Franchise failure rates by brand, from SBA loan defaults
For every franchise below, the share of SBA-guaranteed loans to its franchisees that ended in charge-off, computed from the SBA's public 7(a) and 504 loan files. This is the only brand-level failure signal built from government loan records rather than franchisor disclosures. 50 brands covered so far, ranked by SBA loan volume since fiscal 2010. Data as of June 30, 2026.
| Brand | Verdict | Charge-off rate resolved loans, FY2010-2019 | vs franchise-wide | Loans since FY2010 | Disbursed | Charged off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subway Food: sandwiches | Below average | 7.3% | 0.77x | 1,995 | $466.5 million | 99 |
| The UPS Store Business services | Low | 0.7% | 0.07x | 1,642 | $436.5 million | 5 |
| Anytime Fitness Fitness | Elevated | 12.2% | 1.28x | 1,135 | $456.3 million | 80 |
| Quality Inn Hotels | Low | 3.0% | 0.31x | 990 | $2.09 billion | 12 |
| Dairy Queen Food: quick service | Low | 2.7% | 0.29x | 981 | $536.4 million | 13 |
| Jimmy John's Food: sandwiches | Below average | 6.8% | 0.72x | 884 | $386.9 million | 40 |
| Comfort Inn & Suites Hotels | Low | 3.0% | 0.31x | 843 | $2.10 billion | 10 |
| Super 8 Hotels | Low | 3.0% | 0.31x | 822 | $1.27 billion | 10 |
| Ace Hardware Retail | Below average | 6.0% | 0.62x | 810 | $597.6 million | 18 |
| Days Inn Hotels | Low | 2.9% | 0.31x | 810 | $1.47 billion | 11 |
| Best Western Hotels | Low | 2.9% | 0.31x | 778 | $1.76 billion | 9 |
| Culver's Food: quick service | Low | 0.0% | 0.00x | 737 | $812.3 million | 0 |
| The Goddard School Child care / education | Low | 2.8% | 0.29x | 700 | $1.13 billion | 6 |
| Primrose Schools Child care / education | Low | 0.4% | 0.04x | 661 | $1.30 billion | 1 |
| Servpro Restoration / home services | Low | 4.4% | 0.46x | 654 | $316.2 million | 17 |
| Sport Clips Hair / beauty | Below average | 5.9% | 0.62x | 640 | $157.5 million | 30 |
| Firehouse Subs Food: sandwiches | Typical | 8.3% | 0.87x | 617 | $180.7 million | 34 |
| Dunkin' Food: beverages | Low | 1.3% | 0.13x | 575 | $344.5 million | 5 |
| Little Caesars Food: pizza | Below average | 6.1% | 0.64x | 566 | $234.3 million | 24 |
| Domino's Pizza Food: pizza | Low | 1.3% | 0.14x | 553 | $286.1 million | 5 |
| Motel 6 Hotels | Low | 3.2% | 0.34x | 551 | $1.13 billion | 6 |
| Jersey Mike's Food: sandwiches | Low | 2.2% | 0.23x | 546 | $187.5 million | 5 |
| Tropical Smoothie Cafe Food: beverages | Low | 3.0% | 0.32x | 540 | $187.0 million | 6 |
| HOTWORX Fitness | Not enough resolved loans | too few matured | 534 | $168.5 million | 2 | |
| Kiddie Academy Child care / education | Low | 4.1% | 0.43x | 509 | $654.9 million | 7 |
| Marco's Pizza Food: pizza | Below average | 7.2% | 0.76x | 484 | $161.8 million | 19 |
| Orangetheory Fitness Fitness | Low | 1.6% | 0.17x | 465 | $237.0 million | 5 |
| La Quinta Hotels | Low | 3.8% | 0.40x | 461 | $1.29 billion | 5 |
| Holiday Inn Express Hotels | Low | 0.0% | 0.00x | 454 | $1.14 billion | 0 |
| Smoothie King Food: beverages | Low | 3.8% | 0.40x | 443 | $136.2 million | 9 |
| Red Roof Inn Hotels | Low | 1.1% | 0.12x | 435 | $878.6 million | 2 |
| Econo Lodge Hotels | Low | 1.6% | 0.17x | 433 | $592.7 million | 4 |
| Home Instead Senior care | Low | 1.6% | 0.17x | 411 | $243.7 million | 3 |
| Massage Envy Health / wellness | Typical | 10.3% | 1.08x | 393 | $185.7 million | 31 |
| European Wax Center Hair / beauty | Low | 2.6% | 0.27x | 388 | $138.8 million | 7 |
| Hampton by Hilton Hotels | Low | 2.3% | 0.24x | 386 | $1.00 billion | 3 |
| The Learning Experience Child care / education | Below average | 7.4% | 0.78x | 377 | $245.6 million | 8 |
| FASTSIGNS Business services | Below average | 7.6% | 0.80x | 361 | $129.1 million | 12 |
| Budget Blinds Home services | Below average | 6.5% | 0.68x | 355 | $117.7 million | 9 |
| Scooter's Coffee Food: beverages | Not enough resolved loans | too few matured | 347 | $261.4 million | 2 | |
| Cold Stone Creamery Food: dessert | Low | 2.0% | 0.21x | 338 | $92.7 million | 3 |
| Baymont Hotels | Below average | 4.9% | 0.52x | 329 | $681.8 million | 6 |
| Dickey's Barbecue Pit Food: quick service | High | 29.7% | 3.12x | 326 | $91.9 million | 67 |
| Nothing Bundt Cakes Food: bakery | Low | 0.0% | 0.00x | 325 | $144.3 million | 0 |
| Meineke Automotive | High | 22.4% | 2.35x | 317 | $123.2 million | 38 |
| Holiday Inn Hotels | Low | 4.2% | 0.44x | 314 | $784.5 million | 6 |
| Naturals2Go Vending | High | 25.0% | 2.62x | 311 | $37.6 million | 9 |
| Crumbl Food: bakery | Not enough resolved loans | too few matured | 307 | $167.3 million | 0 | |
| Great Clips Hair / beauty | Low | 2.3% | 0.24x | 303 | $87.8 million | 6 |
| Edible Arrangements Food: gifts | Elevated | 13.6% | 1.43x | 302 | $64.1 million | 28 |
Charge-off rate = loans charged off ÷ (charged off + paid in full), for loans approved FY2010-2019, the cohorts old enough to have resolved. Brands with fewer than 30 resolved loans in those cohorts are not banded. Full definitions on the methodology page.
What a report contains
Each brand page shows the verdict, the rate by approval year, the volume trend, and the top states free. The $49 report adds the loan-level file (every SBA loan to that brand's franchisees, with borrower, lender, amount, status and charge-off amount), the full lender and state tables, the largest charge-offs by name, and time-to-failure figures, as a PDF plus CSV. See the sample report.