If your business needs finance to overcome a momentary financial problem due to lack of funds, a business loan can aid you in achieving your goals. There are however different categories of business loans and knowing the specifications of each one will help you to choose the one that best suits your needs.
Unless you can qualify for government finance, truth is that you will have to resort to private and rather expensive loans. There are however, several ways for improving your chances of getting approved and reducing the interest rate charged for your business loan by reducing the risk involved in the transaction.
Business Loans
Business loans can be either for starting businesses or for running businesses. The later come with lower rates and larger loan amounts because they base approval on the business equity. However, in order to get approved for this kind of loans, your business must have been running for at least 3 years.
Credit score requirements are not too harsh but too many delinquencies on your credit report will impede approval. Six months of uninterrupted payments will aid approval significantly. Some late payments may be overlooked if they do not seem to show a pattern of credit behavior but rather isolated cash flow problems.
Business Lines Of Credit
Business lines of credit are revolving accounts that once approved provide all the funds you need up to a certain limit. You can request money as many times as you need, as much funds as you want up to the corresponding limit. Moreover, you can repay the money in the same way. These financial products provide a lot of flexibility which is especially useful for businesses that need a constant cash flow.
The only drawback is that the interest rate charged is a bit higher and that it is variable. This implies that the interest rate will change according to market conditions which can turn these lines of credit too onerous if the reference interest rate rises too much.
Guaranteeing Approval
In order to make sure you get approved you need to provide the lender with enough confidence on your solvency. To show you will be able to repay the loan or line of credit, you have to show proof of an important income or there must be good reasons to believe it will increase, if possible, well documented reasons.
A good credit score will also boost your chances of getting approved. Recent credit history is the most important part of your credit report. As long as there are no mayor delinquencies in your past credit history (defaults, bankruptcies, etc.), past missed payments or late payments will be overlooked. Nevertheless, the last six months on your report should be impeccable.
Where To Apply
It is hard to tell which lender best suits your needs without knowing your financial situation, your credit stance and the type of business you are running. Thus, the best thing you can do is to search online for business loans and contact the many lenders you will find and request loan quotes from them. Just make sure to establish an informal contact with agents so you can discuss with them your needs.