Small businesses, the backbone of the U.S. economy, have found it difficult to get a bank loan these days. But it’s not impossible.

Gone are the days when just about any business could get a loan for under $100,000 with simply a strong credit score, says Jordan Peterson, a senior vice president at PNC Bank in Pittsburgh. While credit scores are still king, today you need more to prove you’re a sustainable, viable business. Banks will review an applicant’s tax returns for the past few years and want to know industry trends.

“Banks have always underwritten on cash flow, but even more they’re looking at sustainable cash flow and if it’s going to be sufficient to pay back the loan,” says Peterson.

Here’s some advice from the experts to ensure your small business loan application stands out:

1. Work with an accountant: Peterson, who has worked in the commercial loan business for 23 years, says that although banks will accept tax returns, it can help a small-business owner to work with an accountant to help prepare his or her financial position to show good, detailed records to a bank.

2. Work with a business banker: Get to know and really work with a small-business banker. The banker can help an applicant work through the process. Peterson notes that PNC Bank’s small business loan applications are electronic, but that doesn’t mean a business owner can’t meet with a banker in person to help explain the application.

3. Beef up your business plan: Presenting a business plan is important for some loan applications, particularly those that are financially guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. It’s important to acknowledge the history of your company in the plan, too.

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Business Funding Solutions: Large Corporate Techniques on a very small budget!

By Webmaster*SAM
August 2005

Readers,

There are some techniques that large corporations have used for a long time to build corporate credit. However, often those techniques have a large corporate budget associated with it.

You on the other hand are an Entrepreneur and being the person you are, you cherish getting (or doing) what the “Big Guys” do at little or no cost.

The big corporations have hundreds of millions of dollars for an advertising campaign. You do it on a shoe string and get even a better ROI (return on investment) than the big guys. The big corporations in the past have used million-dollar investments to build instant credit for a new corporation that they created.

But, being the Entrepreneur you are, you want to do the same with little or no cost. CAN it BE DONE on a shoe string?

The ANSWER is …. NO*

*IF you expect to build millions of credit over night.

There are some places on the Internet that will promise (less the fine print) to do just that for large amounts up-front or with a proper amount of collateral. There are some that will charge fees later, but they collect your information up-front and then sell it off as a lead to a company that will work with you –often that becomes very expensive money.

However, being the Entrepreneur you are, you need to take a different approach: You need to work like a very successful baseball player. You need to be a Ted Williams…

The expensive way touted by many on the Internet for building credit is not advisable, unless you have a lot of money to part with and that will not hurt you. However, by taking the approach that makes for some of the greatest baseball players, you too can build a fantastic amount of capital at your disposal for whatever need.

Here is what I mean: Some of the greatest of the great baseball players hit mostly in the infield –their hits that resulted in a lot of singles and doubles kept their careers going and going. Sure they got some home runs, but what made them great was their consistency. Day in, day out, game after game, they consistently hit and brought in the runners and made for winning games.

When you try to build your corporate credit DON’T try to HIT HOME RUNS! Sure those are great for some, but you are working for the steady and sure flow of capital. You’ll have some credit building “home runs” but those will happen in time. What you need to work on is getting some credit here and more credit there. Then build from that point.

While doing all of this learn a lot about business – Your business. After all, this is about *Growing Your Business* and building success. IF that cannot be done, you are no better off than when you had NO credit.

I wrote the baseball example to show one of the mistakes that many Entrepreneurs often make and that is to go after too much credit at the start. In the Membership area I will get into several special ways to establish several hundred thousand dollars of business credit, quickly, but not overnight. And you can get the credit building done with a minimal cost. There are no other fees that the site will charge you, but there are some costs to get some of the items done. For example, a bank account, some of the permits and corporate papers that you’ll need will cost extra.

Success,

Webmaster*SAM
Business Credit Building Editor

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