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Franchise · SBA lending record

Waxing the City: how 38 SBA-financed owners actually did

Other Personal Care Services · 108 units financed with SBA 7(a) loans since 2010 · 43 lenders have funded this brand.

Defaults run above comparable brands

2 of 38 seasoned units charged off — 5.5%, against 2.4% for similar brands. Worth asking the franchisor about directly.

Units financed
108
SBA 7(a), 2010 onward
Old enough to judge
38
loans at least 7 years old
Defaulted
2
charged off within 7 years
Default rate
5.5%
comparable brands 2.4%
Typical loan
$330k
$50k–$558k

How this brand compares

share of loan dollars charged off within 7 years
Waxing the City
5.5%
Comparable brands, typical
2.4%
SPORT CLIPS
2.2%
MASSAGE ENVY
4.3%
EUROPEAN WAX CENTER
1.0%
All SBA 7(a) loans
2.1%

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 38 loans at least 7 years old Method dollar-weighted, grouped by year approved

When owners got into trouble

share of failures by year
Year 3
25%
Year 4
38%
Year 6+
38%

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
Platinum Bank10
The Huntington National Bank3
Readycap Lending, LLC2
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company2
Live Oak Banking Company2

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
OpenedYr 1Yr 2Yr 3Yr 4Yr 5Yr 6Yr 7Yr 8Yr 9Yr 10
2025··········
0%
12%+▨ too recent to know

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 →