Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about limited-service restaurant lending in the Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Daniel Smith, MAI

Winston-Salem: quick-service restaurant lending

For Winston-Salem, between FY2017 and FY2026, SBA approved 27 quick-service restaurant loans, worth $20.6 million in gross approvals. Within Winston-Salem, quick-service restaurant lending sits 2 of 39 across the area's classes; Winston-Salem sits at 125 of 779 across all metro and micro areas on quick-service restaurant loans. Winston-Salem's location quotient is 1.34x, above the national share. Winston-Salem's median loan size is $360,000. The central half of Winston-Salem loans extends from $229,750 to $731,500, and the median comes to a 1.16x multiple of the national class median. Winston-Salem quick-service loans tilt above the national class on both counts: a location quotient of 1.34x and a median ratio of 1.16x, with the class second (2 of 39) in the local table. Franchised units hold 59.3% of the loans in the cell, and Forsyth County holds 17 of the 27.

Winston-Salem's two program counts, 7(a) and 504, are not printed by Loan Analytics because they rest on too few loans. Franchise brands account for 59.3% of the Winston-Salem loans. In Winston-Salem, no holder gets to five loans. Winston-Salem therefore identifies no lender. By county: Forsyth County, NC has 17 loans.

Winston-Salem: years, floors and limits

Winston-Salem gives a short run of years: FY2017 shows 6 loans totalling $1.9 million. In FY2023, Winston-Salem shows 0 loans and $0. Years not printed for Winston-Salem: FY2018 to FY2022 and FY2024 to FY2026. A blank year in Winston-Salem is not a claim of zero loans. Loan Analytics does not print a Winston-Salem cancellation rate, because the cohort is under 30 loans in all. Any Winston-Salem charge-off rate: held back, under 30 loans. Winston-Salem's floor is Loan Analytics' own. Winston-Salem has a thin FY2017 to FY2021 group. Winston-Salem follows the July 2023 list. A loan joins Winston-Salem only through its county. Winston-Salem leaves out unmatched loans.

Winston-Salem: what to test

Winston-Salem plans should start with the brand question, because most loans here are franchised, then the corner: traffic counts, the drive-through lane, competing units and the sales a unit needs for a loan near $360,000. Weigh build-out cost against that sales level, with a slow first quarter. FY2017 shows 6 loans worth $1.9 million and FY2023 shows 0 loans, so do not assume momentum. The appraisal looks at business income as well as the building.

SBA limited-service restaurant loans in the Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	27
Gross dollars approved	$20.6 million
Median loan	$360,000
Middle half of loans, from	$229,750
Middle half of loans, to	$731,500
SBA 7(a) loans	withheld
SBA 504 loans	withheld
Franchise share of loans	59.3%
Rank among metro and micro areas for limited-service restaurant loans	125 of 779
Rank of limited-service restaurant among the classes in this area	2 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	1.34x
Median loan against the national median for the class	1.16x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	not reported: fewer than 30 loans in the cohort
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)	withheld

Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.

SBA limited-service restaurant loans approved in the Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	6	$1.9 million
FY2018	withheld	withheld
FY2019	withheld	withheld
FY2020	withheld	withheld
FY2021	withheld	withheld
FY2022	withheld	withheld
FY2023	0	$0
FY2024	withheld	withheld
FY2025	withheld	withheld
FY2026	withheld	withheld

Where the loans are, by county

County	Loans
Forsyth County, NC	17

Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.

Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.

A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.

Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MA-49180-C35.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a limited-service restaurant project in the Winston-Salem, NC Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.

Daniel Smith, MAI

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