SBA 7(a) Coffee Shop Feasibility Study in Ohio

Small tickets, one dominant holder

Ohio coffee shops and snack bars use SBA 7(a) for small checks. Across FY2017 to FY2026 the files record 377 loans, $80.1 million gross, with a median of $96,400 that is 0.43x the class median nationwide; the middle half of loans sits from $30,000 to $278,400. No figure here is an outlier, which makes the Ohio page a reference point rather than a claim of difference. Ohio is 4 for the program and class, coffee shops and snack bars are 8 of 39 among the state's classes, and franchise brands hold 42.2% of loans.

The Huntington effect

The most striking fact in the lender table is concentration. The Huntington National Bank holds 231 of the 377 loans, worth $31.5 million, while KeyBank National Association holds 21 for $6.0 million, U.S. Bank, National Association 11 for $308,000, First Commonwealth Bank 7 for $1.7 million and Northwest Bank 6 for $1.5 million. The table is SBA's holder field, not a description of lending policy, and by itself it does not show why one name holds so much. Franklin County has 70 loans, Cuyahoga 62, Hamilton 22, Summit 19, Lucas 16, Delaware 15, Stark 13, Lake 12, Medina 11 and Butler 9. Approvals climbed from 22 in FY2017 to 65 in FY2025, then showed 23 for FY2026.

What happened after approval

The cancellation floor is 14.5%, and could be 17.3% if loans not yet disbursed count as cancelled. Of 128 loans in the FY2017 to FY2021 funded group, 5.5% stand charged off now and 2.3% were charged off by year five; as minimums, these could still rise.

What an Ohio coffee shop study has to test

Small tickets mean small footprints, and the first test is whether a modest shop reaches enough daily transactions to carry rent, labor and debt. Build the forecast from traffic: commuter flow, nearby offices, campuses and hospitals, and the other coffee outlets within a short distance. Ohio weather shapes the seasons, with iced drinks in summer and hot drinks in winter, and the plan should show monthly sales rather than an average. If a brand is involved, the royalty and advertising charges come out of sales before debt service, and the territory terms matter. Costs set beside the $96,400 median should list fit-out, espresso and refrigeration equipment, and first stock. The debt must be serviceable in a slow first year. An appraiser will value the business and lease, not a building.