SBA loans for advertising agencies: lending against clients and peopleAn advertising agency has almost nothing a lender can repossess. SBA lending to agencies works anyway, at above-average loan sizes, because the program is built to finance cash flow and goodwill. The underwriting is all about whether that cash flow stays.SBA loans for agents and managers of artists, athletes and entertainersTalent agencies and management firms sell access to people they do not own. Few SBA lenders work with them, rates run well above the national median, and the rare acquisition is large enough to meet SBA's new diligence rules head-on.SBA loans for alarm and security system companiesSecurity system companies take larger SBA loans than the national median, at the national median rate. The reason is the monitoring contract: revenue that renews every month is what lenders are really lending against.SBA loans for all other automotive repair and maintenanceNAICS 811198 is the catch-all for auto services that are not mechanical or electrical repair, body work, glass, oil change or car washes. The loans are small, a large share goes through SBA Express, and lenders spend their time on one question: how durable is a narrow service line.SBA loans for all other business support services: a catch-all code where buyers outnumber the normThe code tells a lender almost nothing about the business, so the file has to. And unusually for a service code, one loan in seven here buys an existing company.SBA loans for all other general merchandise retailers: dollar, variety and general storesLoans to general merchandise stores are small, priced above the national median and often run through SBA Express. The store's inventory, its lease and the competition down the road decide what a lender will do.SBA loans for all other support services: what lenders approved, and what they look forNAICS 561990 is a catch-all, so the code tells a lender almost nothing. The loans are modest and mostly unsecured by hard assets, which puts the weight of the decision on contracts, customers and the owner.SBA loans for amusement and recreation businessesMost SBA money in this code builds venues that have never opened. That makes it one of the larger-ticket service codes in the program, and it puts the projection, the build-out budget and the franchisor at the center of the lender's file.SBA loans for amusement arcadesNearly half the SBA loans in this industry go to start-ups. That makes the owner, the site and the projections the file, and it puts the arcade's card-system data at the center of every loan after the first.SBA loans for apparel accessory and specialty apparel manufacturersAn accessories maker pays for materials and labor months before a retailer pays for the goods. SBA lenders underwrite that gap, and the customers and inventory sitting in it, more than the machines on the floor.SBA loans for appliance repair businessesSBA lending to appliance repair is dominated by new franchise territories and loans that stop at $150,000. Established repair companies change hands less often, but when they do, the loans are several times larger.SBA loans for architectural servicesArchitecture firms borrow at the national median, rarely change hands through SBA, and give a lender almost nothing to repossess. Approval rests on fee income, receivables, backlog, and whether the practice can outlast its founder.SBA loans for assisted living facilities: real estate loans with a care business insideAssisted living borrows more, for longer, than the typical SBA borrower. The building secures the loan, but the residents, the staff and the state license are what repay it.SBA loans for auto body, paint and interior repair shopsCollision repair borrows bigger than most service trades: paint booths, frame equipment and zoned buildings cost real money. The file turns on who pays the shop, what its equipment is worth and what is in the ground under it.SBA loans for auto glass replacement shopsAuto glass is a repair trade where SBA lending leans heavily on franchises and new shops. Lenders like the steady demand; what they probe is who pays the invoice and how fast.SBA loans for auto parts and accessories stores: larger loans, owned buildings and an active purchase marketAuto parts stores borrow more than the typical SBA business, buy their buildings through SBA 504 unusually often, and change hands at a higher rate than the national average. Each of those shows up in how a lender reads the file.SBA loans for auto parts wholesalers: what lenders approved and how they size themParts distributors borrow twice the national median, and almost none are start-ups. The loan is sized on years of history, and the balance sheet is mostly inventory and receivables, which decides whether a line of credit belongs beside the term loan.SBA loans for baked goods shops: donut, bagel, cookie and cake retailersShops that sell baked goods made elsewhere borrow twice the national median, and more than a quarter of the loans go to franchisees. For a lender, the franchise system and the lease often matter as much as the operator.SBA loans for barber shops: where half the loans sit in SBA's smallest rate tierBarbershop loans are some of the smallest in the SBA program, and the size of the loan does more to set its price than anything else. The rest is about proving income that often arrives in cash.SBA loans for bars, taverns and other drinking placesNearly a third of SBA loans to bars go to businesses that have not opened yet, and they come from an unusually wide range of lenders. What decides the loan is the liquor license, the lease, and whether the tax returns show the cash the bar really takes in.SBA loans for beauty salons: small loans, three business models, and the stylist questionSalon loans are among the smallest in the SBA program, and the risk lenders care most about does not appear on the balance sheet: whether the clients stay when a stylist leaves.SBA loans for boat, bike, kayak and ski rental companiesA recreational rental business earns most of its year in a few good-weather months, from equipment that wears out fast and from a location it often does not own. SBA lenders underwrite all three.SBA loans for bookkeeping and other accounting services: small loans, client books, and what SBA allows in a practice saleBookkeeping and non-CPA accounting firms have almost nothing to pledge and very few start-ups. What they have is recurring monthly clients, and about one loan in ten buys someone else's.SBA loans for bookstores and news dealers: small loans, new shopsBookstores borrow less than almost any retailer, and nearly a third of the loans open a new store. At these sizes the SBA's rate caps, the lease and the owner's own balance sheet do most of the deciding.SBA loans for bowling centersBowling centers change hands through SBA at three times the national rate. Buyers are paying for a large special-purpose building, aging machinery and a league base, and lenders underwrite all three.SBA loans for breweriesA brewery is a small manufacturer with a bar attached. Lenders finance a lot of them, but they discount the equipment heavily and underwrite the taproom, the licenses and the owner's staying power.SBA loans for broiler and meat-chicken farmsA broiler farm borrows like a real estate owner and earns like a contractor with one customer. SBA lenders price the first and underwrite the second.SBA loans for building equipment contractors: installers of doors, lifts, conveyors and dock equipmentThese contractors install and service the equipment that makes a building work, and the best of them earn a large share of revenue from service agreements. That recurring revenue, and the dealer and license rights behind it, are what lenders and buyers pay for.SBA loans for building inspection services: small loans, a licensed owner and a referral pipelineInspection businesses borrow little, pay more for it than most, and are underwritten almost entirely on the person holding the license. The few that change hands sell for far more than a typical loan in the trade.SBA loans for building material dealersLumber yards and building supply dealers borrow big and change hands often. Most of these loans buy a family business with its receivables, inventory and yard, and the lender has to value all three.SBA loans for butcher shops and meat markets: what lenders approvedMeat retailers borrow about twice the national median, and one loan in five buys an existing shop. The lender is underwriting a skilled trade: yields, shrink, cold storage and the person holding the knife.SBA loans for cabinet and countertop makers: a shop tied to the housing market, and read by who it sells to109 lenders approved SBA loans to cabinet and countertop shops, and a larger share of those loans bought an existing shop than across SBA lending as a whole. What decides the loan is the mix of builders, remodelers and homeowners behind the orders, and how the shop carries a housing slowdown.SBA loans for car washesCar washes borrow like real estate projects: large loans, heavy use of SBA 504, many new builds and a rate below the national median. The file turns on the site, the equipment, the membership base and, for new washes, the down payment SBA requires on special-purpose property.SBA loans for carpet and upholstery cleaning companiesCarpet cleaning is one of the few small industries where buying an existing company is nearly as common a reason to borrow as starting one. Lenders underwrite the trucks, the customer list and the owner who runs them.SBA loans for caterersCatering splits into two borrowers: small caterers taking SBA Express loans for vans and kitchens, and venue owners buying banquet halls. Both get asked the same hard question, which is what the event deposits are really worth.SBA loans for child and youth servicesFoster care agencies, youth programs and similar services borrow through SBA when they are run as for-profit businesses. Lenders spend less time on the equipment and more on who pays, the license and the building.SBA loans for child care centersChild care borrows big from the SBA: loans more than twice the national median, lower rates, and a quarter of them to new businesses. The license, the enrollment and the building carry the file.SBA loans for chiropractors: new practices, small acquisitions, and revenue that arrives in different waysMore than one in five SBA loans to chiropractors funds a practice that has not opened yet. What gets those loans approved, and what lenders check in an established practice, is mostly about the doctor and how the practice gets paid.SBA loans for clothing and accessories storesClothing stores borrow less than the typical SBA borrower and pay more for it. The reason is partly the size of the loans and partly what a lender can count on when the season's stock does not sell.SBA loans for clothing and accessories wholesalersAn apparel wholesaler pays its factory months before a retailer pays it. SBA loans in this trade finance that gap, and the lender's questions are about the gap: who owes you, what they deduct, and what last season's stock is worth.SBA loans for coffee roasters and tea makers: what lenders approvedRoasters and tea blenders borrow close to the national median, and two in five loans go through SBA Express. The questions a lender asks are about channels, green-coffee costs and whether the business runs without its founder.SBA loans for coffee shops, juice bars and other snack and beverage barsAlmost half of SBA loans in this industry financed a shop that had not opened yet. For most borrowers here, the question is not how a lender reads their tax returns but how it reads a plan.SBA loans for commercial and industrial equipment rental and leasing companiesA rental company's fleet earns the revenue, secures the loan and wears out on a schedule. SBA lenders approve these businesses at better than national pricing, but only when the file shows what the fleet really costs to keep.SBA loans for commercial and industrial machinery repair and maintenanceMachinery repair firms borrow in two very different ways: small loans for trucks and tools, and seven-figure loans to buy whole companies. Either way, lenders read the same things: service contracts, the plants the firm depends on, and the technicians who do the work.SBA loans for commercial and institutional building contractors: working capital, retainage and the surety beside the lenderMore than half of SBA loans to commercial general contractors go through SBA Express. A contractor's bonding company watches the same balance sheet the lender does, and a loan that helps one can hurt the other.SBA loans for commercial bakeries: what lenders approved and whyCommercial bakeries borrow in two tiers: small SBA Express loans for a mixer or a van, and seven-figure loans for ovens, lines and plants. Either way, the lender is really underwriting the bakery's customers.SBA loans for commercial photography: small loans, higher rates, and a business built on one personThe typical SBA loan to a commercial photographer is well under half the national median, and it prices higher. The reasons are loan size, gear that depreciates fast, and a business whose value often walks around with the owner.SBA loans for commercial printing: an industry changing hands, one shop at a timeNearly a quarter of SBA loans to commercial printers financed a change of ownership, more than twice the national share. Presses are expensive and lose value fast, so lenders underwrite printers on customers and cash flow, not on the equipment on the floor.SBA loans for commercial screen printing: a trade where shops are bought more often than startedNearly one in five SBA loans to screen printers finances the purchase of an existing shop, more than three times the start-up share. A buyer is paying for presses and a customer list; a lender wants to know how much of that list will still order after the founder leaves.SBA loans for computer systems design services: IT consulting and systems integrationA systems design firm pays its engineers every two weeks and waits for clients to pay on terms. Most of what it borrows is about that gap, and what a lender will lend depends on who owes the money and under what contract.SBA loans for confectionery and nut retailersA candy shop earns much of its year in a handful of holiday weeks, and it almost always rents its space. Lenders underwrite the calendar and the lease as closely as the annual earnings.SBA loans for convenience stores: an industry where one loan in five buys a storeIn convenience retail, SBA lending is mostly about buying stores: acquisitions run at twice the national share, and the file is won or lost on whether the store's reported income matches what the seller says it makes.SBA loans for convention and trade show organizersA show organizer is paid months before it delivers and owns little a lender can sell. SBA lenders underwrite the calendar: which shows repeat, who rebooks, and what is owed to venues if a show does not happen.SBA loans for cosmetics, beauty supply and perfume retailers: small stores, big shelves, and a lender counting the stockBeauty supply and fragrance stores are small by headcount but carry a lot of inventory, and inventory is the asset lenders trust least. The SBA figures show modest loans, a rate range that runs high, and very few buyers of existing stores.SBA loans for couriers and express delivery services: lending against routes you do not ownNearly a quarter of SBA loans to courier companies financed an acquisition, and almost one in five was $1 million or more. Many of those purchases are the right to run delivery routes under a contract with a single large carrier, and that contract is where a lender's analysis starts and ends.SBA loans for CPA firms: a succession market financed by 7(a)Almost a quarter of SBA loans to CPA firms buy one. The loans are larger than the national median, priced lower, and built almost entirely on goodwill, which puts the seller's transition and the firm's client retention at the center of the credit.SBA loans for custom and contract home builders: Express-sized loans and a balance sheet built on other people's moneyBuilders who put up houses for owners on the owners' land borrow small, borrow through SBA Express, and pay more than the national rate. The reasons are in how their cash moves and how rarely these firms change hands.SBA loans for custom computer programming firmsA software development shop has almost nothing a lender can repossess. SBA lending to these firms is cash-flow lending, and the figures show lenders pricing it that way.SBA loans for cut stone and stone product manufacturing: big machines, bigger loansStone fabricators borrow about twice the national median, and a larger share of their SBA loans finance acquisitions. Lenders size the loan on the shop's jobs, not on its saws, because a used bridge saw sells for far less than a new one costs.SBA loans for dance companies: small loans, many lenders, and a studio to pay forDance companies borrow small amounts from a wide range of lenders, and a surprising number buy their own studios. Lenders care less about the art than about whether the year's cash arrives in time to cover rent and payroll in the quiet months.SBA loans for dental laboratories: financing the move from plaster to scanners and millsDental labs borrow above the national median, take a fixed rate on one loan in five, and depend on a customer base of dental practices that is consolidating. Lenders read all three together.SBA loans for dental practicesDentistry is one of the industries lenders compete for. That shows in the figures, and it means the question for a dentist is less whether a lender will say yes than which structure costs least over ten years.SBA loans for diet and weight reducing centers: a start-up and franchise marketNearly a third of SBA loans to weight loss centers went to businesses that had not opened yet, and a quarter to franchisees. That makes the owner, the brand and the business plan the heart of the file.SBA loans for driving schools, bartending schools and other specialty instructionMore than a quarter of SBA loans in this code went to start-ups, and the median loan sat exactly on the line where SBA's guaranty steps down. Lenders here underwrite an operator and an enrollment pipeline more than any asset.SBA loans for dry cleaners and laundry services: an acquisition market with an environmental question attachedMore than a quarter of SBA loans to dry cleaners and laundry services financed a change of ownership, nearly three times the national share. Every one of those deals has to answer a question most small businesses never face: what solvents went into the ground under this plant?SBA loans for drywall and insulation contractors: a trade of new owners, small loans and slow-paying customersMore than half of SBA loans to drywall and insulation contractors go through SBA Express, and nearly one in five goes to a start-up. Buying an established firm is rare and expensive. Both facts say the same thing about the trade: the business is its crews and its general-contractor relationships.SBA loans for educational support servicesEducational consultants, testing services and curriculum developers borrow small SBA loans at rates above the national median, from a narrow pool of lenders. The reasons are collateral, contract timing and money collected before the work is done.SBA loans for egg farms and laying-hen operationsMore than half of SBA's egg-farm loans build something new. Lenders finance the barn on the strength of the contract that fills it, the housing standard it is built to, and a plan for the day a flock is lost.SBA loans for electrical contractorsMore than half of SBA lending to electricians runs through SBA Express, in small loans that stand in for a line of credit. The large loans are acquisitions, and those turn on who holds the license.SBA loans for electrical supply wholesalers: big loans, frequent acquisitions and a warehouse full of copperElectrical distributors borrow more than twice the national median and change hands at nearly twice the national rate, so a lender here is often looking at a purchase or a warehouse, not a small working-capital loan.SBA loans for electronic and precision equipment repair companiesThe same industry code covers a phone-repair storefront and a firm that services hospital imaging systems under multi-year contracts. Lenders underwrite them very differently.SBA loans for electronic parts wholesalers: lean teams, volatile inventory and rare but large acquisitionsElectronic component distributors borrow well above the national median with very small staffs, so a lender is underwriting a trading business whose risk sits in what is on the shelf and who is buying it.SBA loans for electronics and appliance retailersElectronics and appliance stores borrow at the national median size and pay a little more than the national median rate. Few loans buy an existing store. The file turns on who holds a lien on the inventory, where the margin really comes from, and how the store holds up against price competition.SBA loans for employment placement agencies: fee revenue, recruiter books and unusually large acquisitionsPlacement firms borrow at about the national median, but a lender is underwriting a business whose inventory is a recruiter's network and whose revenue arrives one placement at a time.SBA loans for engineering firmsEngineering firms use SBA loans to change hands more often than the average borrower does. The underwriting follows the problem a sale creates: the clients and the license often sit with the person leaving.SBA loans for environmental consulting firmsAn environmental consultancy owns little a lender could sell. What it has is receivables, a backlog of projects and licensed people whose names are on the reports, and SBA lenders underwrite all three.SBA loans for event promoters without their own venuesA promoter without a venue has little to pledge and income that arrives in bursts. SBA lenders do finance them, in small amounts and at higher rates, and they underwrite the event calendar more than the balance sheet.SBA loans for event venues, theaters and arenas that promote their own eventsIn this code the building is usually the business. SBA 504 loans were common, one loan in six was $1 million or more, and lenders spend as much time on the appraisal as on the booking calendar.SBA loans for fabric, quilt, yarn and needlework shopsNearly one SBA loan in five in this industry buys an existing shop, usually from an owner who built it over decades. The shop's inventory, its classes and the founder's relationships are what the buyer is paying for.SBA loans for fashion, jewelry and textile design firmsA design firm's main asset walks out the door every evening. SBA lenders do finance these businesses, but they underwrite the people, the clients and the cash flow, because there is almost nothing else to lend against.SBA loans for film and video production companiesSBA lenders will finance a production company, but not a production. They lend on a record of paid client work, in small amounts and at rates above the national median, and fewer lenders are active here than in many industries of its size.SBA loans for finish carpentry contractors: small shops, Express loans and the last trade to be paidMost SBA loans to finish carpenters are small and made under SBA Express. The questions that matter are whether the business is a shop or a crew, and how it copes with being paid at the very end of every job.SBA loans for fitness centers and gymsIn SBA's books, fitness is a start-up industry. That changes what a lender underwrites: not the gym's history, which usually does not exist yet, but the owner, the brand and the lease.SBA loans for floor covering retailers: a showroom in front, an installation business behind itFlooring stores borrow more than the typical SBA borrower, and nearly twice the national share of their SBA loans finance a purchase. The lender's questions are less about carpet and tile than about who installs it, who the builder accounts are, and whose money is sitting in customer deposits.SBA loans for flooring contractors: small loans, and a credit that depends on who pays youFlooring contractors borrow less than the typical SBA borrower, and about half their loans go through SBA Express. The lender's real question is whose checks keep the business alive: homeowners, a showroom's walk-in trade, or a handful of builders.SBA loans for florists: small loans, many shop purchases, and a year that turns on a few weeksFlorists borrow less than most small businesses, but they buy and sell shops far more often. A lender's questions come back to the same three things: the seasons, where the orders come from, and who the customers are loyal to.SBA loans for flower, nursery stock and florists' supplies wholesalers: lending against stock that wiltsThe median loan matches the national one, but the largest loans in this trade run far above it. Most of what a flower wholesaler owns is perishable or alive, so lenders lend on the customer book and the cold chain, not on the inventory.SBA loans for food service contractors: the client contracts are the creditA contract food service company rarely owns the kitchens it cooks in. What a lender underwrites is a portfolio of contracts with schools, hospitals, employers and venues, and how long each one is likely to last.SBA loans for framing contractors: small loans, mostly Express, to crews that already existFraming contractors borrow in small amounts, almost always through SBA Express, and almost never to start or buy a company. What decides the loan is the builder list, the crews and who carries the lumber.SBA loans for freight brokers, forwarders and customs brokersA freight arranger owns no trucks and carries millions in billings through thin margins. SBA lenders lend on the margin, the receivables and the customer list, and most of what they approve is small.SBA loans for full-service restaurants: what lenders approve, and whyRestaurants are one of the largest industries in the SBA 7(a) program. They are also one where two lenders can read the same file and reach opposite answers.SBA loans for funeral homes and funeral servicesFuneral home loans are large, long and mostly about succession: a third of them buy an existing home from its owner. Lenders underwrite call volume, the preneed book and the building, and they ask hard questions about what happens to a family name when the family leaves.SBA loans for furniture merchant wholesalersFurniture distributors borrow more than the typical SBA borrower, change hands far more often, and buy their warehouses through 504 at a steady clip. What a lender will lend depends on which furniture it is: on the water, on the floor, or out of fashion.SBA loans for furniture storesFurniture stores borrow more than the typical SBA borrower, and more of them own their showrooms. The loan is often about the building as much as the business, and the balance sheet hides a debt to customers.SBA loans for gas stations with convenience stores: real estate, fuel contracts and the environmental fileFew industries borrow more per loan from SBA lenders. A station loan is mostly a real estate loan on a special-purpose property with tanks in the ground, and lenders underwrite it that way.SBA loans for general automotive repair shopsAuto repair borrows from a deep SBA market: priced at the national median, bought and sold more often than most, and frequently financed with the building. The file turns on technicians, the property and the shop's own records.SBA loans for general line grocery wholesalersBroadline distributors borrow more than the typical SBA borrower and, unusually, pay a little more for it. Their files turn on three things a lender can inspect: a thin margin, thousands of small receivables and a refrigerated building.SBA loans for gift, novelty and souvenir shopsGift shops borrow small, a median SBA loan of $100,000, and their rates spread three points across the middle half. The lender's real questions are about the season and the lease, not the merchandise.SBA loans for glass and glazing contractorsGlazing contractors borrow well above the national median, and 17.5% of their SBA loans bought an existing company. A commercial glazier and a residential shower-door installer share a code, but a lender underwrites them as different businesses.SBA loans for graphic design studiosA design studio owns laptops, software licenses and a client list. SBA lenders lend small against that, and the size of the loan decides much of its price.SBA loans for hardware retailersHardware stores borrow more than the typical SBA borrower and pay less for it. A quarter of the loans buy an existing store, a third carry a brand affiliation, and almost every file turns on the same asset: the inventory.SBA loans for hearing aid, medical supply and other health retailersThese stores sell to patients, but much of their revenue is decided by prescribers and paid by insurers. Lenders underwrite the referral sources and the payers as much as the storefront.SBA loans for highway, street and bridge construction: bonding, retainage and ironNearly half the SBA loans in this code were Express loans, and one in five went to a start-up, while the few acquisitions were large. Road work is bonded, paid slowly and equipment-hungry, and lenders underwrite all three.SBA loans for hobby, toy and game stores: start-ups, franchises and a fourth quarter that pays for the yearOne in three SBA loans in this industry goes to a store that has not opened yet. Lenders are financing a plan, a lease and shelves of product whose value depends on what children and collectors want next season.SBA loans for home décor, kitchenware and other home furnishings storesA home goods store's balance sheet is mostly inventory that is worth far less to a lender than it cost the owner. The loan is sized to what the shelves earn, not what they hold.SBA loans for home furnishing merchant wholesalers: financing the gap between the factory and the retailerMost home furnishing wholesalers are small, lean importers that pay for goods months before a retailer pays them. Lenders size these loans on that cash cycle and on who the retail customers are.SBA loans for home health care agenciesA home health agency owns almost nothing a lender can repossess. Its value is a license, a set of payer contracts, a referral network and a roster of caregivers, and that is what the lender underwrites.SBA loans for hosting, data processing and computing infrastructure companies: recurring revenue, fast-aging equipment, fewer lendersHosting and data processing companies have what lenders like, monthly revenue under contract, and what they struggle with, servers that lose value quickly and a business that lives in its systems and its people. The result is a narrower market and a higher price.SBA loans for hotels and motelsA hotel's SBA loan is many times the size of a typical small-business loan, and most of it is secured by the building. The loan is really a real estate loan with an operating business attached, and lenders underwrite both.SBA loans for household and office moving companiesA moving company earns most of its year in the summer, owns trucks that lose value every mile, and often trades under someone else's brand. Each of those shapes the SBA loan it can get.SBA loans for HR consulting firms: lending to a business whose assets go home at nightAn HR consultancy has clients, contracts and consultants, and almost nothing a lender can repossess. The SBA figures show how lenders respond: modest loans, heavy use of SBA Express, and few acquisitions, each of them large.SBA loans for independent artists, writers and performersThese are the smallest, most personal loans in the SBA program. The lender is underwriting a person whose income arrives in lumps, and prices the loan accordingly.SBA loans for individual and family services: lending to people businesses paid by agenciesMuch of the work in this code is done by nonprofits, which SBA 7(a) does not lend to. The for-profit providers that do borrow are small, often new, light on collateral and frequently paid by a government agency, and lenders underwrite each of those facts.SBA loans for industrial building construction: bigger loans, and a file that lives on the WIP scheduleContractors who build plants, warehouses and industrial facilities borrow more than the typical SBA borrower, and rarely through the shortcut. Their loans are decided on the work-in-progress schedule, the backlog and the surety relationship, not on the headline revenue.SBA loans for industrial machinery and equipment wholesalersMachinery distributors borrow more than twice the national median SBA loan, and acquisitions make up a far larger share of their loans than they do nationally. Lenders look past the big equipment sales to the parts, service and dealer agreements underneath them.SBA loans for industrial supplies wholesalersIn SBA's data, industrial supply distribution is an acquisition market: more than a quarter of its loans bought a company. The loans are large for SBA, and the underwriting turns on inventory, receivables and the supplier lines that come with the company.SBA loans for insurance agencies and brokeragesAn insurance agency has almost nothing a lender can repossess. What it has is a book of renewing commissions, and SBA lending to agencies is mostly lending against how reliably that book renews.SBA loans for interior design firmsInterior design firms borrow small amounts, lean heavily on SBA Express, and rarely change hands with SBA financing. Lenders look past gross billings to the fees the firm keeps, and past the firm to the designer who runs it.SBA loans for janitorial and commercial cleaning companiesA cleaning company's assets leave the building every night: its crews and its contracts. SBA lenders lend against the second and worry about the first.SBA loans for jewelry storesA jewelry store's median SBA loan sits almost exactly on the national one, but the file behind it is unusual: the most valuable thing in the store may belong to a vendor, and much of the goodwill belongs to the owner.SBA loans for jewelry, watch, precious stone and precious metal wholesalersFew businesses hold more value per square foot than a jewelry wholesaler, and few get less lending credit for it. The inventory is portable, hard to value and often not even owned, so lenders price and structure these loans around cash flow and controls.SBA loans for junk removal, debris hauling and other waste collectionJunk removal and debris hauling are easy to start and easy to franchise, and they are paid one job at a time. SBA lenders want the job-level economics behind the annual total, and the disposal bill that comes with every load.SBA loans for landscape architecture firmsAlmost every SBA loan in this industry went to a firm that was already operating. Lenders are reading a professional practice whose revenue follows the construction cycle, and whose value sits with its licensed principals.SBA loans for landscaping companies: what lenders approve, and how they read a seasonal businessA landscaping company earns most of its money in a few months and pays its loan in all twelve. Lenders who understand that finance it readily, and buyers have noticed.SBA loans for laundromats and coin-operated drycleanersLaundromats draw an unusually broad field of SBA lenders and borrow about three times the national median. The file turns on three documents most owners overlook: the equipment list, the lease and the utility bills.SBA loans for law firmsLaw firms borrow through SBA in ordinary amounts at ordinary prices. What sets the industry apart is how its revenue is earned, who is allowed to own it, and how seldom a practice changes hands through an SBA loan.SBA loans for legal support services: process servers, document preparers and the other businesses around the lawLegal support firms borrow small amounts at a median rate a full point above national, because a lender is financing people and client relationships with almost nothing to take back if the business fails.SBA loans for limited-service restaurants: what lenders approve for fast food and counter serviceFour in ten SBA loans to counter-service restaurants went to franchises, and nearly as many to businesses that had not opened yet. That mix shapes how every file in this industry is read.SBA loans for limousine and chauffeured car servicesLimousine operators borrow small and pay more for it. The vehicles lose value from the day they are bought, so SBA lenders lend on the accounts, the insurance record and the operator's licenses behind the fleet.SBA loans for liquor storesMore than a third of SBA loans to liquor stores buy an existing store. The price is a license, a shelf of inventory and a location, and each of those is underwritten differently.SBA loans for local general freight truckingLocal carriers borrow small from the SBA, and often through Express. The credit turns less on freight rates than on the handful of customers and contracts that keep the trucks running every day.SBA loans for local messengers and local delivery: two industries sharing one codeMost SBA loans to local delivery companies are small, but one in six financed an acquisition, and those ran past $1 million at the median. The gap between the two says what lenders are really underwriting: not vans, but the delivery contracts behind them and how easily they can end.SBA loans for local specialized trucking: dump trucks, tankers, lowboys and the equipment questionLocal specialized haulers take small SBA loans, and most of their rolling stock is financed elsewhere. The loan that fits depends on what the money is for, and on how the hauler gets through the slow months.SBA loans for logging: small loans against heavy equipment, and a season that sets the cash flowLoggers borrow far less than the typical SBA borrower, mostly through SBA Express, because the business is usually an owner-operator crew whose real assets are the machines in the woods.SBA loans for long-distance LTL carriersSBA lending to less-than-truckload carriers is a thin market of small, expensive loans. The carriers that borrow more do it on terminals, clean safety records and freight spread across many shippers.SBA loans for long-haul truckingSBA lending to truckload carriers is mostly small loans to small fleets. The trucks themselves usually go elsewhere, and knowing which need belongs with which lender is most of the battle.SBA loans for lumber, plywood and millwork wholesalers: working capital through a price cycleNearly half of SBA loans to lumber and millwork distributors went through SBA Express, the program's small-loan lane, where working capital is the usual need. The larger loans buy yards and businesses, and every one of them is underwritten against a commodity that moves in price.SBA loans for machine shopsMachine shops borrow about twice the national median SBA loan, pay less for it than the national median rate, and twice the national share of their SBA loans finance a purchase. The file turns on equipment values, customers, and the people who program and run the machines.SBA loans for management consulting firmsA consulting firm owns little a lender can sell. That shows in the price of its SBA loans and in how few lenders make them, and it decides what a consultancy's file has to prove.SBA loans for manufacturers' reps and wholesale brokers: an asset-light business whose value sits in its principalsA rep agency owns no inventory and few machines. It earns commissions on goods it never holds, under agreements a principal can often end. That is what an SBA lender underwrites, and why the rate runs above the national median.SBA loans for marketing consulting firmsA marketing firm's value is its clients and its people, and neither can be repossessed. SBA lenders still lend to these firms, but in smaller amounts and at higher rates than the national median, and they read the client list the way other lenders read a balance sheet.SBA loans for masonry contractors: small Express loans to established masonsSeven in ten SBA loans to masonry contractors go through SBA Express, almost none go to start-ups, and the typical loan is two-thirds of the national median. Lenders here are financing working masons for trucks, machines and the slow months, not new ventures.SBA loans for medical laboratoriesA lab's prices are set by payers it does not control, and its work runs on analyzers it often does not own. SBA lenders underwrite both before they look at anything else.SBA loans for medical, dental and hospital equipment and supplies wholesalersMedical and dental distributors borrow a little more than the typical SBA borrower, and four loans in ten are SBA Express. What a lender is really underwriting is two sets of relationships the company does not own outright: the manufacturers it is allowed to sell for, and the providers who pay it slowly.SBA loans for mental health practitioners: solo clinicians, group practices, and the clinicians behind the revenueMost SBA loans to therapy and counseling practices are small. The few acquisitions are large, because what gets bought is a group practice, and a group practice is only as bankable as its hold on its clinicians.SBA loans for metal product fabricators: larger loans, lower rates, and a shop floor lenders can appraiseMetal fabricators borrow twice what the typical SBA borrower does and pay less for it, because a shop full of machines and often a building gives the lender something to value. The questions that remain are about customers, steel prices and the people who run the machines.SBA loans for miscellaneous durable goods wholesalersWholesalers in this catch-all code borrow more than most SBA borrowers, and almost none are start-ups. Lenders read the file through inventory, receivables and the supplier agreements the business depends on.SBA loans for miscellaneous manufacturing: when the industry code tells a lender nothingCandle makers, wig makers and fire-extinguisher assemblers share one catch-all code, so a lender cannot underwrite the industry and has to underwrite the product. Nearly one loan in five bought an existing manufacturer.SBA loans for miscellaneous nondurable goods wholesalersThese distributors sell goods that are used up, go out of season or go out of style, often to retailers who pay late and deduct freely. Lenders underwrite the inventory and the receivables as closely as the earnings.SBA loans for mobile food services: food trucks, carts and mobile caterersFood truck loans are among the smallest in the SBA program, and three in ten go to start-ups. The truck secures the loan only partly; the operator's record and sales carry the rest.SBA loans for motorcycle, ATV and powersports dealersPowersports dealers sell a seasonal, discretionary product on borrowed inventory under a manufacturer's terms. The SBA loans that go to them are larger than average, and dealership purchases are larger still.SBA loans for music, dance, art and drama schoolsA fine arts school sells lessons its teachers deliver, often paid for in advance. SBA lenders lend on enrollment that renews term after term, and they want to know what happens to it if a teacher, or the owner, leaves.SBA loans for nail salonsNail salon loans are small, mostly fund a build-out that has no resale value, and rarely go past the SBA Express ceiling. Lenders underwrite the lease, the technicians and the tax returns, because there is little else to underwrite.SBA loans for nonresidential property managers: lending against a book of contractsA commercial property manager runs buildings it does not own. Lenders will finance it, at above-median loan sizes, but the whole credit rests on management agreements that owners can usually end and that disappear when a building is sold.SBA loans for nurseries, garden centers and farm supply stores: one season, live stock, and a lot of landA garden center can earn its year in a few spring weeks, and much of what it sells will be dead or worthless if it goes unsold. Lenders underwrite that calendar, the inventory that cannot secure a loan, and the ground the business sits on.SBA loans for office administrative services: when the borrower is a management companyMany businesses in this code exist to run the back office of another business, often one their owners also own. That makes the first underwriting question unusual: whose cash flow is really repaying the loan?SBA loans for oil change and lubrication shopsQuick lube shops borrow more than twice the national median, because the loan often buys a building, a site or a franchise, not just working capital. That puts the property and its environmental record at the center of the file.SBA loans for oilfield service companies (NAICS 213112)Oilfield service companies borrow large SBA loans: a median of $400,000, against $150,300 nationally. Lenders size them on the weak years of the cycle, not the strong ones, and on a customer list that is often a handful of operators.SBA loans for optometrists: bigger loans, fewer practice sales, and three businesses under one roofAn optometry office is an exam practice, a medical practice and an optical store at once. Lenders price and size the loan on how those pieces fit together, and on the equipment and space the doctor needs to run them.SBA loans for other building finishing contractors: one code, many trades, and a lender who wants to know which one you areCountertop installers, bath refinishers, closet and blind franchises, fireproofing crews and trade show installers all share NAICS 238390. Their loans are larger than the national median, more of them are acquisitions, and the credit turns on a business model the code does not describe.SBA loans for other computer related services: IT support, installation and resellersThis code holds businesses with very different economics: managed-service shops with monthly contracts, installers paid by the job, and resellers whose revenue is mostly someone else's hardware. Lenders price the loan on which of those your earnings really come from.SBA loans for other foundation, structure and building exterior contractorsMost loans in this trade are small working-capital loans made through SBA Express. The few acquisitions are million-dollar purchases at the very top of the range, underwritten on contracts, retainage and the license rather than on equipment.SBA loans for other health practitionersThis code gathers the health practices that have no code of their own, and many of its loans go to businesses that did not exist a year earlier. For a lender, the first question is not the numbers but whether the business is set up lawfully to deliver what it sells.SBA loans for other heavy and civil engineering constructionDock builders, dredgers, athletic-field and rail contractors share one code and one problem for lenders: earnings arrive a few large projects at a time, on equipment few other buyers want.SBA loans for other management consulting servicesSpecialist consultancies borrow small, pay more than the typical SBA borrower, and put nearly half their loans through SBA Express. Loan size and the route a loan takes, Express or standard 7(a), shape its price alongside the firm's credit.SBA loans for other personal and household goods repair and maintenanceRepair shops for bikes, boats, watches and instruments borrow small: nine in ten SBA loans came in under $500,000. Small loans sit in SBA's widest rate tiers, and the file turns on the technician behind the counter.SBA loans for other personal servicesThe code name tells a lender almost nothing, so the file has to. And because buyers take as large a share of these loans as they do across the whole program, the question that matters most is what is left of the business once its owner walks away.SBA loans for other professional, scientific and technical services: the catch-all code, and what lenders need to see behind itThe figures for NAICS 541990 sit close to the national ones, but they average two very different borrowers. Because the code says little about what a firm does, the file has to say it instead.SBA loans for other real estate service businessesNAICS 531390 is the real estate code for firms that are neither agents nor property managers: escrow agencies, listing services, landmen, real estate consultants. SBA lends to them as operating businesses, not as property holders, and the file turns on transaction volume and client money.SBA loans for outdoor power equipment retailers: financing the dealershipNearly three in ten SBA loans to mower, saw and small-equipment dealers finance a change of ownership. Those deals sit on top of a manufacturer's floor plan, a dealer agreement and two selling seasons, and the SBA loan has to fit around all three.SBA loans for outpatient care centersOutpatient centers borrow more than most small businesses, and two in five are brand new. Lenders are financing a build-out and a ramp-up in revenue that depends on licensing and payer enrollment going to plan.SBA loans for outpatient mental health and substance use treatment centersThese are staffed clinics paid mostly by insurers and public programs, and much of their value rests on licenses and enrollments that do not move easily. Lenders underwrite the payer mix and the regulatory file as closely as the earnings.SBA loans for painting and wall covering contractors: small loans, franchise start-ups, and thin collateralPainters borrow small amounts, mostly through SBA Express, and nearly a fifth of the loans go to franchise and start-up businesses. With little equipment to pledge, the decision rests on the books and the owner.SBA loans for party, event and other consumer goods rental companiesA rental company's inventory is also its income: every tent, table and sofa has to earn its keep before it wears out. SBA lenders underwrite the fleet's earnings, its replacement cycle and the season it depends on.SBA loans for pest control and exterminating companiesA pest control company is a book of recurring service agreements run by licensed technicians out of trucks. That book is what buyers pay for and what SBA lenders underwrite, and it is why this industry changes hands more often than most.SBA loans for pet and pet supply storesPet stores are one of the few retail trades where SBA lending leans toward new stores and franchises. That changes what a lender underwrites: often a plan and a brand, not a history.SBA loans for pet care businesses: grooming, boarding and daycareOver a third of SBA loans to pet care go to businesses that have not opened yet. For those, the lender is underwriting a building that is expensive to fit out and hard to reuse, and an owner who has to fill it.SBA loans for pharmaciesIndependent pharmacies borrow large through SBA, and nearly one loan in five buys a store. The lender's questions follow the money: what the pharmacy keeps on each prescription, who pays it, and whether the licenses and contracts survive the sale.SBA loans for physical, occupational and speech therapists and audiologists: payers, start-up clinics, and owned spaceTherapy practices borrow almost exactly the national median, and nearly a fifth of the loans open new clinics. What sets the file apart is that the money comes from insurers, not patients, and lenders underwrite the payer mix as much as the practice.SBA loans for physician practicesPhysicians use SBA loans to open and equip practices, not to buy them. That puts the lender's attention on the doctor, the payer contracts and how long it takes a new office to collect.SBA loans for plastics manufacturers: presses, molds and the customers behind themPlastics processors borrow three times the typical SBA amount, and their largest loans run most of the way to the 7(a) maximum. Lenders count the machines, discount the molds, and spend most of their time on who the customers are and who pays for resin.SBA loans for plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractorsMost SBA loans to trades contractors are small and routine. The acquisitions are not, and that is where a file has to be built properly.SBA loans for pool, duct, exterior cleaning and other building servicesRoute-based service businesses change hands more often than the average business in SBA's books. For a buyer, that makes the lender's question simple to state and hard to answer: how many of these accounts are still paying a year after closing?SBA loans for portfolio management and investment advice firmsAdvisory firms borrow more than the typical SBA borrower, and many borrow to buy a book of clients. The catch is that the usual way advisory practices change hands, with part of the price tied to client retention, is the one structure SBA will not finance.SBA loans for portrait photography studios: small loans, lent on the photographerThe median SBA loan to a portrait studio was a third of the national median, and it cost a full point more. In a business that is often one photographer and an assistant, lenders underwrite the person as much as the studio.SBA loans for poured concrete contractors: financing the trucks, the pumps and the slow monthsA concrete contractor is an equipment business that happens to pour foundations. The SBA figures show a typical loan right at the national median, 504 loans far larger than the 7(a) loans, and few acquisitions.SBA loans for power line, fiber and telecom construction contractorsLine contractors own expensive equipment, work for a handful of very large customers and wait to be paid. SBA lenders underwrite all three, and the crews and safety record that keep the work coming.SBA loans for private elementary and secondary schools: tuition, buildings and the for-profit testSchools borrow big from the SBA: the median loan is more than twice the national figure, and 117 schools used SBA 504 to buy or build. But only a school organized as a for-profit business can borrow at all, and the lender underwrites enrollment the way it would underwrite a landlord's rent roll.SBA loans for private mail centers and shipping storesTwo in three SBA loans in this industry went to franchised stores, and more than one in five financed the purchase of an existing one. Lenders here are underwriting a brand's model, a store's lease and a counter's revenue mix, in roughly that order.SBA loans for process, physical distribution and logistics consulting firmsLogistics consultancies borrow small amounts, mostly through SBA Express, and are almost never bought with SBA money. Both facts come from the same place: the business is its people, and above all its owner.SBA loans for professional and management training firms: cash-flow loans with little to pledgeA training company's assets are its curriculum, its client list and the people who deliver it, and none of them is collateral a lender can sell. That shows up in the rate, in how the loan is secured, and in what a buyer has to prove.SBA loans for promotional products and other advertising servicesMuch of this code is promotional products distributors: businesses with thin gross margins, no hard assets and customer books that often belong to salespeople. Buyers finance them with SBA more often than the national average.SBA loans for psychiatrists and psychiatric practicesA psychiatric practice earns what its prescribers can see. Lenders spend most of their time on who those prescribers are, how patients pay, and what happens if the founding psychiatrist steps back.SBA loans for real estate agents and brokeragesBrokerages borrow small and pay more for it. The reason is less the industry's risk than its size and its income: commission revenue that moves with the housing market and mostly passes straight through to agents.SBA loans for recyclable material wholesalers: lending to a yard that lives on the spreadScrap metal, paper and plastics dealers borrow large by SBA standards: a quarter of their loans were $1 million or more, and 35 more went through SBA 504 for land and heavy equipment. What decides the loan is how earnings hold up when commodity prices fall, and what is in the ground under the yard.SBA loans for remediation servicesRemediation is one of the few industries where SBA lending is mostly new businesses: four in ten loans went to start-ups and more than four in ten to franchisees. The file turns on the operator, the licenses and how slowly the insurance money arrives.SBA loans for residential mental health and substance abuse facilitiesA residential program is a licensed, round-the-clock operation that usually lives in a building it owns or controls. Lenders underwrite the license, the census and the property together, because each is worth little without the others.SBA loans for residential property management companiesA property manager's main asset is a book of management agreements that owners can usually cancel. SBA lenders finance it anyway, often for start-ups and franchises, but they read the contracts, the trust accounts and the line between managing property and owning it.SBA loans for residential remodelers: small loans, owner-run businesses, and the deposits lenders checkMost SBA loans to remodelers are small and go through SBA Express. The few acquisitions are six times the size of a typical loan, and the reasons for both say a lot about how lenders see this trade.SBA loans for retail bakeriesBakeries borrow from a wide spread of SBA lenders, at rates a little below the national median. A third of the loans start a new bakery, and a bakery's biggest cost is turning a leased space into a working kitchen.SBA loans for roofing contractorsRoofers borrow mostly small and mostly through SBA Express, and they pay a little more than the national median for it. The questions that decide the loan are how much of the revenue came from storms, who owes the company money and whose license the business runs on.SBA loans for RV parks and campgrounds: what lenders approved and what they checkAn RV park loan is a real estate loan with an operating business on top. The loans are large and long, one in five buys an existing park, and the lender's questions turn on land, utilities, seasons and who the guests are.SBA loans for scientific and technical consulting firms: expertise as the business, and priced like itThese firms borrow small amounts, rarely as start-ups, and at a median rate well above the national one. A lender is lending against a principal's know-how and a list of contracts, with little else to hold.SBA loans for security guard and patrol companiesA guard company pays its officers every week and its clients pay in a month or two. SBA lenders underwrite the contracts, and the payroll gap decides which loan fits.SBA loans for self-storage facilitiesSelf-storage borrows like real estate and is underwritten like an operating business. The loans are large, priced well below the national median, run 25 years, and lean on SBA 504 as much as 7(a). What decides them is occupancy, rents and the lease-up of new space.SBA loans for septic and portable toilet companies: trucks, routes and somewhere to empty themSeptic service is a small-loan industry that buyers like: 13.3% of SBA loans financed an acquisition, above the national share, and the loans came from 86 different lenders. The trucks are the collateral, the routes are the value, and the permit to dispose of what the trucks collect is the risk few buyers ask about early enough.SBA loans for services for the elderly and persons with disabilitiesAgencies in this industry change hands with SBA money far more often than the national share. But a purchase is goodwill with almost no hard collateral, so the file rests on licenses, payers and caregivers.SBA loans for shoe storesA shoe store's main asset is a wall of boxes in every size, and a lender values it at far less than it cost. The stores that borrow well show steady sell-through, brand accounts they control and a lease that will outlast the loan.SBA loans for shuttle, vanpool and other ground passenger operatorsMost operators in this code borrow for a van or two and a cushion of working capital. The few who buy an established operator borrow ten times as much, and the lender is buying into its contracts.SBA loans for siding contractors: small loans against a business made of crews and contractsSiding contractors borrow smaller than the typical SBA borrower and pay a little more for it, and more than half their loans went through SBA Express. With almost no hard collateral, the loan is decided on where the work comes from, how the installers are paid and what the books show through a slow winter.SBA loans for sign manufacturing: bigger loans, a franchise-heavy market and a steady trade in shopsSign makers borrow well above the national median, a quarter of their SBA loans go to franchises, and nearly one in five finances a purchase. The equipment, the install crews and the customer list are what a lender is really lending against.SBA loans for site preparation contractors: equipment-heavy loans, seasonal cash flow, and fleet acquisitionsMost SBA loans to dirt contractors are small, but the large ones are very large: fleets of iron, yards, and whole companies bought with their equipment. Lenders underwrite the machines and the backlog together.SBA loans for skilled nursing facilities: large loans, long terms and a government payerNursing homes borrow several times the typical SBA amount, over terms set by real estate. The building secures the loan, but reimbursement, inspections and staffing decide whether it gets repaid, and many deals press against SBA's size limits.SBA loans for software publishers: lending on cash flow when there is nothing to repossessA software company's value is in its code, its customers and its people, none of which a lender can take and sell. SBA lenders fund these businesses anyway, but only on cash flow they can see in past results, not on the growth story.SBA loans for spas, massage and other personal care servicesIn SBA terms this is a start-up industry: 41.6% of loans went to new businesses, and 27% to franchises. The lender is underwriting a build-out, a brand and an owner more than a track record.SBA loans for special needs transportation: small loans, public payers, and a fleet that wears outNon-emergency medical and paratransit operators borrow in small amounts, pay more than the average SBA borrower, and depend on a few payers whose rules they do not set. A lender underwrites the contracts first and the vans second.SBA loans for specialized automotive repair shopsTransmission, brake, exhaust and drivetrain specialists borrow small for equipment and big when a shop changes hands. Lenders look hardest at the people who do the specialist work and the warranties the shop stands behind.SBA loans for specialized long-distance freight carriersReefer, flatbed, tanker and heavy-haul carriers borrow through SBA in very small amounts, mostly through SBA Express. The specialized equipment that defines the business is also what makes lenders careful.SBA loans for specialty food manufacturers (NAICS 311999)A food maker's credit rests on who buys the product, what those buyers deduct from their payments, and whether the plant would pass an audit tomorrow. SBA lenders look at all three before the equipment list.SBA loans for specialty food retailersSpecialty food stores are one of the SBA's start-up and franchise industries: more than a fifth of loans go to new stores. Lenders are financing a lease, a build-out and a plan as much as a track record, and perishable stock gives them little to fall back on.SBA loans for specialty grocery and food distributorsA food distributor's value sits in its receivables and its routes. Nearly half of its SBA loans are Express loans for smaller needs, and where the need is working capital that grows with sales, a line of credit may do the job better.SBA loans for specialty retailers (all other miscellaneous retailers)This is SBA's catch-all retail code: hot tub and pool supply stores, religious goods shops, fireworks stands, monument dealers and many more. Its loans sit right on two of SBA's most important size thresholds, and its borrowers live or die by inventory and the calendar.SBA loans for specialty trade contractors: fencing, paving, pools, rigging and the rest of NAICS 238990This catch-all code covers trades with little in common except heavy equipment and project-based revenue. It also has an unusually heavy share of million-dollar SBA loans and an above-average share of acquisitions.SBA loans for specialty waste management services (NAICS 562998)A quarter of SBA loans in this code go to start-ups, and one in six to franchises. For those borrowers the lender is underwriting a truck, a permit and an operator's experience more than a track record.SBA loans for sporting and recreational goods wholesalersA sporting goods distributor buys a season's stock months before its dealers pay for it. The lending question is who carries that gap, and on what collateral.SBA loans for sporting goods retailersSporting goods stores borrow at the national median rate from a wide group of SBA lenders, and buyers use SBA to purchase stores half again as often as the national share. The file turns on seasonal inventory, the cash low point of the year and, for buyers, what the stock on the shelves is really worth.SBA loans for sports and recreation instructionSwim schools, martial arts studios, gymnastics gyms and sports academies borrow at close to the national median, but four in ten of those loans fund a school that has not opened yet. That is what a lender is really underwriting.SBA loans for structural steel and metal fabricatorsStructural fabricators are established shops that work job by job for contractors. SBA lenders like the equipment and the history; what they probe is the backlog, the bids and how long the contractor takes to pay.SBA loans for structural steel and precast concrete contractorsSteel and precast erectors borrow mostly in small, lender-approved Express loans, pay above the national median rate, and rarely finance a purchase with SBA. The reasons sit in the job schedule, the surety relationship and the crane yard.SBA loans for supermarkets and grocery stores: large loans, thin margins, and the building under the storeIn grocery, nearly a quarter of SBA loans are $1 million or more. Stores are bought and built with SBA money, and lenders underwrite them on margins measured in cents and on real estate that outlasts any operator.SBA loans for tax preparation services: buying and growing a tax practiceTax preparation is an acquisition industry: one SBA loan in eight here buys an existing practice. What the buyer is paying for is clients who come back next season, and SBA's rules decide how much of that risk the buyer carries.SBA loans for technical and trade schools: enrollment, approvals and the buildingA trade school sells a credential it has not yet delivered. Lenders look past the tuition receipts to enrollment trends, the approvals that let the school operate, and what happens to students if the school stumbles.SBA loans for temporary staffing firms: financing a weekly payroll against slow-paying clientsA staffing firm pays its workers every week and gets paid by clients a month or two later, so almost every lending question in this industry comes back to who funds that gap.SBA loans for testing laboratories: accreditation, instruments and a lab that has to pass its auditTesting labs borrow above the national median at a slightly lower rate, and they change hands more often than the average business, because an accredited lab takes years to build.SBA loans for tile and terrazzo contractors: mostly Express, with a long tail of large loansSix in ten SBA loans to tile and terrazzo contractors went through SBA Express, yet a tenth of them reached $1 million. The distance between those two groups is the distance between a residential tile setter and a commercial terrazzo contractor.SBA loans for tire dealers: financing the lot, the stock and the service baysA tire dealer is a retailer, a service shop and often its own landlord, and SBA loans to the industry show all three. Loans run well above the national median, one in five tops $1 million, and 29 SBA 504 loans show how often the dealer buys its own site.SBA loans for tobacco, vape and smoke shopsSBA lenders do finance tobacco and vape retailers, at about the national loan size. What decides the file is what is on the shelves, how exposed sales are to the next regulatory change, and whether the tax returns show the business the owner describes.SBA loans for towing companiesA towing company's trucks are good collateral, but its revenue sits on permits, rotation lists and motor-club contracts that a lender cannot repossess. The loan is decided on the second half of that sentence.SBA loans for toy and hobby wholesalers: financing a year that is decided in the fourth quarterA toy or hobby distributor pays for its inventory months before the holiday season and collects from retailers months after it. Lenders underwrite that cycle, and what the inventory is worth if the season goes wrong.SBA loans for trash haulers, roll-off and dumpster rental companiesWaste collection is one of the few small-business industries where the equipment is real collateral. SBA lenders still decide on the routes, the disposal costs and the permits behind the trucks.SBA loans for travel agenciesTravel agencies move a lot of other people's money and keep a small share of it. Lenders underwrite the share they keep, look hard at who owns the client relationships, and lean on the owner's guarantee because the business has little to pledge.SBA loans for tutoring centers and exam preparation businessesTutoring is a franchise-heavy, lease-and-people business with almost nothing a lender can repossess. SBA lenders approve it on enrollment, on cash that arrives before the lessons are given, and on the person running the center.SBA loans for used car dealersUsed car dealers borrow from the SBA at a higher rate than most industries, rarely sell their stores with SBA money, and use SBA 504 unusually often. The floor plan lender and the lot decide most of the file.SBA loans for used merchandise retailers: thrift, consignment and resale storesA resale store buys its inventory from the public, one bag or one piece at a time, and much of it cost very little. That makes the margins attractive and the books harder to read, and a lender's first job is to confirm that the sales and the stock are what the owner says.SBA loans for vending machine operatorsNearly two in three SBA loans in this industry went to start-ups, and almost all were small. Lenders here are financing machines that lose value quickly and host-site agreements that can end on short notice, so the operator's plan and personal strength carry the file.SBA loans for veterinary services: clinics, hospitals and new practicesVeterinary loans are among the largest and cheapest in the SBA program, and more than a third of them build clinics that do not exist yet. The veterinarian's own record is what lenders are really lending against.SBA loans for vitamin and supplement storesSupplement retailers borrow through SBA at about the national median size but pay a little more for it. The reason is on the shelves: stock with a use-by date is thin collateral, so the store's own cash flow carries the whole file.SBA loans for warehousing and storage companiesA warehouse operator sells space, labor and care of other people's goods. SBA lenders finance the operator, not the landlord, and they do not count the goods on the racks as theirs.SBA loans for water and sewer line contractors: the fleet, the public owner and the bonding lineUtility contractors carry heavy equipment, work for public owners who pay slowly and hold back retainage, and cannot bid without a surety. A lender underwrites all three together, starting with the schedule of jobs in progress.SBA loans for window treatment retailers: an industry built on franchise start-upsFour in ten SBA loans in this industry open a business that has not yet sold a blind, and more than half go to franchisees. That changes what the lender reads, and what the borrower has to bring.SBA loans for wine and spirits wholesalers: small loans, licensed inventory and brand rightsWine and spirits distributors borrow small amounts, mostly to carry inventory and receivables. Lenders like the stock less than owners expect, because only licensed buyers can purchase it, and they value the brand agreements more than the balance sheet shows.SBA loans for wineriesA winery ties up cash in wine for years before it sells, and often in land and buildings as well. SBA lenders finance both, and for the land and buildings wineries lean on SBA 504.SBA loans for wood product manufacturers (NAICS 321999)Wood product shops borrow more than the typical SBA borrower, at lower rates, and change hands more often. The machines, the yard and the owner's retirement plans usually drive the loan.SBA loans in Alabama: what lenders approved, and where the program fitsAlabama borrowers take larger SBA loans than the national median and put 149 projects through the 504 program. Hotels and insurance agencies sit in the top five, and they could hardly be more different as credits.SBA loans in Alaska: bigger loans, fewer lenders, and what that means for your fileAlaska borrowers took SBA loans far larger than the national typical loan, from a field of only 36 lenders, and paid more for them. The underwriting turns on short seasons, costly logistics and collateral that can be hard to reach.SBA loans in Arizona: what lenders approved, and where the deals areArizona's SBA loans run large, its trades companies borrow heavily, and its owners buy buildings through 504 at a high rate. Each of those shapes which lender fits.SBA loans in Arkansas: what lenders approved, and what a buyer should expectThe median Arkansas acquisition loan was more than a million dollars, far above the national norm. At that size, most of SBA's acquisition rules apply at once, and a buyer who knows them in advance builds a better file.SBA loans in California: what lenders approved, and how to use themCalifornia is a market of established businesses, expensive real estate and higher rates. Its borrowers lean on SBA 504 to own their buildings and use 7(a) mostly for companies with a track record, not start-ups.SBA loans in Colorado: who borrows, what lenders approved, and where the limits areMore than one Colorado SBA loan in seven buys an existing business, and liquor stores borrow more often than almost any trade. Both shape what a Colorado lender asks for.SBA loans in Connecticut: mostly Express, with acquisitions at the far endMore than half of Connecticut's SBA loans went through Express. The few acquisition loans were bigger than nine loans in ten, and they need a different lender and a different file.SBA loans in Delaware: what lenders approved, and why the rates ran highDelaware's SBA borrowers paid more than the national median rate, and almost none of them fixed it. Much of the gap lines up with loan size, which means a Delaware owner has more control over price than the headline suggests.SBA loans in Florida: what lenders approved, and how to approach themFlorida is one of the busiest SBA markets in the country, prices its loans a little above the national median, and uses the 504 program for real estate more than most. Each of those facts shapes how a Florida file should be built.SBA loans in Georgia: bigger loans, floating rates and a standard 7(a) marketGeorgia's typical SBA loan is about twice the national one, almost always floats with the base rate, and goes through the full 7(a) process rather than Express. Each of those changes how a Georgia borrower should prepare.SBA loans in Hawaii: small loans, higher rates, and what a larger request needsThe typical Hawaii SBA loan is a third the size of the national median and priced above it. That is a feature of loan size, not of Hawaii credit, and a borrower with a larger project should know which rules change once the request grows.SBA loans in Idaho: what lenders approved, and what a trades-heavy market means for your fileIdaho's SBA loans are smaller than the national norm, nearly half go through SBA Express, and four of the five busiest industries are trades. A contractor's file is read differently from a restaurant's, and Idaho lenders read a lot of them.SBA loans in Illinois: what lenders approved, and how to approach themIllinois looks like the national market on price and runs a little larger on size, but it leans harder into acquisitions and freight, and its real estate carries local habits a lender has to work through.SBA loans in Indiana: what was approved, and who it was approved forAt the median, an Indiana SBA loan is the national loan. Underneath, the state borrows for trucks, hotels and acquisitions more than most, and those borrowers are underwritten very differently.SBA loans in Iowa: small loans, many lenders, and a lot of acquisitionsThe typical Iowa SBA loan is the national typical loan, but the state's buyers are unusually active and its owners use the 504 program often. Both change which rules matter most.SBA loans in Kansas: an acquisition market, and how to finance itOne Kansas SBA loan in seven financed the purchase of an existing business, well above the national share, and those loans priced at a median of 9%. For buyers and retiring owners, that is the story of the state's numbers.SBA loans in Kentucky: what lenders approved, and what it means for buyers and ownersKentucky puts more of its SBA lending into buying businesses than the country does, and pays less for it than the national borrower. The rules for those purchases change on 1 October 2026.SBA loans in Louisiana: what lenders approved, and what they look atLouisiana's SBA loans run larger than the national median and price a little higher. Storm-driven revenue, insurance costs and the state's civil-law rules shape how a lender reads the file.SBA loans in Maine: small loans, SBA Express, and seasonal creditsMost Maine SBA loans are small Express loans from a short list of lenders. That works for a lot of Maine businesses, and it changes the approach for an owner whose deal is larger than the market's usual size.SBA loans in Maryland: small loans, higher rates, and what a larger request should expectMaryland's typical SBA loan is smaller than the national one and priced higher, and nearly half go through SBA Express. Part of the reason is SBA's own rate caps, and a larger, well-documented request is read differently.SBA loans in Massachusetts: small loans, lower rates and a lot of real estateMassachusetts runs the opposite way from Texas or Georgia: smaller loans, cheaper money, more fixed rates and more 504 loans than acquisitions. A borrower with a bigger project needs to know where the Express lane ends.SBA loans in Michigan: what lenders approved, and what they worry about hereMichigan's typical SBA loan is the national typical loan, priced in a tight band. What sets a Michigan file apart is more often trucking equipment, winter months or a customer in the auto supply chain.SBA loans in Minnesota: lower rates, a wide lender field and many acquisitionsMinnesota's typical SBA loan is the national size, but it priced lower, came from a wide field of lenders, and more of it went to buying companies. For a buyer or an owner, that makes the choice of lender the main decision.SBA loans in Mississippi: what lenders approved, and what they lend againstMississippi's SBA market is led by chicken houses, hotels and trucks, and its loans run well above the national size. Fewer lenders compete for them, so fitting the file to the lender matters more here than in most states.SBA loans in Missouri: bigger loans, lower rates, and a crowded field of lendersMissouri borrowers took larger SBA loans than the national norm and paid less for them, with nearly 200 lenders active. That is a good market to borrow in, if the file reaches the right lender.SBA loans in Montana: what lenders approved, and how to approach themMontana's SBA loans run larger than the national median, and one in six buys an existing business, against one in ten nationally. A Montana file is often an acquisition file, and often a seasonal one.SBA loans in Nebraska: what lenders approved, and how to use themNebraska SBA borrowers paid well under the national median rate, and one loan in six bought an existing business. Both facts change how a Nebraska owner or buyer should approach lenders.SBA loans in Nevada: what lenders approved, and how to approach themNevada builds and buys property with SBA more than it buys companies, prices a little above the national median, and brings one eligibility question few other states raise as often: how much of the revenue comes from gaming.SBA loans in New Hampshire: what lenders approved, and how established owners should use themNew Hampshire's SBA borrowers are small, established and conservative: few start-ups, lots of SBA Express, rates below the national median and an unusually high share of fixed-rate loans. The state's acquisitions are cheaper still.SBA loans in New Jersey: what lenders approved, and what buyers must plan forNew Jersey's SBA market splits in two: a large volume of small Express loans, and a smaller group of seven-figure loans for acquisitions and buildings. The second group runs into state rules that can hold up a closing if nobody plans for them.SBA loans in New Mexico: what lenders approved, and how to approach themNew Mexico's SBA market leans on hotels, trade contractors and owner-occupied real estate. Its borrowers are mostly established businesses, and a few state realities, from community property to tribal land, shape how a file is read.SBA loans in New York: what lenders approved, and how to approach themNew York's SBA market is mostly small loans, more than half of them through SBA Express, at rates above the national median. A New York company that needs a larger or more complex loan is working against the grain of the market, and should plan for it.SBA loans in North Carolina: what lenders approved, and what it means for your fileNorth Carolina's typical SBA loan is twice the national size, and more of its loans buy existing companies. A file built for a small working-capital loan will not carry a deal like that.SBA loans in North Dakota: what lenders approved, and at what priceNorth Dakota's typical SBA loan is the national size, but it priced more than a point cheaper, and buyers of existing companies took an unusually large share. The questions lenders ask here are about hotels, oil, harvests and winter.SBA loans in Ohio: what lenders approved, and how to approach themOhio's SBA market is built on small loans: a median of $100,000, with nearly half through SBA Express. That suits a start-up truck or a first location, and it is the wrong frame for an established company borrowing seven figures.SBA loans in Oklahoma: larger loans, lower rates, and what lenders testOklahoma's SBA borrowers took bigger loans than the national median and paid less for them. The state's energy cycles and its high share of start-ups shape how those loans are underwritten.SBA loans in Oregon: a small-loan market with a large-loan tailMore than half of Oregon's SBA loans went through Express, and the median loan was about half the national one. The larger loans that remain are a different market, with different lenders.SBA loans in Pennsylvania: approvals, rates, and how to borrow wellPennsylvania borrows the same typical amount as the rest of the country but pays a little more for it. The difference sits in the rate band, and in how a file is matched to one of 185 lenders.SBA loans in Puerto Rico: what lenders approved, and how to borrow beyond the small loanPuerto Rico's SBA market is busy but narrow: small loans, almost all through SBA Express, from a short list of lenders. A business that needs more than a small loan has to build a different file and often find a different lender.SBA loans in Rhode Island: what lenders approved, and when Express is not enoughMost Rhode Island SBA loans are small Express loans. That suits a truck or a working-capital cushion, but an established company buying a business or a building usually needs a different program, and a different lender.SBA loans in South Carolina: what lenders approved, and what they worry aboutSouth Carolina borrows larger than the national norm, puts more of its SBA lending into buying businesses, and almost never locks its rate. A file built for the state answers the questions those three facts raise.SBA loans in South Dakota: low rates, heavy 504 use, and how to approach lendersSouth Dakota's SBA loans priced a full point below the national median, two in five carried fixed rates, and 504 loans ran at more than half the 7(a) count. Those habits change what a South Dakota borrower should ask for.SBA loans in Tennessee: a franchise and start-up market, and where established companies fitNearly one Tennessee SBA loan in four went to a start-up, and the top industries read like a list of franchise concepts. An established company is underwritten on different evidence, and should be sent to different lenders.SBA loans in Texas: what lenders approved, and how to approach themTexas is one of the largest SBA markets in the country, and its loans run well above the national size. That changes which lenders fit a deal and how the file should be built.SBA loans in Utah: what lenders approved, and how to use a smaller lender fieldUtah's owners lean on SBA 504 to buy their buildings, its drink shops rival its fast-food chains for loans, and fewer lenders compete for its deals. Each changes how a Utah file should be built.SBA loans in Vermont: what lenders approved, and how a Vermont business should use themTwo out of three Vermont SBA loans are Express loans, most go to very small employers, and the top industries are nearly all outdoor trades. Seasonality and equipment, more than real estate, decide how a Vermont file is built.SBA loans in Virginia: a start-up market, and what that means for established companiesNearly one Virginia SBA loan in four financed a start-up. Lenders built around new ventures read an established company's file differently, and an owner or buyer should know which kind of lender is reading.SBA loans in Washington, D.C.: what lenders approved, and what a city file needsD.C. borrowers take larger SBA loans than the national norm and almost none of them fix the rate. The city's top industries, from liquor stores to consulting firms, each turn on something other than hard collateral: a license, a lease or a government contract.SBA loans in Washington: an acquisition market, and what lenders ask of itWashington's SBA borrowers are more likely than most to be buying an established business and less likely to be starting one. That shapes the loans, the rates and what a lender reads first.SBA loans in West Virginia: what lenders approved, and what it means for your fileWest Virginia's SBA market runs on small loans, nearly half of them SBA Express. Its acquisition loans are the opposite: few, and among the largest in the state's figures. A borrower needs to know which of the two markets their request belongs to.SBA loans in Wisconsin: a market built on buyouts and buildingsMore than one Wisconsin SBA loan in six financed the purchase of an existing business, at rates below the national median. The rules for those purchases change on 1 October 2026.SBA loans in Wyoming: what lenders approved, and how to get a fair priceWyoming's typical SBA loan matched the national one on size and rate, but the price a borrower actually got ranged across more than two points. In a small market spread over a big state, which lender sees the file matters as much as the program.