How will Noodles & Company evaluate my financial and management capabilities?

All such information shall be verified by you and your Principal Owners as being complete and accurate in all respects, shall be submitted to us in accordance with our requirements and will be relied on by us in determining whether to grant a franchise for the proposed Noodles & Company restaurant. We may refuse to grant you a franchise for a Noodles & Company restaurant; (i) if you fail to demonstrate sufficient financial and management capabilities to properly develop and operate the proposed Noodles & Company restaurant and the then-existing Noodles & Company restaurants you and your Affiliates own; (ii) you have failed to properly develop and operate on a continuous basis the then-existing Noodles & Company restaurants you and your Affiliates own; (iii) you have failed to fully comply with this Agreement and any franchise agreements between you and us, including the Development Schedule within the Development Periods; or (iv) you are ineligible to hold or will be, in our opinion, unable to obtain a liquor license for each Noodles & Company restaurant contemplated by this Agreement. We will evaluate such financial and management capabilities in accordance with the then-current standards we use to establish Noodles & Company restaurants in other comparable market areas. We may also require you to submit a business plan for any proposed site. The absence of any of the failures described in Section 3.03 (i) through (iv) herein is each a condition precedent to any obligation of Noodles & Company to grant a franchise agreement for any proposed site or other performance of this Agreement.

Source: Item 23 — RECEIPT (FDD pages 99–350)