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

Oklahoma's quick service loans end badly more often than most

The charge-off record is the distinctive metric in Oklahoma. In the 95-loan cohort disbursed in FY2017 to FY2021, 15.8% stand charged off and 8.4% were lost in the first five years. Those are floors, and the first is high by any standard. Cancellation after approval reaches at least 14.7% of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, or 15.3% counting loans still awaiting disbursement as cancelled. A lender or borrower in this cell is working in a record where roughly one disbursed loan in six had already been charged off.

Brands and sizes

Franchised units account for 60.5% of the 190 loans, which total $75.3 million. The median is $250,000, 0.84x the median for limited-service restaurants nationally, and the middle half runs from $112,875 to $580,375. Oklahoma ranks twenty-seventh among states on count, yet limited-service restaurants hold second place on its list of 39 classes. The class is therefore a mainstay of the state's use of the program even though the state is small by count.

BancFirst and the rest

BancFirst holds 63 loans worth $25.6 million, a very large share of the 190. The Huntington National Bank has 12 loans and $2.6 million, Arvest Bank 10 and $847,100, with Citizens Bank (6 loans, $2.4 million) and First Oklahoma Bank (6 loans, $2.3 million) trailing. The table lists portfolios and offers no judgement of any bank's practices.

Counties and the years

Oklahoma County has 70 loans and Tulsa County 40, then Cleveland with 17 and Canadian with 8. Beckham, Comanche, Craig, Custer, Pittsburg and Wagoner have 3 each. Two metros account for most of the file. Approvals fell from 27 in FY2017 to 13 in FY2023 and to 8 in FY2026, so volume has thinned as losses mounted.

What an Oklahoma quick service study has to test

Given the loss record, the study has to be cautious. The franchise agreement is part of the business: its fees, remodel schedule and required sales all belong in the model. It should count drive-through and lunch traffic at the exact site, rival brands nearby, and the labour pool. Sales should be set below the franchisor's average and repayment shown on that case. Compare the build-out with a $250,000 median, and explain a request toward $580,375 as a ground-up building or an acquisition. Lenders will weigh the operator's experience and the equity put in, and the lease must outlast the loan.