Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in the Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT Metro Area

Small tickets in a market that mirrors the national mix

In the Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT Metro Area, salons come 7 of 39 when the local classes are ordered by loans, and the area sits at 48 of 546 for the class across every metro and micro area. With a location quotient of 0.98x, salons fill almost exactly the same share of the local book as they do nationally: the area is neither a hotbed nor a gap. Size is the feature worth noting: a $150,000 median loan runs 1.50x the national median for salons. Between FY2017 and FY2026, 37 approvals add up to $10.2 million.

Sizes, programs, franchising and one holder

Loans in the middle half span $50,600 to $361,000, so many approvals are small working capital or build-out loans while a few reach a larger scale. On program, 7(a) accounts for 27 loans and 504 for 10. Franchising stands at 13.5% of loans, which leaves most salons here independent. Central Bank (UT) is listed by SBA as holder of 10 loans totaling $2.8 million; that is a record of current holdings, not a view of the bank's lending approach. All 37 loans sit in Utah County.

Year by year, and what is not shown

Three years can be printed: FY2017 with 5 loans and $725,000, FY2022 with 5 loans and $677,900, and FY2023 with 5 loans and $2.5 million. Every remaining year is hidden because its count is small. No cancellation or charge-off rate appears either, because Loan Analytics keeps back any rate resting on a thin FY2017 to FY2021 disbursement group, and that is different from a rate of zero. Utah County falls inside this area on the 2023 federal list, and loans that cannot be tied to any listed county are kept out of metro counts.

What a study of a Utah County salon has to test

Chair economics come first: the number of stations the floor can hold, the split between booth renters and payroll staff, and the revenue each station needs to carry rent and debt. Next comes the clientele, since repeat visits drive revenue, and the study should show how many competing shops sit within a short drive and how a new location gains its first regulars. Build-out cost deserves care because plumbing, ventilation and finishes vary widely, and a median of $150,000 is a benchmark rather than a budget. A lender will look for debt service coverage on a conservative booking rate, and an appraiser will treat the business value as mostly personal goodwill that does not transfer easily, which argues for a lease-based plan and tight equipment costs.