Franchise Opens Doors to Business Ownership

A retired Army Colonel came to his local SBDC in May, 2002 looking for help putting his plan together to license a new concept from a California franchiser to combine a Dunkin’ Donuts, Baskin Robbins and Togo into one operating environment. His initial operation was to be at the Metro entrance to the Pentagon followed by a subsequent site in the Pentagon’s Main Food Court, and he was seeking a lender for the project estimated to cost $1.1 Million. The Colonel was working at the time for Computer Sciences Corporation in the Pentagon and had been thinking about investing in a business for his son to grow and inherit.

The SBDC Business Analyst reviewed the owner’s personal financial statement, determined that he was a viable candidate for a SBA 7(a) loan and called Valley National Bank (NJ), a Preferred Lender for SBA programs serving Northern Virginia. The Franchise Agreement was on SBA’s approved list, saving many weeks of legal review. After a final business plan was compiled with the help of the SBDC Business Analyst, they put together a package that was submitted in late August and was approved on September 13, 2002 for an amount up to $950,000. Work on the Metro entrance store began in October. The final loan amount at closing was $845,000. Plans for the second location in the Pentagon’s Main Food Court in late January 2003 and successfully began operation there in April.