Aspenspring Business Loans in Durango, Colorado places restaurant funding requests with funding partners. La Plata County, CO counted 68 full-service and 67 limited-service restaurants with paid employees in 2023. This page covers loans for restaurants, restaurant lenders, card-sales advances, commercial kitchen equipment, opening or buying a restaurant, and how hard a restaurant loan can be.
At a glance
- Restaurant employers, La Plata County, CO
135 (our arithmetic: full plus limited service, County Business Patterns 2023)
- Restaurant employees
2,203 (our arithmetic, County Business Patterns 2023)
- Drinking places with paid employees
11 (County Business Patterns 2023)
Loans for Restaurants Around Durango, CO by the County Numbers
Restaurant loans start from the dining room count. County Business Patterns counted 68 full-service restaurants with 1,264 employees and 67 limited-service restaurants with 939 employees in La Plata County, CO in 2023, 135 restaurants and 2,203 employees in all (our arithmetic, County Business Patterns 2023). Only 13.2% of full-service restaurants had fewer than five employees, against 60.7% of all county employers.
Accommodation and food services together employed 4,193 people in the county, more than any other sector, with about $28,269 of payroll per employee (our arithmetic, County Business Patterns 2023). Within ZIP 81301 alone there were 48 full-service and 51 limited-service restaurant employers (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). Payroll and food are both weekly bills in a restaurant, which is why working capital sits beside equipment on this page.
What Equipment Is Required in a Commercial Kitchen, and How It Is Financed
A commercial kitchen needs a hood and fire suppression, cooking equipment, refrigeration, dishwashing, prep tables and sinks, and a point-of-sale system. Illustration only, invented figures: a $24,000 hood, a $16,500 walk-in cooler and a $9,800 range total $50,300; over 60 months at an invented 10.5% the payment is about $1,081 a month (our arithmetic).
Hoods and walk-ins fixed to the building can be treated as improvements rather than equipment, which changes what a funder can claim and can steer them toward a term loan. The equipment financing page has a restaurant section.
Restaurant Lenders and Card-Sales Providers Compared
Banks lend to restaurants with a track record and full financial statements. Specialty lenders read card deposits and bank statements. Equipment funders lend against the kitchen gear. Card-sales providers offer a merchant cash advance, collected as a share of card sales; it is not a loan, and its cost comes from a factor. Set the total dollars of each option side by side for the same amount before signing.
A partner reading a restaurant request asks for card processing statements, bank statements, the lease and its remaining term, and the sales trend by month. Food and labor costs as a share of sales tell a partner how much room a new payment has.
A second location is a different request from a remodel. It brings a new lease, a new kitchen and staff hired before the room fills, and a partner reads the first location's records to judge whether its cash flow can carry the second while it builds sales. Owners weighing that step can set the new payments against the first location's leanest month rather than its strongest.
Working Capital Between Card Batches and Food Orders
Illustration only, invented figures: a dining room with $21,000 in weekly sales and food costs at 31% spends about $6,510 a week on food (our arithmetic), paid to distributors on their terms. When a remodel closes the dining room for two weeks, sales stop and rent does not; a working capital loan sized to the closure covers that once.
How to Get a Loan for a New Restaurant or Buy an Established One
A new restaurant has no sales history, which leaves a partner with the owner's credit, experience and down payment, and the build-out budget. Buying an established restaurant brings a sales record, equipment and a lease, and a partner reads the seller's card statements and tax returns to judge whether the price matches the earnings.
- The lease: term left, renewal options and whether it transfers.
- Equipment list and condition, with anything leased flagged.
- Three years of returns and card processing statements.
- Any liquor license transfer, handled through the licensing authorities.
How Hard Is It to Get a Loan for a Restaurant With a Short Lease or a Thin Record?
Partners weigh a restaurant on the same five items as any business, with extra weight on the lease and the cash flow after food and labor. Records sent complete, a separate business account and a clear use for the money leave a reviewer less to guess. The restaurant expansion article works through remodels and second rooms, and the Durango, CO page has the county counts.
Bars and taprooms, 11 drinking places with paid employees in the county (County Business Patterns 2023), are covered in the notes on the industries page.
For a remodel or a second dining room, read which loan fits a restaurant expansion.
By Aspenspring Business Loans ยท Updated