Waterstation Franchise Cost & SBA Loan Data
Analysis by FranchiseVerdict · Methodology · Website · Report an error · Franchisor? Claim this listing
SBA loan data only
This franchise has SBA 7(a) lending history but no Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) on file. Investment costs, revenue, fees, and contract terms are not available, and no Verdict grade is given: the grade's six dimensions need a filing to measure.
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Waterstation franchise has no franchise disclosure document on file, so investment figures are not available. SBA 7(a) loans show a 2.5% charge-off rate on 81 resolved loans.
Sources: SBA 7(a) loan records (FOIA) ·
Sources, dates and evidence
Evidence for the headline figures: thin✗ Investment (Item 7)✗ Item 19 status✗ Units and owners (Item 20)✓ SBA loan coverage✗ Litigation (Item 3)✗ Financial statements (Item 21)✗ Franchisor identityhow this is scored
Overview
- SBA loans
- 138
- Loan volume
- $114.8M
- Charge-off rate
- 2.5%
- system-wide median varies by category
- Avg loan
- $832K
- Lenders
- 12
Things to check before you sign (1)
- No Franchise Disclosure Document is on file here, so none of the contract, fee or unit checks can be made. Get the current FDD from the franchisor before anything else.
Checked and clear: SBA charge-off rate 2.5%, below the 17.8% category median. Not on file here, so ask: going-concern doubt, unit trend and pending litigation.
What to do next
Step 1: Read the FDD itself.
Free: the franchisor must give it to you at least 14 days before you sign or pay. Or look it up in a state registry (Wisconsin, Minnesota, California). What to read first.
Step 2: Talk to current and former owners.
Free: Item 20 of the FDD lists every current owner and those who left last year, most with a phone number. Questions to ask.
Step 3: Talk to an SBA lender.
Free: the SBA's Lender Match, or the lenders already lending to this brand in the SBA section. Ask what you would personally guarantee and what the monthly payment would be. If you plan to use retirement savings, ask a CPA about the rules for that first.
Step 4: Have a franchise attorney review the FDD and agreement.
Free: your state bar's lawyer referral service can name franchise lawyers, and many offer a short first consultation. Bring the checks listed above.
Research steps, not investment or legal advice.
Government records
SBA loan data
Lenders charged off 2.5% of 81 resolved SBA 7(a) loans, below the 17.8% category median. 7(a) is the SBA's main small-business loan; a resolved loan was paid in full or charged off.
- Loans on file
- 138
- SBA 7(a) loans matched to this brand, incl. those still being repaid
- Loan volume
- $114.8M
- Average loan
- $832K
- loan volume divided by loans
- Charge-off rate
- 2.5%
- 2 of 81 resolved loans
- Paid in full
- 97.5%
- of resolved loans
- Recent-loan charge-off
- 1.7%
- on 60 resolved recent loans
- Lenders
- 12
- Average interest rate
- 6.5%
- Jobs reported
- 268
- Lender concentration
- 56%
- top lender's share
Cumulative: every 7(a) loan matched to this brand in the SBA’s FOIA files, approved FY1991 onward. Historical lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
Benchmark: the median Home Services brand charges off 17.8% (66 brands with a published rate, same cumulative window and source). This brand is 15.3 points below it.
Borrower mix: of 138 loans with a business-age entry, 134 recorded an age: 125 (93%) went to startups or businesses under two years old and 9 (7%) to established businesses or ownership changes; 4 were marked unanswered.
The approval-year breakdown covers 79 of the 81 resolved loans and 2 of the 2 charge-offs (FY2018 to FY2021).
SBA 7(a) · charge-off rate by approval year
Waterstation: below all franchise loans in each of the 3 rated years
Hollow rings on the axis: years with fewer than 10 resolved loans, not rated (too few to judge). Their numbers are in the table.
Show the numbers by year
| Year | Resolved | Charged off | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 8 | 1 | Too few |
| 2019 | 13 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 34 | 1 | 2.9% |
| 2021 | 24 | 0 | 0.0% |
Dashed line: all franchise 7(a) loans approved the same year.
Source and method
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Full SBA lending reportlenders · charge-off rate · trend
Lender network · SBA 7(a)
SBA Lending Report
Lender, state and yearly detail for Waterstation from SBA 7(a) FOIA loan records.
- Average SBA guarantee
- 80%
- Average interest rate
- 6.5%
- Lender concentration
- 56%
- Jobs reported
- 268
Top 10 SBA lenders by loan count
| Loans | Volume | Charge-off |
|---|---|---|
| UniBank | ||
| 77 | $49.3M | Not on file |
| Celtic Bank Corporation | ||
| 18 | $23.0M | Not on file |
| Newtek Small Business Finance, Inc. | ||
| 17 | $20.3M | Not on file |
| Stearns Bank National Association | ||
| 13 | $3.4M | Not on file |
| Meridian Bank | ||
| 3 | $8.5M | Not on file |
A lender’s rate counts only its resolved loans, the loans that have finished (paid in full or charged off); a 0.0% often means few of its loans have finished. Under 10 resolved loans, the rate reads “Too few”.
Charge-off rate by state (top 10 by loans)
| State | Loans | Charged off | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| TX Texas | 20 | 1 | 7.7%13 resolved |
| CA California | 19 | 1 | 9.1%11 resolved |
| IN Indiana | 11 | 0 | Too few5 resolved |
| WA Washington | 10 | 0 | Too few6 resolved |
| FL Florida | 8 | 0 | Too few6 resolved |
| IL Illinois | 6 | 0 | Too few2 resolved |
| CO Colorado | 5 | 0 | Too few3 resolved |
| GA Georgia | 5 | 0 | Too few3 resolved |
| NJ New Jersey | 5 | 0 | Too few5 resolved |
| PA Pennsylvania | 5 | 0 | Too few0 resolved |
Rate: charged-off loans over resolved loans (paid in full plus charged off), shown from 10 resolved loans. "Too few": under 10 resolved. The Loans column counts every approval in the window, including loans still being repaid.
SBA 7(a) loans approved per year
Borrower profile
The SBA's own business-age labels (5)
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA loan-level data, matched to the brand by FranchiseVerdict.
What are the risks?
SBA loans charge off at 2.5% on 81 resolved loans, below the Home Services median of 17.8% (66 brands).
Source: SBA 7(a) FOIA
SBA loan record · no FDD on file, so no grade
Risk and legal
What are you signing up for?
No FDD is on file for this brand, so its contract terms (term, renewal, territory, training) are not available here. The franchisor's FDD sets them out in Items 11, 12 and 17.
Franchisee contacts
No FDD is on file for this brand, so there is no Item 20 owner list here. Ask the franchisor for its current FDD: Item 20 lists the current and former owners.
Frequently asked questions
What do Waterstation franchise owners earn?
No average owner earnings figure for Waterstation is on file. Item 19, where a franchisor may disclose what its outlets earn, is voluntary under the FTC Franchise Rule, and we have not established what this brand's FDD says. Item 20 of the FDD lists current and former franchisees; asking them directly is the standard way to fill this gap.
What is Item 19 in the Waterstation FDD?
The FDD section where a franchisor may disclose financial performance of its outlets. Disclosure is optional and formats vary; figures are typically gross sales, which is revenue before expenses, not profit. No Waterstation FDD is on file here, so this page holds no Item 19 figures; the page is built from SBA loan records.
What is Waterstation's franchise failure rate?
There is no published franchise failure rate. What is measurable is Waterstation's SBA charge-off rate: 2.5% on 81 resolved loans. Put plainly: 1 in 41 SBA 7(a) loans to Waterstation owners charged off (2 of 81 resolved loans, approved since FY1991); loans approved FY2018–FY2021: 2 of 79 resolved loans charged off (2.5%); newer loans have not had time to default, so this is not a trend. The SBA charge-off rate is the share of a brand's resolved SBA 7(a) loans to its franchisees that the SBA wrote off, including purchased guarantees. Resolved means paid in full or charged off; active loans are excluded because their outcome is not yet known. It is a lending outcome, not a count of closed businesses. A franchisee can repay and close, or default and keep trading.
Other Home Services franchises
Similar investment first, then by grade
This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.