2 SBA loans have financed John E. Jones Oil Co. Inc. (Cenex locations since 2022, written by 1 different lenders across 1 states. Half were approved for $5.0M or less, the mix is almost entirely 7(a), and 100% went to owners whose business was under two years old.
A lender that has already underwritten this brand knows the unit economics, the build-out costs, and the franchisor. That is worth more to you than a bigger bank starting from scratch.