SBA loan outcome check · franchise brand · SBA data as of 30 September 2026

How have SBA loans to Merle Norman Cosmetics franchisees turned out?

Of 100 loans approved in fiscal 2000 to 2013 (at least five years old), 24 (24.0%) were charged off by the lender, against 20.2% across all 7(a) loans approved in those same years. Merle Norman Cosmetics appears on 100 SBA-guaranteed 7(a) loans approved from fiscal 2000 to 2013, $7.4 million in gross approvals. These are loans, not a rating.
Not financial, legal or franchise advice. This page reports what the SBA's loan file records for SBA-guaranteed loans. A charge-off rate is not a rating of a brand or an industry, it does not predict a new loan, and a franchisee's loan is not a measure of the franchisor. Read the franchise's disclosure document and talk to a lender or an adviser before you borrow.
Merle Norman CosmeticsFranchise brand · 100 loans
24%of seasoned loans charged off
  1. Merle Norman Cosmetics appears on 100 SBA-guaranteed 7(a) loans approved from fiscal 2000 to 2013, $7.4 million in gross approvals.
  2. Of 100 loans approved in fiscal 2000 to 2013 (at least five years old), 24 (24.0%) were charged off by the lender, against 20.2% across all 7(a) loans approved in those same years.
  3. A charge-off is a loan the lender wrote off. It is not a statement about the borrower, the brand or the franchisor, and it does not predict how a new loan will turn out.
0%42%Fiscal 2001: 3 of 11 loans charged off (27.3%)Fiscal 2003: 4 of 16 loans charged off (25.0%)Fiscal 2004: 2 of 13 loans charged off (15.4%)Fiscal 2005: 5 of 17 loans charged off (29.4%)Fiscal 2006: 5 of 12 loans charged off (41.7%)20012003200420052006
share of this group's loans charged off, by approval year (years with 10+ loans)all 7(a) loans, same year

Every approval year

Approval yearLoansApprovedPaid in fullCharged offNot yet resolvedCharged-off share
FY20007$306,400520few loans
FY200111$655,40083027.3%
FY20025$434,364311few loans
FY200316$1.3 million124025.0%
FY200413$700,900112015.4%
FY200517$1.1 million125029.4%
FY200612$1.2 million75041.7%
FY20075$262,400410few loans
FY20083$486,600300few loans
FY20091$85,000100few loans
FY20104$181,300400few loans
FY20112$158,000110few loans
FY20121$32,500100few loans
FY20133$460,000300few loans

US Small Business Administration, 7(a) FOIA loan data as of 30 September 2026. SBA-guaranteed 7(a) loans only, aggregated; no borrower or lender is shown. SBA open data.

Where can you go from this record?

Open it in the check to search another brand or industry. Before you borrow for a franchise, read the FTC consumer guide to buying a franchise, the SBA guide to buying a franchise and SBA Lender Match.

Compiled and checked by Vincent Wesley Couey (ORCID 0009-0005-6869-308X) from the SBA 7(a) FOIA loan data, as of 30 September 2026. Not an official source.

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