Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in Louisiana

A small-ticket record with few cancellations

Beauty salon lending in Louisiana is a record of very small loans. SBA approved 56 of them between FY2017 and FY2026, adding up to only $8.0 million, and the median of $92,650 is 0.93x the median salon loan nationwide. Half of the loans sit between $44,375 and $182,250. The state ranks 35 of 54 for the class, salons place 8 of 39 in the Louisiana mix, and a location quotient of 0.91x puts the sector just below its national weight. The page is a plain account of the approved loans: how many, how large, who holds them and how many were cancelled.

Almost entirely 7(a)

All but one of the loans came through 7(a), 55 against a single 504 loan. Fidelity Bank holds the most loans, 9 for $1.1 million, and next comes Newtek Bank, National Association, at 7 loans and $980,000. Franchise loans are 5.4% of the cell. By parish the record is spread out: Jefferson has 11 loans, East Baton Rouge and Orleans have 9 each, and Saint Tammany has 8.

Cancellation and the calendar

Few approvals were lost before funding. Only 2.8% of salon files were cancelled, counting approvals through FY2024, and the ceiling gives the same 2.8%. Volume has risen in recent years: annual counts held at 4 loans through the early 2020s, then climbed to 6 in FY2023 and FY2024, 9 in FY2025 and 11 in FY2026, which carried $1.4 million. Loan Analytics prints no charge-off rate for Louisiana salons, because fewer than 30 salon loans funded in that early cohort.

What a salon study should settle

A salon is a small business that depends on a few stylists, so the Louisiana study should start with who the chairs belong to. Are they employees, or renters who bring clients and can leave? Test the neighbourhood: the households within a short trip, the existing salons and their pricing, and the parking and foot traffic at the site. Costs include the lease, plumbing and ventilation, stations, and the opening months before bookings fill. Because the loans are small, coverage should be modelled with a slow first year and a stylist departing. An appraiser has little real estate to value in a leased shop; the borrower's plan and track record carry the case.