The Foot Solutions franchise has a shockingly high SBA franchise loan default rate of 36%. Foot Solutions is listed by the SBA among the worst franchises by SBA loan default.
Are you familiar with the Foot Solutions franchise opportunity? Please share a comment – positive or negative – below.
According to the Small Business Administration, Foot Solutions franchisees have received 107 SBA-guaranteed loans; more than a third of those loans have been defaulted on by Foot Solutions franchise owners.
Entrepreneur magazine reported that there were 209 Foot Solutions franchises in 2008, but that the number declined to 147 U.S. franchise locations in 2011. That’s a decline of 62 locations, or 30% of the total chain, in just three years.
Despite a franchise loan failure rate of 36%, Foot Solutions not only continues to sell franchises, it brags about its SBA loan program:
Foot Solutions has been pre-qualified by the SBA Program and is listed in their Franchise Registry.
Our registration means faster review and processing of your SBA loan application.
To see our listing, please go to www.FranchiseRegistry.com. [Source: Foot Solutions franchise website]
Are you familiar with the Foot Solutions franchise opportunity?
What do you think accounts for the SBA loan failure rate of Foot Solutions franchise owners?
What steps should Foot Solutions be taking to stop further franchise failures?
Have Foot Solutions taken serious action to address the problems that led to the 36% loan failures?
Please share a comment, opinion or insight – positive or negative – below. Company rebuttals welcome.
ARE YOU A FOOT SOLUTIONS FRANCHISE OWNER OR FORMER FOOT SOLUTIONS FRANCHISEE? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH FOOT SOLUTIONS FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY? PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Tags: Foot Solutions, Foot Solutions franchise complaints, Foot Solutions franchise, Foot Solutions complaints, franchise opportunity, shoe store franchise, retail franchise failure rate, worst franchise, sba failure rates, SBA franchise loans, franchise information
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This is a response to the comments on your site related to Foot Solutions.....and the SBA loan failure rate........
We had very aggressive growth from 2001 thru 2007.....
the majority of our stores at the beginning where very successful.....
there is no question that the Economic down turn had a impact on our business....
according to NSRA approximately 50% plus independent shoe retailers went out of business during this slump...our model is stronger then the independent but we were also impacted by some changes in Medicare law that impacted our diabetic shoe business and a large shoe company doing an inexpensive knock off of one of our exclusive shoe lines that represented about 20% of our sales with a gross margin of 70%....
Most of our franchisee's came out of the corporate world and had lost their jobs and did not have the additional funds needed to grow or support their business in the down turn....
about 40% of our stores actually held their own or grew during the down turn.....
we identify with every franchisee that lost their business as a company we went through the same issues and through making the hard decisions and continuing to struggle through the down turn have survived......
In 2007 we opened 37 new stores....the last several years we opened an average of 3 stores a year.
In 2015 we plan on opening 5 new stores....we have redefined our market niche, we have tested new ways to reach our customers, we focus on the 40 and older group and cross into the medical and health and wellness field.....
We are very selective in the new franchisee selection process and also look for candidates that are more suitable for our new business model......we have 36 franchisees in the system that have been in their stores now for more then 10 years........
we feel very strongly about how we help people and the majority of our customers in the 70% range are referred by other customers or the medical referral network.