SBA 504 Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in Florida

Florida leads the nation in small salon 504 loans

No state ranks above Florida for SBA 504 beauty salon loans by count: its rank is 1. The file holds 61 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 with $17.3 million in gross dollars, so the typical salon loan is modest at a median of $183,000, or 0.79x of what the 504 program's median for salons nationally shows. The middle half of loans spans just $116,000 to $318,000. Beauty salons sit 12 of 39 among Florida asset types, so this is a notable program niche inside a state whose commercial lending is mostly something else. No franchise share to speak of appears: 0.00% of the loans are franchised.

Two corporations, many counties

32 loans valued at $6.9 million belong to the lead holder, Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc.; behind it is Florida Business Development Corporation, at 26 loans on $9.9 million. Between them they cover most of the table, and the second carries the larger dollar total on fewer loans. Hillsborough County has 7 loans, Duval and Miami-Dade have 6 each, and Pinellas adds 6. Approvals climbed to 12 in FY2024 and 11 in FY2025 after as few as 1 in FY2018, a pattern that looks like a recent turn toward the program rather than a long-running habit.

Cancellations and the missing charge-off rate

Cancellation is the standout outcome. For FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, 21.7% were cancelled after approval at minimum, and counting undisbursed loans pushes the ceiling to 28.3%. A borrower should read that as a sign that plans change between approval and closing. The charge-off rate is not printed: fewer than 30 funded loans make up its early cohort, so the salon cohort carries no printed charge-off rate, and absence of a rate says nothing good or bad.

Salon economics on owned property

Any Florida salon seeking 504 money has to explain why a salon needs owned real estate at all. Chair or station count, the share of income from booth renters versus employed stylists, and the retail mix change the revenue the space can support. The study should compare the build-out cost with the $183,000 median and ask whether the location draws steady repeat clientele. Debt service must be covered on conservative service volumes, and the appraisal will test what rent another salon operator could pay if this one left.