Restaurant Feasibility Study in Kansas

Kansas full-service restaurants: second in the state, light against the nation

Full-service restaurants are the 2 of 39 class in Kansas SBA lending, yet the class is smaller relative to the Kansas book than nationally, with a 0.69x location quotient, a sign that Kansas lending is spread more evenly across classes. Kansas ranks 39 of 54 among states for the class, with 159 approvals worth $74.4 million from FY2017 to FY2026. The Kansas median of $269,000 is 0.98x the national full-service median, and the interquartile range runs from $126,750 to $558,350. Neither that median nor the Kansas floors move far enough from the Kansas all-asset book, or from full-service dining nationally, to meet our margin, so this page reads Kansas through its lenders, its counties and its floors.

Franchise restaurants take 15.1% of Kansas loans, so most borrowers are independent operators. SBA 7(a) holds 142 of the Kansas approvals, against 17 under 504. Approvals were 7 in FY2022, then 25 worth $14.1 million in FY2023 and 22 worth $13.5 million in FY2025.

Kansas lenders and outcomes

Emprise Bank holds 16 Kansas restaurant loans worth $4.1 million. OakStar Bank holds 7 worth $6.3 million and Small Business Bank 7 worth $1.6 million, Bank of Hays 6, and UMB Bank, National Association 5 worth $4.4 million. Frontier Financial Partners, Inc. holds 6 of the 504 loans.

Kansas restaurant approvals dated FY2017 to FY2024 lost at least 10.0% to cancellation, 10.8% at the ceiling. Of 59 Kansas restaurant loans funded over FY2017 to FY2021, 3.4% are written off to date, matching the 3.4% five-year rate, which means the recorded Kansas losses came within the first five years. These are floors.

What a Kansas restaurant feasibility study must test

Johnson County holds 45 approvals and Sedgwick 33, followed by Shawnee at 16, Wyandotte at 8 and Ellis at 6. A feasibility study for a Kansas sit-down restaurant must test the dining-out spending of the trade area, the competing full-service and fast-casual restaurants, and a realistic seat turnover and average check. Because Kansas losses have come early, the study should model a conservative opening ramp and enough working capital to reach stable sales. Cost must cover kitchen equipment, build-out and opening inventory at current Kansas pricing. The coverage test belongs at the requested loan, which in Kansas reaches $558,350 at the upper quartile. If real estate is financed, the Kansas appraisal must support it as commercial property apart from the restaurant.