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Franchise · SBA lending record

Great American Cookies: how its 35 SBA loans actually performed

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars · 64 units financed with SBA 7(a) loans since 2010 · 39 lenders have funded this brand.

No defaults on record

None of the 35 seasoned SBA loans to Great American Cookies charged off within seven years — a 0.0% rate, against 5.7% across all SBA 7(a) loans.

Units financed
64
SBA 7(a), 2010 onward
Old enough to judge
35
loans at least 7 years old
Defaulted
0
charged off within 7 years
0.0%
all 7(a) avg 5.7%
Typical loan
$266k
$120k–$649k

How this brand compares

share of owners who defaulted within seven years
Great American Cookies
0.0%
Typical franchise brand
3.0%
All SBA 7(a) loans
5.7%

Franchise 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.

Source SBA 7(a) FOIA, franchise field Released 2026-06-30 Sample 35 loans at least 7 years old Method counted by loan — one loan is one owner — grouped by year approved

When owners got into trouble

share of failures by year

Too few failures to show a pattern.

Failures 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
LenderUnits funded
Prosperity Bank1
VelocitySBA, LLC1
First Bank of the Lake1
Community First CU1

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

Not enough history yet to build a triangle.

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 →

Common questions

What percentage of Great American Cookies franchises default on their SBA loans?

None. Of the 35 Great American Cookies franchises that took an SBA 7(a) loan and are old enough to judge, zero had been charged off within seven years — a 0% default rate, against roughly 5.7% across all 7(a) loans. That is an unusually clean record.

Is Great American Cookies a good franchise to buy with an SBA loan?

This page can only tell you how Great American Cookies's SBA loans have performed, not whether it will work for you. A low default rate — Great American Cookies sits at 0% — is a genuine positive: banks tend to lend more readily, and on better terms, to brands with a clean record. Still, treat it as one input alongside the franchise disclosure document and your own numbers.

How many Great American Cookies franchises took SBA loans?

At least 35 Great American Cookies franchises financed with an SBA 7(a) loan are now old enough to judge, and none of them have been charged off. Compare Great American Cookies against other brands.