Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

We have been working on our own bussiness a little slow we have heard folks talk about small bussiness loans where do you look for these cause we cant find any

gatorg92,

Where "best" to look depends on several factors - starting with

how much are you wanting to borrow?

I assume you have read that there is a "fianancial crisis" when it comes to lending.  More than likely that doesnt include you local lender.  No matter what CNN and others say, if you visit you local lender with a sound concept, you get funding.  The only problem brought on by this global economic downturn is that you are competing with folks that would normally never be in you local office.  You must have a good concept!

SBA has waived all of thier fees.  You can get a loan with little collateral as long as the bank approves you for very liitle in fees.  Normally the SBA takes a large fee of the top and a percentage of the interest that you pay on your loan and they usually only guarantee 80%.  Part of the stimilus package was to elimanate those fees and guarantee 90%.  There has never been a better time to approach you local lender.  Anyone that tells you different is just WRONG!!!

Startup Help

I never like debt as a funding mechanism for a start-up. On paper it's cheaper than equity but it restricts you a bit too much. Try and bootstrap hard. Often that's the best way.

 This SBA portion of the Recovery Act doesn't waive all fees. For the 7a loans (the  loan most often used for small startups) it waives the fees for the gauanteed part of the loan (90%) which is still signficant. But you do still need collateral and you still need to meet the other criteria (industry experience; your own infusion of cash).

And this is all strictly temporary until about Dec 31, 2009.