SBA 7(a) Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in Florida

Florida shows the franchised side of 7(a) limited-service dining. The program approved 1,218 such loans for $642.9 million across FY2017 to FY2026, which puts Florida at rank 3 among states and the class at 2 of 39 inside the state. Franchising is the rule: 61.9% of loans carry a brand flag. Median notes reach $350,000, which is 1.18x the national 7(a) reading, while $168,500 to $583,750 bounds the middle half. Read against the all-programs state view, this cell says Florida's 7(a) borrowers carry heavier notes than their counterparts elsewhere.

Who holds the loans, and where

First on SBA's list is The Huntington National Bank (127 loans, $35.8 million), then TD Bank, National Association (63, $9.5 million), Newtek Bank, National Association (46, $10.1 million), Live Oak Banking Company (44, $46.0 million), plus Wells Fargo Bank National Association with 43 loans against $32.5 million. Live Oak averages far more per loan than the rest. Each entry only records loans that lender holds or held. ORANGE County leads on 123 loans, HILLSBOROUGH has 105, BROWARD 96 and MIAMI-DADE 95, while PALM BEACH and PINELLAS have 83 each, so the lending covers the peninsula rather than one metro.

Approvals through the cycle, and the loss floors

The count fell to 74 loans and $25.0 million in FY2020, then climbed to 185 loans and $93.0 million in FY2025, the strongest year of the ten. Cancellations took 12.2% or more of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, edging to 12.3% once undisbursed loans are added. In the FY2017 to FY2021 cohort of 464 disbursed loans, at least 10.3% are charged off today; within five years of approval 5.8% had gone. That charge-off floor is high for so popular a class, and loans still open may push it higher.

The study a Florida borrower needs

A Florida study begins with the brand: fees, mandated build-outs and territory rights shape cost and sales alike. Next comes the trade area, meaning rival concepts, resident versus tourist traffic, and the drive-through lane, together with construction and insurance costs peculiar to the state. Debt service coverage has to hold at sales below the system average, since new units in saturated corridors often open under it. The study should state how the loan splits between equipment and working capital on one side and real estate on the other, because that determines the collateral an appraiser will value. SBA, not this page, defines the program's rules.