SBA loans, without the runaround
The biggest loan of your life shouldn't be a guess.
Most people borrow this way once, with everything riding on it — and nearly every guide out there is paid by the banks. We read all 795,652 SBA 7(a) loan records so you can walk in knowing what's normal, what's fair, and who actually lends to people like you. No lender pays us a cent.
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Find the lenders that have actually funded deals like yours
Your state, industry and loan size, matched against 614 lenders' real SBA record — ranked by what they fund, not who pays to appear.
What's in here
all from the federal loan record| Database | Pages | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Lenders | 415 | Will this bank even talk to me, and what rate do people get? |
| Franchise brands | 228 | How many of this brand's SBA loans defaulted? |
| Industries | 88 | What does a normal loan look like in my line of work? |
| States | 52 | Who actually lends where I am? |
| Glossary | 58 | What did my banker just say? |
| Calculators & tools | 12 | Do my own numbers work? |
Franchises where owners struggled most
defaulted within 7 years| Brand | Defaulted | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Experimac | 40 of 64 | 62.5% |
| DENTAL FIX RX | 25 of 54 | 46.3% |
| EMBROIDME | 13 of 35 | 37.1% |
| Window Genie | 17 of 47 | 36.2% |
| TUTOR DOCTOR | 18 of 53 | 34.0% |
A high default rate is an outcome, not a verdict on the business — it shows these particular loans went bad more often than most, which is what a lender prices in when deciding whether, and on what terms, to lend to you.
And where they did best
150+ seasoned loans| Brand | Defaulted | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Red Roof Inn | 0 of 166 | 0.0% |
| CHEVRON (GAS STATION) | 0 of 164 | 0.0% |
| CULVER'S | 0 of 164 | 0.0% |
| The UPS Store | 1 of 453 | 0.2% |
| AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL | 1 of 308 | 0.3% |
One default in 453 seasoned UPS Store loans; forty in 64 Experimac loans. Here “default” means a loan charged off within seven years of approval — same federal dataset, same window.
Why this site exists
Every large finance site in this category is paid by lenders to send them applications. That is why none of them will tell you a bank is slow, or that a franchise brand has a default problem. We take no lender money, accept no applications, and publish the method behind every number. We do earn — from display ads, from affiliate links for services new owners need, and from a course on buying a business — just never from a lender, because a lender’s money is the one kind that would bend what we tell you. Here is exactly how we make money.