Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in West Virginia

A franchise-led, all-7(a) market

West Virginia quick service restaurants are franchise-led and small. Brands hold 61.2% of the loans, every one of the 49 approvals used the 7(a) program, and none used 504. The median loan of $200,000 is 0.64x the national figure, with the middle half running from $65,500 to $381,000, and the cell totals $14.5 million across FY2017 to FY2026. The class takes slot 3 of 39 in West Virginia, the state ranks 49 of 54 on volume, and the 0.84x location quotient is a little under the national weight. No cancellation or loss measure distinguishes the cell, so the interest lies in the structure: brand units financed by leasehold and equipment loans, with little real estate.

Lenders and counties

Ten loans and $2.3 million put The Huntington National Bank well ahead. Peoples Bank has 5 loans at $1.4 million, and the Citizens Bank of West Virginia, Inc entry shows 5 at $706,000. Cabell and Monongalia counties lead with 6 loans each, Berkeley and Kanawha counties follow with 5 each, and Hancock and Harrison counties have 3 each. Annual counts run between 2 loans in FY2023 and 9 in FY2021, and FY2022 holds the largest dollar year at $4.4 million.

Cancellation takes out 13.2% or more of approvals made through FY2024, with 13.2% also as the ceiling. The charge-off rate for West Virginia is held back, since the early funded cohort has under 30 loans make up the early cohort. Withheld does not mean zero. A lender should read the franchisor's system-wide closure and default experience alongside the thin local record.

Testing a West Virginia drive-through or counter-service unit

A feasibility study for a quick service unit in this state should work from the franchisor's disclosure document, comparing system average sales with the realities of a small market: traffic counts at the site, the number of rival brands within a short drive, and the local labor pool. Site matters more than the concept, so visibility, access and drive-through stacking space need evidence. Build-out and equipment costs belong against a $200,000 median, and a new building should be separated from a leased shell. The payment coverage ratio ought to be tested at sales well under the brand average, since small markets seldom reach system volumes. The appraisal of a leasehold business is thin, so the study should support the cash flow with lease terms and the franchise agreement.