SBA 7(a) Veterinary Clinic Feasibility Study in Washington

Large practices, no franchises, and one dominant lender

Washington veterinary clinics borrow at nearly twice the national scale: the median loan of $1.1 million works out to 1.84x of the national veterinary benchmark, with the middle of the distribution from $402,500 to $2.1 million. The 73 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 total $104.7 million, and no loan carries a franchise flag, a share of 0.00%. Washington ranks 11 among states for the class, while veterinary clinics hold 16 of 39 inside the state. No other number sets this cell apart as sharply from Washington's wider lending or the national veterinary book as that 1.84x ratio.

Who holds the loans, and where

Live Oak Banking Company holds 16 loans worth $22.4 million, a long way ahead of United Community Bank with 5 loans and $7.0 million, U.S. Bank, National Association with 5 and $6.9 million, and Banner Bank with 5 and $1.1 million. The names come from SBA's holder file, which says nothing about standards. King County has 16 loans, Snohomish 11, and Kitsap, Pierce and Spokane 6 each, with Thurston at 5 and Clark at 4.

Outcome floors

Cancellation reached at least 13.6% of approvals during FY2017 to FY2024 and is unchanged on the stricter count. None of the 38 early loans shows a charge-off, 0.00% either way. The group is small and loans still open can fail, but the early record is clean.

What a Washington veterinary study has to test

A clinic is a professional practice, so the study begins with the veterinarians: how many doctors, their experience, and whether the practice's client base follows an owner who sells. Revenue comes from exams, procedures, diagnostics and pharmacy, and each deserves its own line, supported by comparison with nearby practices. Pet-owning households near the site and the competing hospitals, including emergency and specialty clinics, set the demand. Payroll is the main cost and skilled technicians are hard to hire, which makes the wage plan the first thing to stress. Larger loans often mean a building purchase or a major build-out with imaging and surgical equipment, which the study should itemise and which an appraisal must support. For an acquisition, the study should test goodwill value against the practice's cash flow. Debt service coverage must hold during the months a doctor is away.