before opening?Item 11
- Is a minimum grand opening advertising spend required?Franchise agreement
- Is the franchisee required to spend a minimum amount on local advertising or marketing, as a percentage of sales or a fixed amount?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a customer loyalty or rewards program?Franchise agreement
- Must the franchisee participate in a regional advertising cooperative when one exists?Item 11
- Does the franchisor require minimum staffing levels or specific roles?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.
HQ leadership: CEO/President + VP Ops/Franchise + a first dedicated IT/systems owner.
VP SalesHead of SalesCROSales Director
- 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%.
- 82.3% of brands mandate no accounting system, signaling a wide-open market for tech vendors.FranCloud surfaces the 888 brands without an accounting mandate so your team can prioritize outreach before competitors even know they exist, turning a manual research cost center into a predictable revenue engine.
- 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.
The vendor opportunity at Travelin' Tom's Coffee
Travelin' Tom's Coffee is a quick-service restaurant chain headquartered in Kentucky, backed by private equity firm Garnett Station Partners. According to its 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, the brand has 334 total units—331 franchised and just 3 company-owned—representing 28.3% year-over-year unit growth. All 233 mapped franchisees are single-unit operators, with no multi-unit owners. This structure means software vendors face a highly centralized sales environment: the franchisor, not a network of large franchisees, controls technology decisions.
The brand’s footprint is concentrated in Texas (34 units), Indiana (18), California (15), Georgia (13), and Pennsylvania (12), but its rapid expansion suggests a growing national presence. For vendors, the addressable market is 334 locations today, with a trajectory that could double within a few years if growth continues.
Who controls software purchasing
The 2026 FDD lists Tony Lamb as Chief Executive Officer, President, Secretary, and a board member. No chief information officer, chief technology officer, or VP of IT is named. The board includes Matthew Perelman, Rafael Haramati, Robert A. Whitehouse II, and Henry Wei, all of whom may influence major technology investments given the PE ownership. In practice, CEO Tony Lamb is the most likely initial point of contact for software vendors. Because franchisees are all single-unit operators with no aggregated buying power, the franchisor’s headquarters in Kentucky is the sole decision-making center for any mandated or recommended technology.
Mandated and current tech stack
The FDD explicitly mandates QuickBooks for accounting. No other operational or point-of-sale systems are disclosed as required or recommended. Google Ads is mentioned as a marketing tool, but no marketing automation, loyalty, or CRM platforms are named. This narrow tech stack leaves significant white space for vendors offering POS, inventory management, scheduling, payroll, or franchisee communication tools. The absence of a mandated POS is particularly notable for a chain of this size and growth rate, suggesting either an open environment or an upcoming selection process.
Procurement, renewals, and timing
Item 8 of the FDD, which would typically outline procurement restrictions or designated suppliers, was not extracted in the available data. This lack of visibility means vendors must inquire directly about any preferred vendor programs. However, the franchisor’s mandate of QuickBooks indicates a willingness to impose specific software standards, so a formal procurement process may exist even if not detailed in the public FDD excerpt.
Franchise agreements run for an initial 10-year term, with two successive 10-year renewal options. Renewals require franchisees to sign the then-current agreement, which may include materially different terms—including higher royalties and potentially new technology mandates. For vendors, this creates a predictable window: as early cohorts approach their 10-year mark (starting around 2036), the franchisor may update its tech stack, opening opportunities for new solutions.
How to read the Travelin' Tom's Coffee FDD
The full FDD, filed with state franchise regulators in 2026, is embedded below. It contains detailed information on the franchise system, including Item 11 (franchisor’s obligations) and Item 17 (renewal, termination, transfer), which are critical for understanding technology requirements and decision-making authority. Use the viewer to search for specific terms like “software,” “POS,” or “technology” to uncover any additional mandates not captured in this summary.
For a ranked target list of franchise brands aligned with your software category, FranCloud can help you prioritize outreach based on unit growth, tech gaps, and decision-maker profiles.
Questions vendors ask
Travelin' Tom's Coffee, answered from the filing
CEO Tony Lamb is the top executive listed, with no dedicated CIO or CTO. Given the single-unit franchisee base and PE ownership (Garnett Station Partners), purchasing authority likely rests with Lamb and the board.
The 2026 FDD mandates QuickBooks for accounting. No POS, inventory, or operational systems are disclosed. Google Ads is used for marketing. Vendors should note the absence of a mandated POS, which may signal an opportunity.
As of the 2026 FDD, there are 334 total units (331 franchised, 3 company-owned), up 28% year-over-year. The brand operates in at least five states, with Texas (34), Indiana (18), and California (15) leading.
The FDD does not disclose a designated supplier or procurement program (Item 8 not extracted). Franchisees may have autonomy in purchasing non-mandated technology, but the franchisor's mandate of QuickBooks suggests some central control.
Franchise agreements have a 10-year initial term, with two successive 10-year renewal options. Renewals require signing the then-current agreement, which may include updated tech mandates. The next wave of renewals will begin around 2036 for early franchisees.
The FDD is filed with state franchise regulators in 2026. You can view the full document in the embedded PDF viewer below.
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 Travelin' Tom's Coffee files a new annual FDD, usually the freshest signal of a vendor change.
Operator footprint
Who runs the locations
233 operators run 233 mapped locations. 0 of them are multi-unit. Aggregate counts from the filing; no names.
Operators by units owned
Single-unit233
Top states by locations
| TX | 34 |
|---|---|
| IN | 18 |
| CA | 15 |
| GA | 13 |
| PA | 12 |
Ownership
The portfolio behind Travelin' Tom's Coffee
pe_firm of Garnett Station Partners.
Related Quick service restaurant brands
Primary franchise filings · updated August 2026. Every figure is source-traceable and QA-checked.