Category Archives: Business Loans

Business affected by Riots or Protests? Get Discounted Loans

Business affected by RiotsJust when we thought that the market has started to heal from the damage done by COVID-19, we weren’t exactly ready for more hits. Yet, more did come, and this time in the form of riots and protests. Many businesses had to stay shut while some even faced direct damages. Many business owners agree that the timing could simply not have been worse than this.

At Business Capital USA, we know that many of these business owners are our clients and in the interest of being a considerate alternate business lender we see the rising requirement of loans and are offering lower than our typical rates to businesses that have been affected negatively by the riots and protests. Read ahead to understand the benefits offered by our grants and discounted loans offered to assist your business sail through yet another challenging time.

Disaster Loans from Business Capital USA

Any business impacted negatively by a disaster can face a temporary financial difficulty and we are here to help. In the period that it takes you to resume to the usual business pattern, we can provide you grants and discounted business loan deals based upon your business operating figures. All you have to do is apply for our loan and we shall make brief verifications and then get in touch with you to understand your needs and situation. Thereafter, our experts shall make you offers to match your requirements.

Choose our disaster loans and you shall get funded in a matter of 2 business days and we hope the funds help you get your business back on the track of growth.

Bad Credit? It’s not a Problem for our Business Loans

Bad personal credit history and scores are something that shall not just trouble you with your personal financial transactions, but are very likely to limit business borrowing options for you as a business owner too. Making matters worse, is the fact that during times of financial difficulties, most frequent borrowers tend to take further hits in their credit performance and lenders tend to make loan approvals harder.

However, when you choose a disaster loan from Business Capital USA, your personal credit performance is completely out of the equation. Our assessment only considers the finances of your business and provided that certain indicators still look healthy, we approve loans that can help your business get back on track. So, if you need a business loan while you suffer from a bad credit score, you shall need to look no further as we are here to assist you.

Quick Business Loans for Emergency Needs

Protests and riots can lead to times of uncertainty and oftentimes, a business may face a very urgent requirements of liquid funds that may find use in various ways like enhancing security, hiring added staff, etc. When a loan is what you need to handle such emergency expenses, what you shall need is a quick business loan that credits fast enough for the situation to be managed well.

Our quick business loans can be ideal for emergency funding requirements of businesses. A loan from us typically gets credited in 2 business days when all provided information is accurate and complete and the eligibility assessment is straightforward.

Rejected from an SBA Disaster Loan or Coronavirus Loan? Choose us for a Second Chance

Time and again when disasters hit our economy, state and federal supports and grants are made available to help businesses sail through the rough times. Amongst these is the well-known SBA disaster loan. While the terms of the loan are really friendly and welcoming, qualifying for one and being accepted isn’t always easy. Businesses have faced rejections on various grounds.

If your business has been rejected a loan, many other loans also get harder to secure. With Business Capital USA, this is not a problem. We welcome second chance loan applications and since we conduct no credit checks, you can also consider us your last chance borrowing source – even multiple rejections in your past do not affect our decision. Only your business finances and performance figures are what we consider for the approval of our loans, grants and funding plans.

So, if your business has been negatively impacted by riots or protests and even if a previous loan application of yours has been rejected elsewhere, then a disaster loan from Business Capital USA is available right here to help you find the funds that your business may need. Simply fill up our online application form now and we shall get in touch shortly to assist you.

 

Startup Business Loans – Getting Finance even with Bad Credit

Startup businesses are challenging and the challenge is often the best part of owning a startup. One of the common critical requirements for most businesses is the source of funds. The availability of funds or the lack of it, can in many cases make or break a business and this is typically more so for startups. However, managing a source of funds for a startup business is not always easy. For example, even startup business loans are not the easiest business loans to procure. On top of that, if a business owner has a bad credit score, that can further affect the availability of funding options.

Many startup business owners think of loans as the holy grail to fund businesses beyond their personal finances. However, there are more options that one can consider, and loans are probably best once the business stabilizes. Why? Well, loans have to be returned in time else they can start to get quite expensive.

For this reason, despite us being a loan lending service, we shall start today’s article with discussing 4 of the best funding options for a startup business, beside the business owner’s personal finances.

4 Best Funding Options for a Startup Business

1. Crowdfunding

This is probably the right choice for any startup business that can get what they need out of it. Crowdfunding is a concept in which people, or the “crowd” contributes for a cause – which in this case can be a business idea. Crowdfunding works best for businesses that plan to do something that is very innovative or can work towards the betterment of life of people. Any concept that can be convincing for people to donate money towards it is probably going to benefit from a well-made crowdfunding campaign.

People with strong social following or PR skills can use crowdfunding even better. For example, musicians with huge social media followership numbers tend to attract great results if they choose to utilize crowdfunding. The best part – donators only expect non-monetary rewards, i.e. they do not expect money in return for their donation. Of course, not all start up ideas would be able to attract crowdfunding or even qualify for it.

2. SBA Loans

Loan schemes like the SBA 7(a) (Loan for Start-ups and Entrepreneurs) and SBA microloans are reasonably safe given the protective terms laid out under the schemes. However, any financial product comes with a risk associated with it. What makes SBA Loans also tend to have more affordable rates of interest and fees that are associated with them, when compared to most other borrowing options open to businesses.

However, 2 prominent factors make SBA loans less attractive for some business owners:

  1. It is not very easy to qualify for an SBA loan
  2. SBA loan approvals can take a long time and the processes may not always be easy.

3. Business Credit Cards & Line of Credit Loans

Business credit cards and line of credit are available from some banks and non-bank direct lenders. These work much like personal credit cards – a defined limit is made available and interest is charged as per the amount of funds actually used. They give a ready source of pre-approved loan amounts that the business can use as required.

Again, these are not very easy to qualify for, but once you do, there’s a fixed amount of time until when the available limit is yours to use. For start-up businesses, these loans tend to typically be approved based on:

  • Personal finances of the business owner(s)
  • Credit history of the business owner(s)
  • Guarantor(s) if any
  • Collaterals (in case of banks loans).

4. Alternate Business Loans

Alternate business loans are offered by non-bank direct lenders like us at BusinessCapitalUSA. Within certain legal limits, direct lenders like us have an option to be more flexible and offer loans with which higher risks are associated.

Alternate business loans, at the direct lenders, can be made available for businesses owned by bad credit score holders. In the case of start-up businesses, these might be the only such options available to most. The other advantage is that trusted and experienced direct lenders tend to offer the advantage of quick loan approvals and transactions.

However, with higher risks come higher expenses and that feature of the market makes these loans more expensive than the other choices mentioned here.

Alternate Business Loan for your Startup

It’s time for us to throw light upon our services. If you’re an owner of a start-up business, you can get a loan from us if your business has seen a smooth financial journey for as little as just 6 months. We offer alternate business loans which are approved quickly and subject to eligibility to our loans, you can get the funds you seek in as little as just 2 business days.

The application process is very easy. You simply need to apply online or call us at 800-821-6460 and we shall require a few basic details to start working with you towards a loan that suits your business needs.

Startup Business Loan with Bad Credit, No Collaterals Required.

Most startup business owners seeking a business loan while they suffer from a bad credit score, choose a trusted alternate business lender like us at BusinessCapitalUSA. The 2 biggest advantages we offer include:

  1. Bad credit score holders are welcome to apply
  2. No collaterals required for the approvals of your loan applications.

These along with the fact that we can avoid credit checks upon your requests, make our loans very safe for borrowers who have a poor credit history.

So why wait? If you qualify for our business loan, go ahead and drop a query through our online application form!

Business Line of Credit, Working Capital Loans with Bad Credit

Today’s lending market has a lot to offer. From businesses that are worth just a few hundred dollars, to those worth several hundred billions of dollars – all have access to a number or debt options that may serve as the backbone, a stepping stone or simply a means to fuel smooth operations.

Businesses today use these various debt products for similarly vast number of purposes. While some businesses use debt to grow, expand and diversify, some may just be using debt to sustain through a tough season. And then there are investment and divestment related uses too – the list can simply go on and on in the ever-changing world of business.

There are two closely matched loan options which have been enjoying a high demand in the recent years. Some of their uses are common and some of their principles are similar. Today, we shall discuss these trending types of business loan products in further detail – Business Line of Credit and Working Capital Loans. We shall also pay special attention to understanding which of these products is better suited for a business, which is partly or wholly owned by an individual with bad credit scores.

What is a Business Line of Credit?

A Business Line of Credit is a type of business loan in which a lender agrees to keep an available limit of funds at the disposal of a business, out of which the business can choose to borrow any amount within the limit for any length of time and pay interest only on the borrowed amount of money.

As easily noticed from this above definition, it works much like a credit card and some lending companies may associate a credit card feature with this loan.

Businesses use such loans for day-to-day expenses as well as small capital expenditures at times. However, it is safe to say that largely, the uses of these loans are not significantly different from the latter discussed Working Capital Loans.

A major limitation of this sort of a loan, is that most lenders only offer this to small businesses when the owner(s) has/have a good credit history. Very select few lenders do offer such loans to bad credit borrowers too, but the associated charges and interest rates then tend to be very high, which leads to those loans being in limited demand. Apart from this, the line of credit is typically offered subject to a security deposit or a one-time fee, which tends to be higher than initial expenses related to most Working Capital Loans.

Advantages of a Business Line of Credit

The main distinct advantages of the Business Line of Credit for the borrowers include:

  • Interest only needs to be paid on the borrowed amount
  • The limit authorized, acts as a pre-approved loan amount readily available for borrowing at any time
  • Can be effectively used on small capital expenditures and to maintain a healthy liquidity and cash flow.

What is a Working Capital Loan?

A Working Capital Loan is a type of business loan that is intended to provide financial support for a business’ day-to-day operations/expenses. Typically, these are intended to cover operational needs and not to cover long-term investments, or for purchases of long-term assets, etc.

Expenses such as salaries, raw material purchases, emergency expenses, and other items that are typically what businesses use liquid capital for, are examples of what businesses commonly use such loans towards.

Working Capital Loans are offered to bad credit borrowers also, by some of the most trusted alternate business loan lenders, like us at Business Capital USA.

The more closely linked a business’ finances are with the business owner’s personal finances, the more the owner’s credit score and history may influence debt options available to the business. However, our business loans can accommodate requests from businesses owned by individuals with virtually any credit score.

Advantages of a Working Capital Loan

The main distinct advantages of the Working Capital Loans for the borrowers include:

  • Since the amount of money approved as a loan is being fully utilized, many lenders offer lower interest rates on Working Capital Loans than they would offer for a Business Line of Credit
  • Bad credit borrowers are more readily accepted by some alternate business loan lenders offering these loans
  • Many businesses prefer using these loans to maintain a healthy cash flow
  • This loan eliminates the need for collaterals – it is typically an unsecured business loan.

Applying for a Working Capital Loan for Bad Credit

Getting a Working Capital Loan is as such a rather simple task. However, a bad credit score can hinder some options. If you’re looking for a business loan while you suffer from the difficulties that bad credit history can endow upon you, Business Capital USA shall always be here to assist you and provide your business the funds it needs. Applying for a Working Capital Loan with us takes nothing more than just a few minutes. This online application can get you started and once we have the required information, we shall get in touch with you to offer you deals that can work well for your business.

Are Business Loans Based On Personal Credit?

Some Business Loans May Be Based On Personal Credit, but Not All Are

Before taking a business loan, you may wonder whether your credit score matters to lenders. It could affect their decision to approve your request.

The importance of your credit score in the approval process depends on which kind of lender you decide to approach.

Let’s go through who is most likely to require your credit score as a mandate and who isn’t:

Traditional Lenders: If you want a loan from a traditional lender, such as a bank, but you have a bad credit score, you may want to re-consider applying for one with them. First of all, it is almost impossible to get a loan from a bank if your credit score isn’t good; forget about it being average or bad. If they do, however, choose to give you a chance with their loans, there may be conditions for that.

One major condition that they may set forth is for you to provide collateral. Collateral refers to something valuable that you have to give as security. You give it to your lender, who asks for one. It can be property, a car, or anything that holds a price enough for your lender to cover your loan cost in case you fail to pay it. The disadvantage is that not every borrower has something expensive to use as security, even if you are 100% sure about repaying your loan.

The next disadvantage of applying with a traditional lender is that they conduct hard credit checks. If your credit score is already on the undesirable side, a hard credit check will only hamper it further. This can majorly reduce your chances of getting funded in the future, which isn’t the best situation to be in.

Online Business Loan Lenders: Many online business loan lenders do not need your credit rating to fund you. Their loans are aimed at small and medium-scale businesses. Traditional loans are usually offered on a large scale. It isn’t surprising for a small business owner to have a poor credit rating due to reasons such as not being established yet or taking small amounts from many lenders. These lenders know that a bad credit rating isn’t the deciding factor about whether a borrower will be able to repay them or not. Also, they do not ask for security, which is why it is very easy to get a loan from them. The only drawback is that the rates of interest may be higher than those of traditional loans.

Traditional Lenders: If you want a loan from a traditional lender, such as a bank, but you have a bad credit score, you may want to reconsider applying for one with them. First of all, it is almost impossible to get a loan from a bank if your credit score isn’t good; forget about it being average or bad. If they do, however, choose to give you a chance with their loans, there may be conditions for that.

One major condition that they may set forth is for you to provide collateral. Collateral refers to something monetarily valuable that you have to give as security to your lender, who asks for one. It can be property, a car, or anything that holds a price enough for your lender to cover your loan cost in case you fail to pay it. The disadvantage of this, even if you are 100% sure about being able to repay your loan, is that not every borrower has something that expensive to give as security.

The next disadvantage of applying with a traditional lender is that they conduct hard credit checks. If your credit score is already on the undesirable side, a hard credit check will only hamper it further. This can significantly reduce your chances of getting funded in the future, which isn’t the best situation to be in.

Online Business Loan Lenders: Many online business loan lenders do not require your credit rating in order to fund you. Firstly, their loans are aimed at small and medium-scale businesses, unlike traditional loans that are usually offered to large-scale ones. It isn’t surprising for a small business owner to have a poor credit rating due to reasons such as not being fully established yet or taking small amounts from multiple lenders. These lenders know that a bad credit rating isn’t the deciding factor about whether a borrower will be able to repay them or not. Also, they do not ask for security, which is why it is very easy to get a loan from them. The only drawback is that the rates of interest may be higher than those of traditional loans.

Figure Out What You Need To Help Plan Your Budget

It may sound very basic and simple, but first thing’s first. It is important to chart out your budget plan in an orderly manner to make life easy.

If you’re somebody who prefers doing things the traditional way then gather a couple of pens and notebooks for you to start writing a detailed your budget requirements in a detailed manner.

However, technology has undoubtedly made life easy for many in various aspects and a software like Microsoft Excel can be a user-friendly option. In fact, it may be a tad bit more useful than going forward the traditional way since saving documents on a gadget that is difficult to misplace- such as your laptop or computer- can come in handy.

However, the phrase “to each their own” does come into play here so it is important to choose a method that helps with your budgeting in the way that seems most convenient to you.

Make A List Of Your Costs/ Expenses

Once you’re ready with your tools, list down every aspect of running a business that needs investment, even if it’s something as basic or small as stationery. Prioritizing them from most important to most general can be a good idea. Some costs can be termed assets while the others can be called expenses.

Let’s have a look at your assets: These can include costs like real estate, furniture, gadgets, etc. Your assets aren’t usually tax deductible.

Let’s now take a look at what may be your expenses: Costs like payroll and rent/lease will fall under this category and are tax deductible.

Other costs may include those for your website, marketing , design, etc. that is a good idea to include in a separate list.

Figure Out Your Fixed Costs

Fixed costs are those that do not change on a regular basis because they do not depend on production and sales volumes. Things like rent or lease, payroll expenses, telecommunication expenses, advertising and marketing expenses, insurance, payment of subscriptions, etc.

Figure Out What Your Variable Costs Are

Quite the opposite of fixed costs, variable costs are those that fluctuate as per an increase or decrease in your levels of production. The best example of a variable cost is the raw materials that one purchases to run a business. Apart from that, a few other examples include sales commissions, electricity, direct labour costs (employees who work in the production unit and not administration or other departments of a company).

Monthly Revenue And Break-Even Point

Every business owner looks at earning a profit and if one doesn’t determine his/her budget and expenses appropriately then it can be difficult to achieve what one is looking for. After figuring out your costs, the next step is to estimate your monthly revenue and ROI in order for you to understand when you will reach a point when you start earning a profit. By figuring out your budget and investing it in the right areas, you may be able to reach your break-even point as per your estimation and desire.

Where Can You Get The Funds That You’re Looking For?

It is known that most start-up business owners have around $50000 or less in their bank account, which may or may not be enough to help fund their business. In case it isn’t, applying for a loan is the best way to go about it.

However, it may be a little difficult for an SME to get a small business loan from a bank which is why they can choose to opt for online business loans. Many online lenders offer amounts that are good enough to cover all your expenses and getting a loan from them is way easier than getting one from a traditional lender.

To start with, many of them do not consider bad credit as a reason to deny individuals a chance of getting funded by them. The requirement for collaterals is also not a part of their eligibility criteria which is a huge plus point considering the fact that most traditional lenders do ask for some kind of security in order to provide you with the financial assistance that you need.

However, the rates of interest of such loans may be higher that what may be offered by a bank, but the chances of getting approved and fast is also way higher.

By taking into account the factors listed above, you can plan your budget requirement in a satisfactory manner and understand what investments are most crucial for your business, at least in the beginning. For a start-up, you may want to consider putting a halt on fancy decorative items or other things that aren’t essential to avoid taking a bigger risk than is already involved in starting your business, but without a doubt, the decision is yours.

Take out a few days to figure out your costs and revenue and you will undoubtedly be good to go!

Safety of Bad Credit Business Capital Loans

Trends go to show that bad credit business capital loans are growing in both demand and supply. What remains an apprehension however, is the concern for the safety of such loans. Safety in a loan can be seen as having two prongs:

  1. With regards to repayment ability and the assessment/understanding thereof, and
  2. Choosing the right lender – one that is both legitimate and fair.

One thing is true for virtually every transaction in business – there are risks and there are ways to mitigate them.

Being a trusted and well-established lender of alternate business loans that include services tendered to bad credit score borrowers, at BusinessCapitalUSA we believe in educating our borrowers and being transparent about all risks and concerns that are relevant to borrowing from us. With each risk that we discuss, we share simple, logical ways to protect against them.

With the first few sections ahead, we aim to cover the first point above and in the last section, we throw light on ways to identify trustworthy direct lenders, so that if you ever need to deal outside of our services, you should still know what to look out for.

The Risks associated with Unsecured Loans

If you as a small business owner seek to apply for a business loan and have a poor credit performance history, most chances are that you shall need to look for a non-bank direct lender providing alternate business loans. These are essentially unsecured loans as such lenders are not authorized (at the time of the writing of this article) to provide loans against collaterals.

While such loans are more tempting and also useful in the majority situations, there are a certain number of risks that come along with such a transaction:

  1. In case of repeated failure of repayments and long over-dues, there is a risk of legal action being taken for recovering the loan as there are no collaterals at stake to cover for the loan when unpaid for.
  2. There is a slight possibility of securing a loan amount higher than the worth of the assets or liquid assets of the business, which may need the borrower to consider availability of personal liquid assets in case the repayment is not manageable by the business.
  3. Typically, bankruptcy of a company or personal bankruptcy would not protect against the liability of unsecured loans.

The best and perhaps the only way to mitigate such risks is to only apply for loans that are very likely to be repaid by you or your business as per the laid out time lines. Keeping a back-up plan chalked out for what needs to be done if repayment is becoming difficult, is a good practice.

The Risk in Guaranteed Loans with No Credit Checks

Whether your business is a startup or an established one, many lenders today are dedicated to offering guaranteed loans with no credit checks.

While a lender with healthy and fair practices would attempt to assess the financial health and estimate the financial trajectory of the business before deciding the loan amount that can be offered/approved on a guaranteed basis, there is a limit to how accurately any future predictions can be made.

To mitigate risks associated with such an offer, it is important to disclose accurate information to your lender at the time of application for the loan, and to only apply for a loan amount that is safely repayable.

The Risk specific to Long-Term Business Loans for Bad Credit

A poor credit score can often be a representation of poor understanding of the credit system. It can also reflect poor financial management skills and habits. While in the short run (say 1 to 12 months) income is a fair indicator of repayment ability, in the long run, credit scores are a key indicator that must ideally not be taken for granted.

Long-term business loans for bad credit borrowers tend to be expensive as the high risk loans are high in interest that accrues more with time.

The only way to mitigate this risk is to borrow high risk loans for the shortest tenure that repayment should be workable for and avoid choosing longer term loans over feasible short term loans.

Finding a Legitimate Lender

After understanding the main risks and addressing each one, a loan decision needs to include the understanding of the lender’s legitimacy and fairness in offering loans. High risk loans such as those for bad credit borrowers are bound to be more expensive than traditional loans and are only offered by non-bank direct lenders.

With BusinessCapitalUSA, you can rest assured of being offered a competitive deal for any business loan that you apply for. Years of trusted services tendered to our valued customers gives us an advantage of being experienced in dealing with business from many varied industries.

Easy signs that ensure you’re dealing with a legitimate lender shall include:

  • A contact number and an email ID that are promptly responded to
  • Prominent online presence and good consumer feedback
  • A secured website
  • Years of trusted service
  • A transparent and clear agreement that one receives on successful application of the loan.

If you would like to initiate communication with us for a loan, a simple online application shall be the fastest way forward and you can find it here.

Current Trends in Small Business Lending

Business environments are probably as dynamic as Mother Nature. Something that seems normal and stable today, might turn as a thing of the past in days, month, years or decades and the probability of people predicting anything accurately each time, is almost as good as it would be just by chance.

What indicates something that is important to focus on and understand in any present scenario, is likely to be a trend. Trends are temporary in nature, but can last for days, seasons, years and even decades. This applies for almost all industries and businesses and the business of small business lending is no different. These trends affect both lenders and borrowers, which means that as a business owner/stakeholder who may consider funding, it would be a good idea to understand some current trends that relate to it.

In this article, we shall discuss a five key trends that are impacting the small business lending market keeping in mind not that the ongoing pandemic but also what the future seems to hold in store and various other factors.

Trend 1. SBA Loans are Still Easy but the Pandemic did Reduce Approvals

Ever since the concept of SBA loans was put into practice, lenders and borrowers of such loans have seen great value in it. Yes, qualifying for one was never a sure shot, but approval rates have been good by large and the deals tend to remain attractive for businesses that can qualify.

However, certain trustable sources indicate that off late, there has been a slight fall in the approval rate of loans that are being applied for. This is understandable given that risk in lending is on the higher side these days for most industries.

 Trend 2. Non-Bank Alternative Lenders have increased and Competition is rising

Non-bank alternative lending is playing an increasingly important role in the market by not just opening up opportunities for a much larger set of potential borrowers but also influencing the way the traditional lending system operates. With enhanced services that are easier to deal with, these loans tend to be expensive versus most other options. However, there is more competition now and this is allowing borrowers to get better deals. This ought to be an advantage for borrowers who prefer such loans or qualify for just these loans for various reasons.

A brief online application form is all that it takes to initiate a loan query from us BusinessCapitalUSA. We are providing competitive deals to small businesses and shall be happy to serve you.

Trend 3. Traditional Lenders are Strengthening Risk Assessment Processes

A natural reaction by the banking system during times of elevated risk, is to strengthen control over risk in lending. It is an important step for ensuring economic stability. Traditional lenders have been advised to strengthen their risk assessment processes until the global economy is out of the danger posed by the ongoing global pandemic.

This trend has played a role in moving some demand towards other forms of lending which were already seeing a rise.

Trend 4. Mobile or On-the-go Lending didn’t pick up well

A trend that went against the majority of expert opinion, is that of mobile or on-the-go lending. It was forecasted by the vast majority to pick up well. It had started to, but if recent times are to be considered a good indication, things didn’t go as most people estimated. The market share rose and fell. The fall didn’t exactly come with the pandemic as just weeks before the news started spreading, the market share of mobile lending in both personal and small business loans reportedly lost share. This trend carried on into the pandemic days too.

Trend 5. Cash Flow Still Remains Absolutely Vital

We have published articles about the importance of cash flow in businesses. Liquidity and availability of funds to circulate cannot fully be replaced by any other forms of assets and investments. Tough times and times of increased dynamism exaggerate the need the healthy cash flow and liquidity in businesses. The recent times have seen many businesses get devastated simply because of the absence of such readiness while many other businesses don’t just seems to sail through but also seem to grow thanks to well managed cash flow.

Borrowing remains a significant source of capital for liquidity in times of turmoil for many small businesses in the US. We at BusinessCapitalUSA provide loans for all purposes that a business may need to borrow money for, after just a few simple checks and verifications. We welcome you to fill out our brief application form to get in touch with us.

When to Take a Loan While Running your Business

Reasons to Secure a Business Loan

Every business sees phases of profits and losses during its tenure. At times, we may face financial trouble but may not want to completely shut down because of our belief that it may do well further down the line. Even during times when our business does exceptionally well, we may want to borrow money in order to scale up.

Here are some of the reasons why people apply for business loans:

While Facing a Trying Time, Financially

While running a business, you may come across a time when you feel the need to secure extra funding while facing a depreciation in your financial graph and may not have the amount of money that you may need.  A business loan can help you get through your rough patch by providing you with the funds that you need to cater to the basic expenses of your business. For example, electricity costs, rent, salaries, etc. can be covered with the help of a business loan.

To Expand or Level Up In Your Business

When a business does well, wanting to take things a step further is natural. No businessman ever stops trying to grow and an expansion is always part of the pipeline. In situations where one’s company sees a lot of scope, one may not want to lose out but may not have the funds to scale up. Business loans help owners expand; be it to open a new branch, shift to a better location or renovate their current workplace. Nobody should lose out on an opportunity to grow and business loan lenders online ensure that even owners of small businesses aren’t denied that opportunity.

Seeking funds for expansion can take place due to the following reasons:

  • Hiring new people: Investing in an employee undoubtedly costs a lot. With the need to keep one’s team happy with a juicy salary and added benefits entails a fair amount of money and the opening of new positions in the firm adds to that. Compromising on hiring the best of the best shouldn’t be an option when you’re already putting in so much money. If you don’t have enough to employ the best then taking a business loan can certainly be beneficial and can help you hire the right professional for your firm, thus adding value to your company.
  • Buying new equipment: New inventions in technology and equipment never die because everyone is always looking at making things easier for humankind. One wants equipment that can serve the purpose it’s been purchased for in very little time. Of course, one can make do with equipment that aren’t that efficient, but for the best outcome it is important to invest in the right one in order to improve quality and reduce time. A business loan can help you invest in the right kind of equipment for your firm and help increase productivity and efficiency.

A business loan can certainly help one in many different ways and can cater to the needs of different business owners. Be it expansion or a slowdown in your business, these loans are meant to help your firm succeed in the long run and applying for one after a thorough research about your long term goals and understanding why you may need it can undoubtedly help you.

Business Loans: Right or Wrong during the COVID-19 Pandemic

As COVID-19 wreaks havoc across the globe, some businesses are going strong, sole holding on against the tide, some new businesses are thriving well and others are losing their grip and shutting doors permanently. Business loans can be a big decision which can have strong impacts on a business. As an owner or a key stakeholder in a business, one may need open advice and practical recommendations to take the right decision for their business’ future. We share our take on it. It would be a stretch if we said that our article here provides a one-size-fits-all solution. What we put together for you are key but broadly applicable points that can be considered, which aim to help decision making clearer for our readers, while they are the ones who would know their situation probably the best.

What is your Business’ Situation?

It is seen off-late, that much emphasis is made in the market by highly opinionated experts who seem to have two starkly opposing opinions – one being that business loans are very helpful for sailing through rough days while the other being that business loans can be devastating at such a time.

The reality however is that a lot depends on what your business is currently facing. What we shall do is, be practical at sharing when and why a loan can be a good or bad business decision and you could use that information/idea to come to a conclusion suitable to your business’ scenario.

Situations Favorable for a Business Loan Situations Less Favorable for a Business Loan
Established business that just needs funds to sustain comfortably Startup business under 6 months in age dealing in non-necessity items/services
Business in an IT-related or logistics-related sector that is growing during the pandemic Businesses that depend on mass-gatherings that plan to invest the borrowed money to increase response during the pandemic
Businesses that need expansion or added equipment/inventory to serve their customers Businesses that are already having to cut costs to sustain and are uncertain about their future
Businesses strong on less liquid assets but strategically avoiding liquidation of assets by instead choosing loans Businesses nearing bankruptcy
Businesses that have added work due to the pandemic Businesses that are almost without work during the pandemic
Businesses that need to broaden their services a little to be able to serve the new market scenario Businesses that are desperate to add services hoping to be able to serve just any customer

These above guidelines are broad but cannot address every situation accurately. For example, if a business is using a loan to just sustain until the pandemic is over, it can be a good decision if the end of the pandemic means great business. Business risks have to be assessed by owners and stakeholders keeping a lot in mind and this article is only intended to assist understand some concepts more clearly to help the decision process be easier.

How do you Plan to use the Loan?

Businesses use loans for many purposes, like buying equipment, paying dues, adding liquid capital, training staff, adding inventory, sustaining the ongoing expenses, and more.

Through years of existence as business loan lenders, we have been able to maintain a list of what business owners tend to use business loans for. While we do not mandate our borrowers to disclose the reason for the loan, studying the industry does help us serve our customers better and for your reference, we have categorized similar uses of loans as safe and unsafe uses keeping the current market scenario in mind.

Safer Uses of a Business Loan Less Safe Uses of a Business Loan
Relocation to serve more customers or to increase ease of access to current customers or to reduce rentals, etc. Relocation in hopes to find another region that might work while the current region is not working out
Temporary sustenance while the future is certainly bright Temporary escape from bankruptcy
Expanding businesses when required Expanding business hoping it’ll work while the current business is not working well
Adding necessity items to the inventory Adding luxury items to the inventory
Marketing new services designed for the new market scenario Marketing existing services that lost momentum due to the pandemic
Prepare the business for sale when the deal is confirmed Prepare the business for sale hoping to sell it
Diversification of services to cater to a safe market segment Diversification of services without researching what could work in the current scenario
Handle running costs which can also be covered by liquidating assets but a loan is determined to be a better option as the business is healthy as such Pay employees their salaries while no assets and present income can handle that – it might be safer to consider declaring bankruptcy

While this list is in no way wholesome and complete, what we have provided here can be used as a broad guide to understand what sort of uses of a loan are on the right track and what are not. If the decision still seems hard, expert consultants can be approached and it is possible that the fee you pay for their advice turns out cheaper than a miscalculated business decision.

Know What Loans could be Available to you

The market being in a turmoil currently, loan options have become limited. The government has stepped in to assist small businesses. If your business is able to qualify for a supportive loan from SBA (link shared at the end), it is the most cost-effective option out there.

Alternative loans for businesses such as those from our services at BusinessCapitalUSA are quicker and more convenient options with shorter terms that reduce the impact of higher interest percentages. To apply for a Business Loan from us, a short online application form can be filled and we shall get in touch with you within a few hours.

Are Business Loans Hard To Get?

Business loans can be hard to get, especially if you own a start-up or a small business. A bank doesn’t offer loans to all business owners and they see the funding of smaller businesses as a higher chance of a risk being involved. On-deck recently conducted a survey about statistics related to small businesses being denied loans by banks and the results turned out to be a whopping 82%.

One of the reasons why banks deny small businesses loans is because most small business owners may find it difficult to offer collaterals in comparison to larger businesses. Another reason is that the process of approving and providing small and large loans is the same, which is why they focus on catering to clients who need larger sums of money.

Even if an individual wanting to take a loan for a small business (typically less than $2M) has great credit and a concrete business plan, there is no guarantee on getting his loan approved from a bank, especially if they don’t have tangible assets.

In order to get a small business loan, you should know whom to approach. There are a lot of lenders other than traditional ones who are willing to fund borrowers who need fairly smaller amounts of money to kick-start their business.

Business Loans from Business Loan Lenders

There are a few lenders in the market who offer loans specifically to those individuals who need less than $2M to get their businesses running, and start-ups are funded without having to go through much hassle.

These loans are specifically meant for business owners who are denied finances from traditional lenders. It is fairly easier to get funded from such lenders since their demands are very few. Most of them ask for very basic documents which makes getting funded easy.

Business loan lenders such as BusinessCapitalUSA require minimal documentation and criteria to be followed in order for one to get a loan from them. Along with that, they offer various advantages that a traditional lender won’t, including:

  • Online applications- this makes applying for a loan a quick and an easy process. You don’t need to go around hunting for the right lender, waiting in long queues or going through long application procedures that can take hours to deal with. You can apply from at a time and place that’s convenient to you while concentrating on your business instead of where to get a loan from.
  • An elaborate business plan is not required. Basic details regarding one’s business may be asked for just to be sure that the borrower is legitimate. Blue prints, scope, and other unnecessary statistics or information isn’t required.
  • Got anything less than excellent credit? You can still get funded without worrying since that is not a requirement.
  • Collaterals are not asked for which is probably the biggest benefit of the lot. This advantage helps a lot of professionals start their businesses without hesitating about not being funded due to the inability to offer security.

Not everyone today is blessed with the best when talking about finances. Some people may have the capability of starting a business all by themselves and may be confident about succeeding. Nobody should be deprived of loans only because they do not have something good enough to offer as collateral.

However, one must be aware of the fact that such loans demand a higher rate of interest as compared to business loans that you get at banks. That’s basically because the other advantages that they have to offer are plenty which is a plus point for anybody who is willing to spend a little more on a loan that has such benefits.

If you are confident about being able to repay a business loan from a direct lender with the particular interest rate that they charge you and haven’t been granted a loan from a bank for your business, then going ahead and applying for such a loan will do you no harm. However, keep in mind that if you aren’t too sure about being able to pay back the borrowed money on the dates agreed upon by your lender and you, think again before burdening yourself with debt.