Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in Rhode Island

Rhode Island salons borrow very little

The Rhode Island salon file is notable for how small the loans are. A median of $60,000 is only 0.60x the national figure for beauty salons, and typical requests run from $46,250 to $189,500, so these are chair, fixture and working capital loans. Over FY2017 to FY2026 the state approved 38 loans worth $4.9 million, which ranks it 41 of 54 among states, while salons hold 8 of 39 within Rhode Island and the location quotient is 0.95x.

Programs, brands and geography

SBA 7(a) carried 32 loans and SBA 504 carried 6, a surprising 504 presence for a class that mostly leases, suggesting some owner-occupied storefronts. Franchise affiliation reaches 13.2% of loans. No lender has five or more loans here, so none is named; the volume is spread across many banks. Providence County has 21 loans and Kent County 10, Washington County 4, Newport 2 and Bristol 1.

What is not published

Rhode Island lacks any lapse rate or write-off rate to report; both depend on groups of under 30 loans. A blank is a missing value, not a clean record, and a lender should ask the applicant for its own history instead. The yearly calendar is small: 7 loans in FY2017, between 2 and 4 in most later years, then 7 loans worth $669,900 in FY2025. In dollar terms the biggest year was FY2022 at $1.1 million, a figure that still amounts to a handful of small loans, which tells us how modest the whole market is.

What a Rhode Island salon study should cover

A study should measure the household base and competing salons within a short walk or drive, and test whether stylists bring a following or the shop must attract clients itself. Because loans are small, a tight budget for build-out, plumbing and chairs is realistic, and a plan asking for much more than the state's $60,000 median should explain why. Retail products, if sold, need their own inventory estimate and a view on how much space they take from service chairs. Coverage should be shown on a first-year ramp, with chair rental or commission arrangements spelled out. Valuation matters mainly for an owned storefront or a purchase of an existing salon.