SBA 504 Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in Georgia

Franchised and larger than the national ticket

Franchise affiliation runs through Georgia's quick-service 504 lending: 77.6% of its 76 approvals across the ten fiscal years carry the flag. Total approvals reach $69.0 million. The median of $831,500 is 1.30x of the nationwide 504 benchmark for the category, with the inner half of loans from $557,750 to $1.2 million. By loan count Georgia is 7 among states, and quick-service units rank 4 of 39 at home. Those three facts together, system-affiliated borrowers, heavier tickets and a high in-state standing, together mark this cell off from Georgia's wider record and from the national picture.

Sponsors and counties

Capital Partners Certified Development Company sponsored 24 loans worth $26.1 million, Small Business Access Partners, Inc. 20 worth $18.8 million, Florida Business Development Corporation 14 worth $10.8 million, and Coastal Area District Development Authority, Inc. 6 worth $4.7 million. That a Florida company appears on a Georgia list is simply SBA's record of who sponsored the loans. The geography is thinly spread: Gwinnett has 6 loans, DeKalb 5, Forsyth and Houston 4 each, and Bibb, Chatham and Glynn 3 each.

The floors

Cancellation is the weak side. Between FY2017 and FY2024 about 18.2% of approvals lapsed at minimum, and the ceiling is 22.7% when loans never disbursed count too. Credit looks better: not one of 43 early loans appears charged off, 0.00% either way, though loans still open could yet default.

Georgia drive-through: tests to run

Because 504 financing rests on real estate and equipment, a study starts with the parcel: traffic counts on the road, the drive-through queue it can hold, visibility and access, and what the property would sell for apart from the business. The franchisor's development requirements, royalties, advertising contributions and remodel schedule belong in the forecast, as does the system's average sales for comparable units, treated as a benchmark rather than a promise. Labor is the second-largest cost, so wage assumptions deserve a downside case. With loans above the national median, construction and equipment budgets should rest on contractor quotes. Given the high cancellation ceiling, the borrower should be ready on permits, franchise approval and equity before the loan is approved. Coverage should hold in a slow first year.