SBA 7(a) Coffee Shop Feasibility Study in Mississippi

Mississippi coffee leans on franchise brands

Coffee shops and snack bars in Mississippi lean on brands, which is the cell's signature: the franchise share is 42.5%, a high figure for a small-ticket trade. The 40 approvals sum to $11.3 million, and a median of $150,000 is 0.67x the nationwide level, with the central loans from $49,000 to $303,100. The state ranks 39 among states by count, a low placing, yet the class holds 8 of 39 inside Mississippi. No distinctness basis is recorded.

Where the loans sit

In SBA's file the current holders include Community Bank of Mississippi (10 loans, $1.0 million) and Trustmark Bank (7 loans, $719,200). Rankin County has 8 loans, Harrison and Jackson 5 each, Hinds and Madison 4, Desoto and Forrest 3. Approvals included a year without any, FY2023, and strong years such as 6 loans and $1.6 million in FY2021 and 5 loans and $2.1 million in FY2025. FY2019 shows 5 loans worth $3.1 million, a total unusually high against the small median.

Roughly one approval in six fell away: the floor is 16.7% and the ceiling is the same. Early funded loans are too few for any charge-off rate, and no one should read that gap as zero.

What a Mississippi coffee study should test

Footfall and vehicle flow decide a coffee shop, so the study should rest on site evidence: vehicle counts, morning commuters, nearby schools, hospitals and employers, and whether a drive-through lane can be built. Because many Mississippi loans in the class are franchised, the study should set royalties, required equipment and build-out rules against realistic sales, and should record how far the nearest same-brand outlet is. Independent shops need a plan to win habit customers. Build transactions per day and the average ticket from comparable outlets in Rankin, Harrison and Hinds, with labour, cost of goods and rent set against them, and show coverage if the opening months run below plan. A lease or purchase should be tied to the payback of the improvements. School calendars and holidays can shift weekly sales, and the study should say so. The appraisal will lean on the business more than the building.

With 42.5% of loans franchised and a median of $150,000, the study should show how a brand's required equipment and signage fit inside the borrowing, and what working capital remains for the opening weeks, because a shop that spends its whole loan on build-out has no cushion when sales start slowly.