Starting Strength
13
SBA Loans
$4.0M
Total Financed
$306K
Avg Loan Size
—
YoY Loan Growth
How Starting Strength Compares
- Ranks #81 of 302 Fitness & Recreation brands by SBA loan count (#737 of 3,543 overall).
- Its average loan of $306K is 13% below the Fitness & Recreation median of $350K.
- With only 13 loans on record, its own charge-off rate isn't statistically meaningful -- for context, Fitness & Recreation brands overall see a 2.0% charge-off rate across 5,280 loans.
SBA Loan Activity by Fiscal Year
| Fiscal Year | Loans | Total Financed |
|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 1 | $250K |
| FY2022 | 5 | $1.3M |
| FY2023 | 2 | $380K |
| FY2024 | 1 | $500K |
| FY2025 | 2 | $750K |
| FY2026 | 2 | $816K |
FY2026 may be a partial year -- the SBA dataset is refreshed quarterly and the most recent fiscal year is often incomplete.
Where Starting Strength Is Getting SBA-Financed
Recent SBA-Financed Starting Strength Locations
Borrower names and amounts as reported in the SBA's public 7(a) loan dataset.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Starting Strength growing or shrinking?
Starting Strength doesn't have enough SBA loan activity in both FY2025 and FY2026 to calculate a reliable year-over-year trend. For context, it ranks #81 of 302 Fitness & Recreation brands by total SBA loan count since FY2020 -- a snapshot of scale, if not of trend.
How much does it cost to open a Starting Strength franchise?
We don't have that figure -- investment ranges and fees come from a franchisor's Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), which this site doesn't parse (see methodology). The average SBA loan size of $306K (13% below the typical Fitness & Recreation brand's $350K) is a rough proxy, but SBA loans often cover only part of total investment.
What's the SBA loan default rate for Starting Strength?
Starting Strength only has 13 SBA loans on record -- too few to calculate a meaningful charge-off rate on its own. For context, Fitness & Recreation brands overall see a 2.0% charge-off rate across 5,280 loans.
Top SBA Lenders
- SouthState Bank, National Association2
- CDC Small Business Finance Corp.2
- Valley Economic Development Partners, Inc.1
- Flagship Enterprise Center, Inc. (dba Bankable)1
- The Huntington National Bank1
Get the Franchise SBA Financing Model -- an editable amortization, P&L, and breakeven calculator. $19.
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan dataset. View dataset