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

Counter-service dining takes second place among Massachusetts asset classes, 2 of 39, and the state sits at rank 12 for 7(a) loans in the class. SBA approved 497 loans worth $139.8 million across FY2017 to FY2026. The signature figure is size: a $145,000 median is only 0.49x what 7(a) counter-service borrowers hold at median nationwide, and $50,000 to $350,000 bounds the middle half. For a state with costly real estate and wages, those are small notes, and franchise-flagged loans make up just 22.1%. The typical borrower is therefore an independent counter-service owner with a modest project.

Holders and counties

Eastern Bank leads with 80 loans and $13.0 million. TD Bank, National Association follows with 37 and $6.6 million, Santander Bank, National Association with 32 and $5.2 million, Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company with 24 and $3.7 million, and Beacon Bank and Trust with 21 and $6.9 million. SBA lists these as loans the institution holds or held; the list grades no one. MIDDLESEX has 108 loans, ESSEX 79, SUFFOLK 67, NORFOLK 48 and PLYMOUTH 44, while BERKSHIRE has only 7. The pattern is greater Boston and its suburbs, with western counties thin.

A rising count and a heavy loss floor

Volume sank to 30 loans in FY2021 and has since risen: 64 loans in FY2024, then 78 loans and $29.0 million in FY2025, the largest year. Cancellation took at least 11.7% of approvals dated FY2017 to FY2024, 12.8% on the wider count. The loss floors are the sharpest feature of this cell: of 198 loans disbursed in FY2017 to FY2021, 10.1% at the least are charged off, and 7.1% went within five years. Open loans could push these higher, and a Massachusetts counter-service borrower should read them as a warning about thin margins.

The study a Massachusetts operator needs

With notes this small and losses this visible, a study must be conservative. It should test the site's foot traffic or drive-by count, competing brands and independents, parking where it matters, and the rent per square foot a small unit can carry. Labor and occupancy are the two lines that decide survival, so the study should show break-even sales and how much cushion exists above them. If franchised, compare the brand's fees against projected volume; if independent, show how the menu will build repeat trade. Debt service coverage should hold at sales under plan. Nothing on this page states a program limit; SBA does.