SBA Loan for Business Expansion | $1.35M Campus Acquisition for Home Services Growth
Two-Building Campus • 100%+ Financing • Proforma-Driven Underwriting • Capacity Expanded from 20 to 100 Employees
Transaction Overview
Cornovus Capital originated, underwrote, placed, and closed a $1,350,000 SBA loan for business expansion, financing the acquisition of a two-building campus for a residential home repair, maintenance, and construction services company that had outgrown its existing facility. The company was generating $2.6 million in annual revenue with 15 field craftsmen, 3 office staff, and a 20-vehicle fleet operating out of a location that could not support additional growth. Parking was overloaded with only 8 dedicated spots for a fleet that included service trucks, backup vehicles, and employee vehicles. Office space could not accommodate new hires. Meeting and training space was maxed out, limiting the company's ability to onboard new craftsmen. Shop and storage were at capacity. The business had built the systems required for scale, including sales, marketing, recruiting, IT, and operational infrastructure, but the physical facility had become the binding constraint. The company was suppressing inbound leads because it did not have the workforce capacity to serve them, and it could not add workforce capacity because it had no space to seat, train, or park additional employees.
Cornovus Capital structured the SBA 7(a) facility at 100%+ financing with no equity injection, covering the campus acquisition, site improvements, SBA fees, closing costs, and working capital. The underwriting required substantial proforma modeling and assumptions work to demonstrate the revenue growth the new facility would unlock. Each additional craftsman generated approximately $13,467 per month in revenue. The company's 44% close rate on inbound leads meant that suppressed lead volume alone represented multiple additional craftsmen worth of capacity. The two-building campus expanded the company's employee ceiling from 20 to 100, positioning it for immediate, predictable growth of six additional employees and approximately $1 million in incremental annual revenue in the near term, with a multi-year trajectory toward $5 million and beyond.
The transaction was originated, underwritten, placed, and closed under the SBA 7(a) Business Loan Program.
Challenge
The company had reached the physical limits of its current facility. Eight dedicated parking spots served a fleet of 20 vehicles including service trucks, utility vehicles, backup trucks, and employee cars. Field craftsmen were competing with office staff and visitors for space every morning before deployment. The office could not seat additional employees. The meeting and training room that was essential to onboarding new craftsmen, the company's primary growth mechanism, was at capacity. Storage and shop space, where tools, materials, and equipment were staged for daily field operations, was completely full. The company had spent years building the operational systems needed to scale, and every one of those systems was ready. The facility was the only thing holding the business back.
The revenue impact of the constraint was quantifiable. The company's lead generation engine was producing inbound volume that it could not convert because it did not have the craftsmen to fulfill the work. Twenty-six leads per month were being suppressed. At a 44% close rate and an average ticket of approximately $3,067, each suppressed lead represented real, measurable lost revenue. The ownership could see the revenue on the other side of the constraint: adding craftsmen at $13,467 per month in incremental revenue per craftsman, with the close rate actually increasing as additional capacity reduced scheduling pressure and improved responsiveness. The math was clear. The facility was the bottleneck.
The financing presented its own set of challenges. The campus consisted of two parcels from a single seller, requiring careful coordination on titling, SBA collateral mapping, and use designation. Only one of the two buildings would be fully utilized at closing, which created a compliance requirement under the SBA's 51% owner-occupancy threshold. The underwriting was heavily proforma-driven: the company's growth was well-supported by historical performance and documented lead economics, but the revenue projections that justified the facility acquisition required detailed assumptions modeling, growth rate documentation, and a presentation that connected the physical space to the revenue trajectory in a way the lender's credit committee and SBA could approve. Cornovus Capital invested significant effort in building and defending those projections.
- 8 parking spots for a 20-vehicle fleet, with office space, training rooms, and storage all at maximum capacity
- 26 inbound leads per month being suppressed due to workforce constraints the facility could not accommodate
- Each additional craftsman generated approximately $13,467 per month in revenue, with a 44% close rate on leads
- Two-parcel acquisition from a single seller required SBA collateral mapping and 51% owner-occupancy compliance with only one building fully utilized at closing
- Proforma-driven underwriting required detailed assumptions modeling connecting the physical space to the revenue growth trajectory
Solution
Cornovus Capital structured the $1,350,000 SBA loan for business expansion as a 100%+ financing facility covering the campus acquisition, site improvements, working capital, SBA guarantee fee, and all closing costs. The 25-year fully amortizing term at WSJ Prime plus 2.75% produced a monthly payment of approximately $11,318, sized to what the company's current revenue could support before any contribution from the growth the new facility would enable. No equity injection was required under the SBA program terms for an expansion loan, preserving the company's operating liquidity through the transition to the new campus.
The credit package centered on a detailed growth plan and proforma that Cornovus Capital built in close collaboration with the ownership. The proforma documented the company's lead economics, close rates, average ticket size, revenue per craftsman, onboarding patterns, and the specific timeline for adding field staff and office personnel once the space constraint was removed. Historical quarterly data on ad spend, jobs sold, and revenue per craftsman provided the empirical foundation. The proforma projected revenue from $2.6 million to $3.7 million in Year 1 of occupancy, to $4.9 million in Year 2, and approaching $8 million in Year 3, with each growth increment tied to specific craftsman additions and their documented revenue contribution. The growth was not speculative. It was a direct function of capacity that the company had already proven it could fill but could not access without a larger facility.
SBA owner-occupancy compliance was addressed by documenting the use of both buildings across their full functional footprint: office space, training and meeting rooms, shop and storage, fleet parking and staging, and field team deployment areas. Vehicle storage and daily field crew deployment were properly classified as owner-occupied use, bringing the combined campus above the 51% threshold. Cornovus Capital coordinated the environmental review, appraisal (minimum value $1,100,000), title work, SBA authorization, and front-end construction review across both parcels to bring the transaction to a single closing.
- Structured 100%+ SBA 7(a) financing covering acquisition, site improvements, working capital, SBA fees, and closing costs with no equity injection
- Built a detailed proforma documenting lead economics, revenue per craftsman, onboarding patterns, and a growth trajectory from $2.6M to $4.9M+ within two years
- Addressed SBA 51% owner-occupancy compliance by documenting vehicle storage, field deployment staging, and operational use across both buildings
- Coordinated two-parcel acquisition from a single seller with environmental, appraisal, title, and SBA authorization converging at a single closing
- 25-year fully amortizing term with monthly debt service sized to current revenue, not projected growth
Results
The $1,350,000 SBA loan for business expansion closed at 100%+ financing with no equity injection. The company acquired a two-building campus that expanded its employee capacity from 20 to 100, removing the physical constraint that had been suppressing lead conversion, limiting workforce growth, and capping revenue below what the company's operational systems could produce. The facility provided the parking, office space, training capacity, and storage the company needed to immediately begin adding craftsmen and converting the suppressed lead volume into closed jobs.
The proforma work that Cornovus Capital invested in building and defending was validated by the company's post-closing trajectory. The growth plan projected immediate, predictable revenue expansion tied to specific craftsman additions, and the new facility delivered exactly the capacity the plan required. The transaction demonstrated how SBA 7(a) financing can serve as a growth accelerant for service businesses where the revenue economics are proven, the lead pipeline is documented, and the only constraint is physical space. The company moved from a facility that limited it to 20 employees and $2.6 million in revenue to a campus capable of supporting 100 employees and a multi-year path toward revenue several multiples beyond where it started, all financed at 100% with a 25-year amortization that preserved every dollar of operating cash flow for the investments that would drive the growth.
- $1,350,000 SBA 7(a) facility closed at 100%+ financing with no equity injection
- Two-building campus acquired, expanding employee capacity from 20 to 100
- 25-year fully amortizing term at WSJ Prime + 2.75% with monthly debt service of approximately $11,318
- Growth plan projected revenue from $2.6M to $3.7M in Year 1 and $4.9M in Year 2, supported by documented per-craftsman revenue economics
- SBA owner-occupancy compliance achieved through documented use classification across both buildings
- Working capital and site improvement costs included in the facility, preserving operating liquidity
- Suppressed lead pipeline immediately available for conversion as workforce capacity expanded into the new facility
Additional financing outcomes are available in our Transaction Highlights archive.
Related capital programs
SBA financing programs for business expansion, owner-occupied real estate acquisition, and operating capital: SBA 7(a) program, SBA 7(a) financing request, SBA 504 program, SBA 504 financing request, SBA 100% CRE program, and financing submission hub.
About Cornovus Capital
Cornovus Capital structures and executes SBA loans, bridge financing, CMBS, SBA 504, conventional multifamily, and LifeCo transactions for sponsors, developers, owner-operators, and operating businesses nationwide. Every transaction is underwritten to institutional credit committee standards, with structural issues identified early, sizing built to lender reality, and the full credit package prepared before a capital partner is ever engaged. Each transaction is placed through a proprietary capital markets platform with pre-qualified partners across bridge, SBA, CMBS, private capital, agency, life company, hedge, and pension executions, matched to the transaction's credit profile, structure, asset class, and geography.
Our expertise spans seven debt silos: Conventional Multifamily (Agency and LifeCo), CMBS and Conduit, Bridge and Structured Debt, SBA 7(a), SBA 7(a) 100% CRE, SBA 504, and Student Housing, with a Hospitality Owner’s Representation overlay led by principals with direct owner-operator experience across the full asset lifecycle. Our quantitative underwriting platform applies institutional credit standards across every transaction, delivering depth, consistency, and turnaround speed.
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Outgrowing your facility, acquiring a campus to scale a service business, or structuring SBA financing where the growth plan requires proforma-driven underwriting? Cornovus Capital delivers institutional execution, combining underwriting precision, credit modeling, and lender coordination to ensure transparency, speed, and certainty of execution from term sheet to closing.
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