SBA lenders approved 869 7(a) loans to nail salons from October 2023 to June 2026, $199,859,600 from 136 lenders. The median loan was $133,000, below the national $150,300, at a median rate of 10.5% against 10.25% nationally, and the 90th percentile was $500,000, the SBA Express ceiling. Acquisitions were 5.5% of loans at a median of $470,500. Lenders decide on a lease that outlasts the loan, how technicians are paid and licensed, whether card and booking records support the tax returns, and cash flow after the owner's pay.
| Measure | Nail Salons | All industries |
|---|---|---|
| SBA 7(a) loans approved | 869 | 162,355 |
| Median loan | $133,000 | $150,300 |
| Middle half of loans | $50,000 – $280,000 | $50,000 – $500,000 |
| Loans of $1 million or more | 3% | 12.9% |
| Median rate at approval | 10.5% | 10.25% |
| Middle half of rates | 9.75% – 11.5% | 9.3% – 11.25% |
| Acquisitions (change of ownership) | 48 (5.5%) | 16,849 (10.4%) |
| Median acquisition loan | $470,500 | $693,000 |
| Lenders that made these loans | 136 | 1,648 |
| SBA 504 loans (real estate, equipment) | 11 | 16,714 |
Approvals FY2024 – FY2026 to date (1 Oct 2023 – 30 Jun 2026), cancelled loans excluded. Source: SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan records, as of June 30, 2026.
- SBA 7(a) loans approved
- 869 (Oct 2023 – Jun 2026)
- Median loan
- $133,000 (national $150,300)
- Median rate at approval
- 10.5% (national 10.25%)
- 90th percentile loan
- $500,000
- Acquisitions
- 48 loans (5.5%), median $470,500 at 10%
- Start-ups
- 10.1% of loans
What SBA lenders approved for nail salons
Nail salons (NAICS 812113) took 869 SBA 7(a) loans from FY2024 through June 2026, totaling $199,859,600 from 136 lenders. The loans are small and tightly bunched. The median was $133,000, the middle half ran from $50,000 to $280,000, and the 90th percentile was exactly $500,000, the most an SBA Express loan can be. Only 26 loans, 3%, reached $1 million.
Pricing sits a quarter point above the national median: 10.5%, with the middle half between 9.75% and 11.5%. That is the pattern of small loans with little hard collateral, priced within SBA's wider caps for smaller amounts. Fixed-rate loans were 16.3% of the total. The median salon supported 6 jobs, start-ups were 10.1% of loans, and franchised salons only 1.2%. SBA Express was 36.7% of loans, and the industry took just 11 SBA 504 loans, median $556,000: nail salons lease.
Where the money goes: the build-out and the lease
Most nail salon borrowing pays for a space. Pedicure stations need water lines and drainage at every chair; the salon needs ventilation strong enough to handle acrylic and solvent fumes, which many states and localities regulate; and the finishes have to look right to customers. Once installed, almost none of that has value to anyone but the tenant. Lenders take a lien on it, but they know the collateral is close to nothing, so the loan rests on cash flow and the owners' guarantees.
- Lease term. Lenders want the lease, with renewal options, to run at least as long as the loan. A salon with three years left on its lease and a ten-year loan request has a problem to solve first.
- Landlord consent and waiver. The lender will ask the landlord to acknowledge its lien on equipment and, in a purchase, to consent to the assignment. See landlord waiver and lease assignment in an acquisition loan.
- Location. A nail salon's traffic comes from its shopping center. Lenders look at the co-tenants, the center's occupancy and how close the nearest competing salons are.
- Build-out budget. Contractor quotes, the plumbing and ventilation plan, and a contingency. A start-up salon that runs out of money before opening cannot repay anything.
In a nail salon the lease is the collateral that matters. A lender reads it before it reads the projections.
Who does the nails: technicians and how they are paid
A nail salon's revenue is its technicians' chairs, and salons pay technicians in different ways. The model changes what the P&L shows and what risk the lender is taking on.
| Model | What the books show | What the lender asks |
|---|---|---|
| Employees on wages or commission | Full service revenue, with technician pay as a cost | Payroll records, tax filings current, turnover and tenure |
| Independent contractors on commission | Full service revenue, with contractor payments instead of payroll | Whether the arrangement would stand up as contracting; misclassification is a real liability |
| Booth or station rental | Rent from technicians, not service revenue | Rent roll, how long renters have stayed, vacancy history; revenue is smaller but steadier |
| Mixed | Both, often hard to separate | A clear split by technician, so the lender can see which revenue is whose |
Misclassification deserves attention. State labor agencies have looked closely at nail salons, and a salon that sets technicians' hours, supplies their materials and sets their prices while paying them as contractors may owe back wages and payroll taxes. Lenders ask because an assessment lands on the business that is repaying the loan. Licensing is the other check: the salon needs its establishment license, and in almost every state each technician needs a license of their own. A roster with license numbers answers both questions at once.
Cash, tips and the tax returns
Salons take cash as well as cards, and SBA lenders lend on filed tax returns. Income that was not reported cannot be counted, however real it was. What makes a salon's file strong is agreement between sources: card processor statements, booking-system reports on appointments and services, supply purchases consistent with the volume of work, and tax returns that match all three.
Debt service coverage is tested on those returns after a market wage for whoever manages the salon. SBA requires at least 1.15x, and 1.0x globally once the owners' personal debts are included. A salon owner who also works a chair is doing two jobs, and the lender will count a wage for at least one of them. A salon earning 200 before the owner's pay, against annual loan payments of 150, has room; if a salon manager's wage takes 60 of it, the coverage falls below SBA's minimum. See global cash flow and debt service coverage ratio.
Buying a nail salon
Changes of ownership were 5.5% of the industry's loans, about half the national 10.4% share, at a median of $470,500 and a median rate of 10%. Relatively few salon sales are financed with SBA debt, and the technicians are a large part of why: a salon's clients often follow their technician, and a buyer is paying for relationships that belong to people who are free to leave.
SBA's seller rule is sharper here than in most industries. In a complete change of ownership the seller may not stay on as an owner, officer or employee. A seller who is the salon's busiest technician cannot keep working a chair as an employee after an SBA-financed sale; the seller may consult for up to 12 months, or up to 24 months under SOP 50 10 8.1 from 1 October 2026. The buyer's plan has to show how that book of clients is kept. See SBA seller transition and financing a salon acquisition.
- An equity injection of at least 10% of total project costs; a seller note counts toward half of it only on full standby for the life of the SBA loan. See seller notes and full standby.
- No earnout: the price is fixed at closing and has to be supported by historical cash flow, not tied to technicians staying.
- An independent business valuation when the amount financed, less appraised real estate and equipment, exceeds $250,000. With little equipment, most of a salon's price is goodwill the valuation must support.
- From 1 October 2026: financial due diligence on every change of ownership and debt service coverage of 1.25x on historical results.
Refinancing, and preparing the file
Merchant cash advances are common in salons, taken against card sales in a slow month. SBA will not refinance an active advance; from 1 October 2026 an advance becomes eligible only once converted to a term loan that has amortized for at least 24 months with no new advance since. Other debt can be refinanced with a 7(a) if the new payment is at least 10% lower and the debt has been current for the last 12 months. See refinancing cash advances for salons and spas.
The file starts with SBA's standard list: business tax returns for 2–3 years, a P&L and balance sheet with a year-to-date P&L through last month-end, a debt schedule with copies of notes being refinanced, and personal tax returns and a personal financial statement for each owner of 20% or more. A purchase adds the target's latest full year of figures and the letter of intent. For a salon, add the lease with its options, a technician roster with license numbers, tenure and pay basis, card processor statements, booking-system reports, the establishment license and inspection history, and, for a new location, the build-out quotes and ventilation plan.
Transparent builds the file into a full lender package — financing model, lender presentation, blind teaser and underwriting memo — in a day, and sends it to the 278 lenders in its book that write SBA 7(a) and 504. On SBA loans the lender pays Transparent, not the borrower. For related personal-care businesses, see beauty salons and barber shops.
Common questions
- What is the typical SBA loan for a nail salon?
- The median 7(a) loan to nail salons from October 2023 to June 2026 was $133,000, with the middle half between $50,000 and $280,000. The 90th percentile was $500,000, and only 3% of loans reached $1 million.
- Can I get an SBA loan to open a new nail salon?
- Yes. Start-ups were 10.1% of loans. Expect the lender to want salon experience, at least 10% equity injection, a lease that runs as long as the loan and a build-out budget with a contingency.
- Does it matter if my technicians rent booths instead of working as employees?
- Yes. Booth rental turns service revenue into rent, which is smaller but steadier, and contractor arrangements raise misclassification questions. Lenders want to see exactly how each technician is paid.
- Can the seller keep working as a technician after I buy the salon?
- Not in an SBA-financed change of ownership. The seller may not stay as an owner, officer or employee, but may consult for up to 12 months, or up to 24 months under SOP 50 10 8.1 from 1 October 2026.
- Why do nail salon loans cost more than the SBA median?
- The industry median rate was 10.5% against 10.25% nationally. The loans are small, which puts them under SBA's wider rate caps, and the build-out they fund has almost no collateral value.