SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA · FY1991–PRESENT · ILLINOIS
Goldfish Swim School franchise in Illinois: what the public record shows
Franchisees of Goldfish Swim School in Illinois have taken 13 SBA loans since 1991 (average $1,677,853)— too few resolved loans in-state to publish a local failure rate (we require a resolved cohort, never extrapolate), so the brand's national rate of 0.0% is the better guide.
Loans in IL
13
Resolved
6
Local charge-off
thin
National charge-off
0.0%
Source: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA files (data.sba.gov), borrower state = IL. Charge-off rate = charged-off ÷ (charged-off + paid-in-full); open loans excluded. A local rate is published only when the resolved cohort clears our floor of 30 loans.
Businesses in this industry
3,436
statewide, all operators
Per 100k residents
27
national 26.5
Versus the country
+2%
denser
Every business in Goldfish Swim School's industry operating in Illinois — franchised and independent — from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (2023), against 2024 population estimates. Counter-intuitively, density is not a warning: across 198 brand-state cells in our loan data, the densest quartile charges off at 5.6% versus 18.1% in the thinnest. A crowded market is usually proven demand; an empty one is often empty for a reason.
| System | Loans in IL | Local charge-off | Units in IL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kiddie Academy | 44 | 0.0% | — |
| The Goddard School | 36 | 0.0% | — |
| SYLVAN LEARNING, SYLVAN LEARNING CENTER, SYLVAN | 19 | 20.0% | 11 |
| Goddard Early Learning Center | 17 | 7.1% | — |
| Huntington Learning Center | 16 | 30.8% | — |
| PRIMROSE SCHOOLS | 16 | thin | 9 |
| The Learning Experience | 11 | thin | — |
| School of Rock | 8 | thin | — |
Same sector, same state, same public records — how Goldfish Swim School compares to the systems a buyer in Illinois would actually be choosing between. Local rates under 10 resolved loans are marked thin, not hidden.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing Goldfish Swim School's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
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