Fitness Center Feasibility Study in Vermont

Small tickets in a small state

Vermont records 30 SBA approvals for fitness centers between FY2017 and FY2026, but the money involved is modest: $4.5 million in total. The median loan is $70,000, only 0.27x the national median for the class. A Vermont studio or gym is financed, typically, at about a quarter of the size of one elsewhere, and the middle half of loans runs only from $40,000 to $173,000. With a middle half that low, these look like small-ticket loans, not purchases of large facilities.

Where Vermont stands

By number of loans the state ranks 48 of 54, so it is near the bottom for volume, yet fitness ranks 5 of 39 among classes inside Vermont. The location quotient of 0.79x reconciles the two: fitness is a somewhat lighter slice of Vermont approvals than of national approvals, but not by much. Of the 30 loans, 25 ran under 7(a) and 5 under 504. Franchised operators account for 23.3% of loans, a real minority, so the branded and independent models both appear.

Geography and timing

Chittenden County dominates with 13 loans, and then the count falls to 3 each in Bennington, Franklin, Rutland and Washington counties and 2 in Lamoille. Yearly volume is lumpy: 6 loans and $528,400 in FY2026, a complete fiscal year, after none in FY2025, with FY2026 the busiest year at 6 loans. No lender is listed for Vermont fitness, so none is named.

Floors and limits

Vermont fitness has no printable cancellation or charge-off rate; the cohorts are too small, and Loan Analytics neither guesses a number nor calls the rates nil, since its own presentation rule prints no rate on fewer than 30 loans. Because SBA sorts by the applicant's industry, a studio that combines fitness with physical therapy, spa services or a retail counter may be filed under a neighbouring class.

What a Vermont fitness study must examine

Start with the catchment: how many residents fall within a short drive of the site, how many will pay for a membership, and how seasonality changes attendance. Membership pricing and retention should be modelled with a slow opening ramp, because debt service on even a loan near $70,000 depends on recurring dues. The study should compare the fit-out budget with the tight loan band the record shows, and confirm that any lease runs long enough to recover leasehold improvements. The appraisal will lean on the operating income, so the revenue forecast must hold up under review.