Coffee Shop Feasibility Study in Wisconsin

Wisconsin coffee loans are distinctly small

Wisconsin's coffee shop and snack bar loans are distinctly small: the median of $176,000 is 0.73x the class midpoint nationwide, a gap our screen flags as distinct from both Wisconsin's lending across every class and the class nationally. The class is also lighter here than nationwide, with a location quotient of 0.79x and a rank of 11 of 39 among Wisconsin classes, while the state's 134 loans and $43.9 million over FY2017 to FY2026 rank it 19 of 53.

Who lends and where

Wisconsin's central half of loans spans $63,075 to $418,750. SBA 7(a) made 125 of the loans and SBA 504 just 9, and franchises take 27.6%. The Huntington National Bank tops the Wisconsin list with 18 loans for $9.5 million, followed by Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation with 10 loans totalling $1.4 million, small loans by any measure, then Nicolet National Bank with 9, and Waukesha State Bank and U.S. Bank, National Association with 7 each, the latter's worth only $223,800 together. Milwaukee County has 18 loans, Outagamie 16, Waukesha 14, Dane 11 and Brown 10, a spread that reaches well beyond the largest metro. Lending stepped up from FY2023, with 22, 14 and 26 loans in FY2023, FY2024 and FY2025.

Clean losses, notable cancellations

No loan in Wisconsin's FY2017 to FY2021 loss cohort of 46 has been charged off: the rate is 0.00% to date and within five years, a floor that later failures could still raise. Cancellations are the weaker number, with at least 15.3% of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals cancelled and 16.3% at the ceiling. For a borrower, the small Wisconsin midpoint keeps the payment modest, which helps coverage; the risk is in getting the deal to fund. For a lender, small tickets with clean repayment make this a manageable book, provided the closing conditions are realistic.

A Wisconsin coffee study should test morning and seasonal demand at the specific site, since a shop in Outagamie or Brown faces a different customer flow from one in Milwaukee or Dane. Cost has to cover equipment, build-out and the working capital a winter slowdown requires. Debt service coverage should be shown on first-year tickets at a conservative average sale. If a Wisconsin building is bought, its appraiser will see small retail space, and the study's value should match that view. Coffee shops carry no coding caveat, and SBA reports each Wisconsin lender as the current holder of the loan.