Thursday, February 10, 2005

Business loan tips

If you?re a business investor wanting to borrow a small business loan, then it is adamant that you have to think like the lender. By doing this, you can easily get that loan you need to boost your business! Apart from thinking like the lender, you need to brush up on your negotiation skills if you haven?t already done so. You need to know all the questions a lender will ask, so you can have the answers right there and then. Have your entire plans i.e. current and future business plans ready to present. Organisation is extremely important. If you appear disorganised, what impression will that give the lender of your business? One of the first things a lender will want to know when applying for a loan is your specific request; is what your planning coherent with bank policies and guidelines, and legal! The more specific you are, the better your chances. It also speeds up the initial process. Once the specific reason for the loan is sorted, the lender will look at the reasons that have caused you to apply for a loan. The lender has to make sure that any problems with the business have not caused the need for loan i.e. the investors need to meet payroll or to pay accounts payable. The businesses track record will also be examined thoroughly, to find any glitches that may cause concern. A lender will prefer if the need for a loan was a predicted and calculated procedure, rather than a surprise. If you have predicted this need for a loan, then it will show you are prepared for the future and will cope easier. The less risk for the lender the better! It happens often that an investor will not have a clear idea what has produced the requirement to borrow funds, and increases the risk on the lenders side of the game Repayment Options The lender will take at look at your businesses cash-flow management system to find the ideal repayment options and sources available, and will analyze your ability to repay the loan using complicated ratio and trend analysis. With all of this in mind, the banker drafts a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of the credit request. Structure of the Loan One thing many investors do wrong is ask right away how long they get the cash for, and what is the best interest rate for me? It?s only after the business and management review processes are finished does the lender begin to think of the loan structure! This is why you need to think like a lender, so you don?t make these simple mistakes. The lender is only trying to minimize the amount of risk, and you have to understand that in order to get a loan. Business investors should never only look at a loans interest rate. There are usually many other fees involved when obtaining a loan i.e. bank fees, deposit requirements and other hidden charges that can cost you a bomb! In the end, a lender will require the borrower to keep the lender informed of the businesses performance on a monthly basis as a set agreement. Using negotiation tactics, a business investor can negotiate certain criteria of the loan structure.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Agile Funding offers unsecured loans for personal or business purposes with very little paper work required and you can use the funds ever how you see fit. If it is just a fast loan you need, scroll down to #3 and click on the link there. Once that page opens, look on the left and click on the type of loan you need, there is a very simple form for each loan type, online is quicker I have found, at least for the ones I have gotten. Worth a shot

P.S. I think they offer up to $250K on business loans and I think it was up to $150k on personal loans. I just had to fill out a simple one page form.

9:22 AM  
Anonymous alex said...

Hi all,

I'm hoping to start up a business which will require a large business loan. Even with a 75% business loan, I'll still need more cash, so I also will be using money lent by family members which I will pay back as though it was a loan.

The question is, will the providers of the business loan care that I've also taken a large loan with family members? If they will care and will not offer me as big a loan if they find out, is it illegal to not tell them about it?

Thanks for any advice,

Alex

9:52 AM  
Blogger Barbara Gordon said...

You do not need to advise them where you get your portion from. In my experience they are not concerned as long as you stump up the required amount to start your business.

I would urge you to be cautious though. Its not the best way to start a business by getting so many loans. Having had a franchise myself which I got by using the 70% loan from the bank I have struggled to make enough money.

Make sure you do a cashflow forecast and remember to take off the profit all of the payments you will have to make to the banks and family every month.

If I was to start another business I would make sure I saved up more in the first place before starting the business. You need to give yourself a fighting chance of making a success of your venture. Also see what grants you can get.

Regards,

Babs

9:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Being quite young myself I don?t yet have my own house. When I was 18 I took out my first business loan, the bank would only lend me £15,000 even though I had a fairly promising business plan.
Now I have a successful business that?s bringing in a healthy profit, I recently went to the bank as I?m wanting to set up a second centre. I played off the previous loan in the first year of operation yet even with a very healthy balance in the account and having previous borrowing experience with them they wouldn?t lend me over £25,000 without security. They said the best other alternative was to sign up for a scheme government did for businesses where I would have to show my business plan to them and they would consider lending me the rest of the money. I cant remember its exact name.
I?ve since found out I?m eligible, but they want me to take out payment protection if I do decide to use the loan.

Just be aware if you don?t have anything to secure the loan on, the bank will most probably be reluctant to lend you as much as you need through your business account.

9:53 AM  
Anonymous bz said...

Hi people!

New to the site. Im wondering if any1 can help me. Im interested in learning about business loans, Im thinking of applying for one to fund my business venture. Is there a set amount i would have to pay back each year and generally what percentage of the amount borrowed would that be? Also what interest would i have to pay generally? I understand that every company providing loans will be different, im jus looking for a general answer. Also can anyone tell me what A.P.R is?

Thank you in advance

BL

9:54 AM  
Anonymous conrad said...

I set - up in business in 1997. Lenders wanted detailed business plans and personal guarantees (enabling them to take your house if it went bad), so I decided against.

Most business people I know didnt want thier Bank 'owning' them which is effectively what happens when you involve a Bank in your business, so they obtained loans for, ehhem........ other purposes such as a car. Anita Roddick (Body shop owner) did this. Before all the rule junkies lecture against, remember that you as business owner under no cicumstances want your Bank effectively controling your business. If times are hard Banks will call - in loans without notice and this might cause you major cash - flow problems at a critical time.

My Brother set - up a computer software firm 12 months ago on the back of about 15 credit cards. Bit strong for my tastes but the risk has so far paid - off hansomely and if he'd relied on a Bank loan it never would have happened.

BTW, the best advice I can give you with setting up a business is this: Remember the hardest part is getting paying customers, so virtually all your energy should be focused in doing this, and I really cant tell you enough what a giant effort this takes. So many people go out of business because they forget / ignore this foremost fundamental. Opening the shop is the easy bit.

9:54 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

L10 Web Stats Reporter 3.15 LevelTen Hit Counter - Free PHP Web Analytics Script
LevelTen dallas web development firm - website design, flash, graphics & marketing