Franchise · SBA lending record
DICKEY'S BARBECUE PIT: how 206 SBA-financed owners actually did
Limited-Service Restaurants · 284 units financed with SBA 7(a) loans since 2010 · 107 lenders have funded this brand.
54 of 206 owners defaulted on their SBA loan
That is 20.5% — roughly 7 times the 3.0% typical of comparable brands. It does not make this a bad business. It makes it an expensive one to finance, and it is why fewer banks will lend on it.
How this brand compares
share of loan dollars charged off within 7 yearsFranchise disclosure documents are not required to tell you how many owners failed. This is computed from the federal record of every SBA loan made to this brand, so it is the outcome, not the pitch.
When owners got into trouble
share of failures by yearFailures usually cluster once the opening cash is spent and the first rent increase lands. Plan working capital for that window, not for month one.
Who still lends on it
last two fiscal years| Lender | Units funded |
|---|---|
| Newtek Bank, National Association | 2 |
| Hancock Whitney Bank | 1 |
Fewer active lenders means less competition on your rate, and a harder time if the first bank declines.
Each year's owners, as they aged
cumulative % of loan dollars charged off| Opened | Yr 1 | Yr 2 | Yr 3 | Yr 4 | Yr 5 | Yr 6 | Yr 7 | Yr 8 | Yr 9 | Yr 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 11.4 | 13.3 | 16.2 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
| 2014 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.9 | 5.8 | 5.8 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.1 |
| 2015 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 7.1 | 12.8 | 15.0 | 19.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
| 2016 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 7.5 | 17.6 | 19.7 | 19.7 | 19.7 | 19.7 | · |
| 2017 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 9.9 | 16.7 | 20.7 | 25.9 | 25.9 | · | · |
| 2022 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6.6 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
Each row is one year's crop of new owners. Read across to watch them age; read down a column to compare different years at the same point in their life. Blank cells are simply too recent to know.
Brands worth comparing against this one
A default rate only means something next to its neighbours. These are the brands yours is being compared against.
Before you sign anything
This page tells you how past owners fared with SBA debt. It does not tell you whether this brand suits you, what the territory looks like, or how the franchisor behaves. Ask for Item 19, talk to at least five current franchisees and two who left, and run your own numbers.
Check whether the numbers work → What the SBA Franchise Directory is →