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October 17, 2023
Adam Hoeksema
I have often wondered if there is an objective way to find and define low risk businesses, but most lists you find online point to side hustles that are low risk because of the size and scope of the business, not because the business or industry itself is low risk. Of course if you make cupcakes for family members and friends as a side hustle that is pretty low risk from a business perspective, but I wanted to find a way to define risk based on data.
Fortunately, the SBA publishes all of the SBA loan data including data on which loans default. So we took all of the SBA loan data over the last 30 years, organized it by industry, and then sorted it by default rate percentage to come up with a list of the top 49 lowest risk small businesses.
If an SBA loan defaulted, that means that some portion of the loan was charged off by the lender, in other words not repaid. Here is the list:
Industry Rankings
| Rank | Industry | # of Loans Approved | Average Loan Amount | Default Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Self Storage | 1619 | $1,284,076 | 0.93% |
| 2 | Breweries | 4475 | $444,440 | 3.35% |
| 3 | Veterinary Services | 10191 | $580,353 | 3.62% |
| 4 | Funeral Homes and Funeral Services | 3130 | $757,488 | 3.74% |
| 5 | Offices of Dentists | 24604 | $438,156 | 4.24% |
| 6 | Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) | 2061 | $186,643 | 5.34% |
| 7 | Pharmacies and Drug Stores | 6616 | $452,467 | 5.41% |
| 8 | Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists | 5049 | $211,587 | 5.62% |
| 9 | Real Estate Investors | 4821 | $636,418 | 5.75% |
| 10 | Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels | 16571 | $1,571,781 | 5.76% |
| 11 | Nursing Homes / Assisted Living | 4507 | $787,396 | 5.88% |
| 12 | Offices of Physicians, Mental Health Specialists | 1423 | $232,458 | 6.32% |
| 13 | Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists) | 25845 | $311,355 | 6.41% |
| 14 | Airbnbs, Short Term Rentals | 1185 | $539,302 | 7.34% |
| 15 | Offices of Lawyers | 13499 | $177,132 | 7.68% |
| 16 | Pet Care (except Veterinary) Services | 4837 | $309,169 | 8.10% |
| 17 | Insurance Agencies and Brokerages | 10490 | $266,464 | 8.46% |
| 18 | Home Health Care Services | 7627 | $320,883 | 8.50% |
| 19 | Food Trucks | 1936 | $99,238 | 8.83% |
| 20 | Beer, Wine, and Liquor Stores | 14350 | $370,497 | 9.03% |
| 21 | Offices of Certified Public Accountants | 6729 | $241,152 | 9.09% |
| 22 | Farming | 8794 | $352,603 | 9.73% |
| 23 | Equipment Rental | 8604 | $326,987 | 9.90% |
| 24 | Child Day Care Services | 18478 | $455,990 | 10.32% |
| 25 | Wholesalers | 11408 | $254,987 | 11.18% |
| 26 | Offices of Chiropractors | 15555 | $148,974 | 11.21% |
| 27 | Landscaping Services | 18572 | $144,281 | 11.48% |
| 28 | Personal Trainers | 3466 | $259,628 | 11.48% |
| 29 | Car Washes | 7708 | $738,972 | 11.52% |
| 30 | Plumbing, Heating, and Air-Conditioning Contractors | 13358 | $228,347 | 11.61% |
| 31 | Ecommerce | 4621 | $247,489 | 11.69% |
| 32 | Trucking, Long-Distance | 17203 | $142,294 | 11.83% |
| 33 | Bars | 9409 | $264,830 | 11.94% |
| 34 | Laundromats | 6350 | $320,784 | 12.02% |
| 35 | Manufacturing | 95992 | $385,099 | 12.10% |
| 36 | Couriers | 1797 | $262,903 | 12.47% |
| 37 | Roofing Contractors | 4171 | $216,783 | 12.51% |
| 38 | Private Schools | 7892 | $275,397 | 12.61% |
| 39 | Software Publishers | 2099 | $201,657 | 12.72% |
| 40 | Gasoline Stations with Convenience Stores | 17009 | $713,302 | 12.86% |
I was surprised to see that self storage businesses were the lowest risk business based on having the lowest SBA loan default rate over the years at less than 1%.
Now as you scroll through the list you will see that the default rates go up to 13.71% which might seem pretty high, but many of the riskiest industries have default rates that exceed 25%!
If you want to dig through the SBA loan data yourself, make sure you check out our SBA Lender Finder.
Found an industry that fits? Pick it from our library of free industry projection templates and see what the numbers look like for your own business.
Planning to finance it with an SBA loan? Our free SBA review can tell you where you stand before you apply.
