Columbus, Georgia Healthcare Practice Acquisition and Startup Financing

If you already know you are buying a practice, start with practice acquisition financing. If you need the broader map first, the acquisition financing hub routes you to the right guide by deal type, cash need, and credit profile.

What to know about medical practice startup loans, acquisition loans, and practice expansion funding

If you are sorting out how to get practice financing in Columbus, Georgia, the first question is not which lender to call. It is whether your deal is a startup, an acquisition, or an expansion. Those three situations underwrite differently. A startup is judged on your plan, your injection, and whether the equipment or buildout has value the lender can secure. An acquisition is judged on the seller’s cash flow, patient base, and the amount you can put down. Expansion funding sits in the middle: lenders want to see a stable practice first, then enough free cash flow to absorb a new loan.

Situation	Usual fit	What matters most
Startup	SBA 7(a), equipment financing	projections, down payment, 640+ FICO
Acquisition	SBA 7(a), bank term loan	seller numbers, 15-25% down, 1.25x DSCR
Expansion / working capital	line of credit, term loan	2-6 months of bank statements, recurring cash flow

For dental practice acquisition financing, the credit box is usually tighter than people expect. A 640+ FICO is the practical floor for SBA 7(a), but 680+ usually unlocks better pricing and fewer condition requests. Lenders also expect 15-25% down on practice acquisitions, 1.25x debt service coverage, and usually 24 months in business for SBA 7(a). Plan on 30-45 days for a standard approval, not same-week funding. If the monthly debt service pushes much above 40-45% of gross revenue, the file starts to look stretched even when the top-line revenue looks fine.

For medical practice startup loans, equipment can be the easiest piece to finance because the asset supports the loan. Current equipment financing typically runs 8-11% APR with 5-7 year terms, and SBA 7(a) can stretch equipment out to up to 10 years. That matters if you are funding imaging, exam chairs, lab gear, or veterinary equipment and want to keep monthly payments low enough for the first year of ramp-up. The 2026 Section 179 expensing limit is $1,220,000, so financed equipment can still fit a tax-aware buyout plan when the purchase is large enough to matter.

Working capital is different. If the loan is meant to cover payroll, marketing, inventory, or a temporary revenue gap, the lender will usually want 2-6 months of bank statements and proof that the practice already throws off enough cash. Fast nonbank money can close quicker, but the price can be far higher than SBA debt, with working capital products sometimes pricing at 40-300% APR-equivalent. That is why the cheapest quote is not always the best fit for a clinic opening, a buy-in, or a short-term expansion push. If your total project is pushing toward the $5,000,000 SBA 7(a) ceiling, you also need to think about whether the structure still fits the program before you spend time on a full package.

The same split shows up in clinic loan comparisons in Columbus, Ohio and dental lending options in Columbus, Georgia: acquisition capital is judged on existing cash flow, while startup capital is judged on the buildout, the numbers, and whether the deal can support itself after closing.