SBA 7(a) Beauty Salon Feasibility Study in West Virginia

The smallest loans in this set

In West Virginia the loans for salons are tiny, even when set beside the class elsewhere. The median of $42,900 is 0.49x the national mark, and loans in the middle fall between $20,000 and $92,000. The 27 approvals on file for FY2017 through FY2026 are worth just $1.8 million, placing West Virginia 44 among states by loan count, with salons at 6 of 39 inside the state. The class matters to local small-business lending far more than its dollars suggest. Franchise share is 3.7%. The distinctive figure on this page is the median itself, which is low enough to mean that most projects are a few chairs, equipment and a small lease.

One bank, counties

The Huntington National Bank is the lone lender listed: 11 loans and $812,400, as SBA lists the present holder, and a figure that says nothing of the bank's preferences. By county, Monongalia has 6, Kanawha 5 and Randolph 4, followed by Cabell, Jefferson and Raleigh with 2 each, and single loans in Harrison, Marion, Mineral and Ohio. FY2017 was the strongest year by count, with 6 loans and $452,700, and FY2024 had 7 loans and $358,400. FY2026 shows 0 loans and $0.

What the page cannot say

Cancellation and loss percentages are not given here, since SBA's cohort is thin; leaving them out is not the same as reporting zero. For a class this small, the record offers little about how salons fare after the loan, so the owner's own history carries weight.

What a West Virginia salon file must demonstrate

A file at this scale should be short and concrete. It should name the location, rent and square footage, the chairs and stylists, and how each is paid. Clients come from walk-in traffic and referral, so the file should show the surrounding population and nearby competing salons and barbers, along with the owner's licence and experience. Revenue should come from services and a modest retail line, and the file should show what happens in a slow first year. Equipment, plumbing and renovation are the main costs, and each should be priced. Because the dollars involved are small, lenders look chiefly at the owner's own track record and the credibility of the first-year numbers, so the study should make both easy to check.