SBA 7(a) Veterinary Clinic Feasibility Study in Louisiana

Larger loans, one named lender

Louisiana veterinary clinics borrow more under SBA 7(a) than clinics nationally: at $845,350 the median reaches 1.37x of the nationwide benchmark, and half the loans run from $353,250 to $1.6 million. The file holds 48 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 totaling $57.6 million. Louisiana is 21 by count among states; clinics hold 9 of 39 at home; franchise brands feature in 4.2% of loans. The median is the distinctive figure here, and it points toward practice acquisitions and buildings rather than small fit-outs, which is why the median, not the count, leads this page.

Holders and places

Just one holder reaches the table: 11 loans totaling $20.0 million sit with Live Oak Banking Company, a large share of the dollars. SBA names it as the current holder. Saint Tammany Parish leads in the county listing with 6 loans, then Ascension with 5, and Jefferson, Bossier, East Baton Rouge and Ouachita with 4 each. Approvals dipped to 2 in FY2022 and 1 in FY2023 before recovering, with $10.5 million in FY2025 and 7 loans in FY2026.

Outcomes

Cancelled loans reach 16.7% among the FY2017 to FY2024 approvals; counting undisbursed loans moves nothing. Louisiana's loss rate is held back for lack of enough funded early loans, a gap that is not a zero.

What a veterinary study has to test

First, which is it: a practice bought from a retiring doctor, a clinic built new, or an expansion? A purchase has to be tested on revenue by doctor, the share of income from the retiring owner's clients and the chance that they stay. A new clinic has to show the number of pet-owning households within reach, competing hospitals and the speed of building a client base. Staffing is a central limit: veterinarians and technicians are scarce, and payroll sets the margin. Equipment such as imaging and surgical suites should be priced separately, and any plan to add boarding or emergency hours needs its own staffing case. The appraisal for a clinic building reflects income, so the study must show earnings that a different veterinarian could realize. Lease terms, if the clinic does not own its building, should be set out in the plan, together with who pays for build-out and what happens at renewal. Evidence that the client list survives a change of ownership matters more here than any projection of growth.