SBA loans for IT support, cybersecurity and data recovery businesses

What lenders check

Each lender sets its own checklist. SBA sets the basic eligibility tests.

A lender reviewing a loan to IT support, cybersecurity and data recovery businesses looks at the business's numbers and these items for the trade:

• Where revenue comes from, whether monthly support and security plans or one-time repair, setup and recovery jobs, because only the recurring part is predictable
• Technician certifications and background checks, since staff see client files, passwords and backups
• Cyber liability and errors and omissions coverage, and a written procedure for handling a client's lost or exposed data

Common uses of the money

Businesses like these use SBA loans for:

• Data-recovery and diagnostic equipment, such as drive-imaging systems and clean-bench tools
• Marketing that converts one-time repair customers into monthly support plans
• Service vehicles, loaner computers and a ticketing system for on-site support calls

Collateral

Diagnostic equipment, loaner computers and a service vehicle are the usual collateral, and they resell for little.

How much they borrow

81% of these loans were $500,000 or less, the range where SBA Express is available.

The median loan was $185,000, close to the $150,300 median for all SBA 7(a) loans. Half of the loans fell between $100,000 and $487,700. The most common size band was $50,001 to $150,000.

By business age, 76% had operated for more than 2 years and 9.1% for 2 years or less. 3.8% were startups opening with the loan, and 11% paid for a change of ownership.

How the money comes

31% of the loans went through SBA Express and 25% were lines of credit. The median term was 10 years.

Across all industries, 36% of loans went through SBA Express and 28% were lines of credit. Express counts here include Export Express.

The median term was 10 years (120 months). For working capital, SBA's maximum term is 10 years. For equipment, it is 10 years, or up to 15 years if the IRS asset class useful life supports it. Source: SOP 50 10 8.1: App. 17, Para. A.1 (p. 390); App. 17, Para. A.2 (p. 390).

Where the loans are

California had the most loans, 92 of 705 (13%).

Location is the state of the business, not of the lender.

These states have their own page for this industry, with at least 50 loans from October 1, 2019 to June 30, 2026.

• Maryland53 loans

Compare every state on SBA loans by state.

How often these loans went bad

4.9% of 493 seasoned loans were charged off, above the 3.6% rate for all SBA 7(a) loans.

24 of the 493 loans approved October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2022 were charged offcharged offThe lender wrote the loan off as a loss because it was not being repaid. by June 30, 2026. By dollars, 3.3% of the approved amount was charged off.

SBA size standard

NAICS 541519 has its own size standard.

For NAICS 541519, SBA's size standard is $34 million in average annual receipts. A business at or under the standard is small for SBA's purposes. To qualify, a business must fit the size standard for the applicant's primary industry in 13 CFR 121.201, measured in annual receipts or employees. SBA measures size on the date the application is accepted for SBA processing, or for delegated loans the date the lender approves the loan.

A business over the standard can still qualify under the alternative standard: tangible net worth of $20 million or less and average net income after federal income taxes of $6.5 million or less over the prior two fiscal years. Source: SOP 50 10 8.1: Sec. A, Ch. 1, Para. D.1 (p. 14); Sec. A, Ch. 1, Para. D.2 (p. 14); 13 CFR § 121.301(b)(2).