SBA 504 Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in Missouri

Cancellation is the story of Missouri's limited-service restaurant cell. Through the FY2024 approvals, no fewer than 33.3% were cancelled, and classing loans still undisbursed as cancelled lifts the share to 36.1%. One in three approved fast-food projects did not close, which is far above most cells and is the metric on which this cell most differs from its parents. Total approvals are 39 loans and $22.2 million; a $457,000 median stands at 0.71x the national 504 figure for fast-food restaurants, and the middle half runs $256,000 to $755,500.

Franchise dominance

Franchise share is 82.1%, the highest of any cell in this group of pages. A borrower in this class is almost always joining a brand, so the franchisor's site approval, build-out standards, and royalty burden shape the project. The class stands third of 39 inside Missouri, and the state is 16th nationally on loans. Rural Missouri, Inc. is credited with 21 loans and $11.4 million, and the St. Charles County council trails on 10 and $5.7 million. The split reflects holders of paper and nothing more.

Where and when

Boone and Saint Louis counties have 5 loans each, Jackson, Jasper and Saint Charles 3, and Cole, Franklin, Greene and Newton 2. Annual approvals opened at 7, 4, 3 and 3 for FY2017 to FY2020, then FY2021 had 11 loans worth only $2.8 million, a single loan in FY2022, 3 in FY2023, 4 in FY2024, none in FY2025, and 3 in FY2026. The FY2021 total is notable for its small average, in a year of small average loans.

Loss data

Charge-off data are missing for the class here; too few loans have aged enough.

What a Missouri fast-food study must cover

Because so many approvals fell through, the study should test the stages that fail: franchisor approval of the site, a drive-through that the city and the road authority will permit, construction cost between approval and closing, and equity injection. It should estimate sales per unit from traffic and competing brands, model labour and food cost, and run coverage with sales below the franchisor's average. Since 504 funds the building, the study should show its worth to a different quick-service operator.