Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Madison, WI Metro Area

Madison: restaurants first, franchises few

Full-service restaurants take first place in Madison's SBA file, 1 of 39 among its classes, even though the area ranks only 77 of 821 nationally for them. Between FY2017 and FY2026 SBA approved 68 loans worth $31.2 million, and Dane County, WI accounts for 58 of them. A location quotient of 0.81x says restaurants are a thinner slice of local lending than nationwide, so the first-place finish reflects how few other classes draw SBA loans in volume here.

The median loan is $291,000 and the middle half spans $143,750 to $601,750. At 1.06x the national median, Madison loans are only a little larger than the class norm. Program counts are 51 for 7(a) and 17 for 504, a lean toward working capital and purchases with real property financing alongside. Just 13.2% of the loans carry a franchise, so the record is mostly independent operators, whose projected sales cannot lean on a brand's system averages.

Credit unions, a community bank and one 504 holder

WBD, Inc. holds the whole 504 list on the page, 17 loans worth $12.1 million. The 7(a) holders are Lake Ridge Bank with 8 loans and $3.4 million, Summit CU with 8 loans and $1.4 million, and Byline Bank with 6 loans and $2.9 million. Set against those, WBD, Inc. shows how much larger a 504 real estate loan runs than a typical operating loan. Names in Madison are shown as SBA publishes them, not the habits of institutions.

The Madison cohort is too thin for rates, and blanks are not zeros. What the page does show by year is 11 loans and $3.9 million in FY2017, 10 loans and $2.5 million in FY2018, 7 loans and $4.5 million in FY2019, 14 loans and $6.6 million in FY2022 and 5 loans and $3.1 million in FY2024; missing years are suppressed for small counts. Madison figures cover only placeable counties, so unmatched loans are excluded.

What a Madison restaurant study has to test

If student and government calendars shape demand, the study should model covers by month, not by a single average, and test what a summer or holiday lull does to cash. Independent operators lack a franchisor's playbook, so menu pricing, food cost and labor per cover need local evidence from competing rooms in Dane County. With a median loan of $291,000, equipment, hood systems and build-out per seat should be itemized against that budget, and the first year should be run soft. If the owner buys the building under 504, the appraisal must value property apart from the going concern and weigh a lease as the alternative.