What is Item 7 of the FDD?
Item 7 is the initial-investment table of the Franchise Disclosure Document. It estimates every cost of opening one unit — the franchise fee, build-out, equipment, inventory, insurance, deposits, and at least three months of working capital — as a low-to-high range with footnotes. It is an estimate, not a quote: sales teams cite the low end, and experienced buyers budget the high end plus a reserve.
Read the footnotes as hard as the numbers — that's where "does not include" lives (commonly: real estate purchase, extended working capital, your own living expenses during ramp-up). Compare Item 7 against the same brand's liquid capital requirement; a wide gap between the two tells you how much financing the model quietly assumes.
Compiled from franchise disclosure filings — never hand-typed.