What is the best business loan for buying a franchise?

Why SBA Loans Dominate Franchise Financing

The SBA maintains a Franchise Directory — a pre-vetted list of franchise brands whose franchise disclosure documents (FDDs) have already been reviewed for SBA eligibility. When a franchise appears on the Directory, lenders can skip a significant amount of legal due diligence, which compresses approval timelines. That structural advantage, combined with SBA 7(a)'s long amortization periods and competitive rates, makes SBA financing the standard path for new franchise unit purchases.

What the Franchise Fee and FDD Mean for Lenders

The Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) is the legally required disclosure franchisors must provide to prospective buyers. Lenders treat it as a core underwriting document — it defines the franchise fee, ongoing royalty structure, territorial rights, and financial performance representations. A franchise with a clean, established FDD and Directory listing signals lower legal risk to a lender. First-time franchise buyers should review the FDD with an attorney before applying; lenders will ask for it. Reading Item 19's financial performance representations is a capital-allocation decision as much as a legal one; ClearValue Books' best investing books for business owners covers how to evaluate a purchase's real return before committing capital.

Term Loans for Resales and Smaller Franchise Investments

An established franchise resale — where you're buying an existing unit from a current franchisee — can sometimes be funded faster with a conventional term loan, particularly when the purchase price is lower and you don't need the full SBA amortization period. Resales carry existing customer bases and revenue history, which lenders weigh favorably. The trade-off is that term loans typically carry higher rates and shorter repayment windows than SBA alternatives — see SBA loan vs. franchise financing for how the two paths compare.

When the deal includes real estate, SBA-eligible franchise borrowers often split the transaction across two entities: an operating company that runs the franchise business and is the primary loan borrower, and a separate real estate-holding entity (an Eligible Passive Company under SBA SOP 50 10) that owns the property and leases it back to the operating company. The lender typically requires the holding entity to pledge its equity and assign the lease as additional collateral, but the operating company remains the borrower of record.

• SBA 7(a): best for new franchise units on the SBA Franchise Directory; long terms, competitive rates
• FDD review is required — lenders will underwrite the franchise agreement alongside your financials
• Conventional term loan: faster for smaller franchise fees or established resale units
• Eligible costs typically include: initial franchise fee, build-out, equipment, initial inventory, and working capital
• SBA 504 may apply when the franchise requires purchasing owner-occupied real estate