New SBA lending program promising approval in minutes
The Small Business Administration has announced an all new “Small Loan Advantage and Community Advantage Loan Initiatives” program. From the SBA.gov website: “SBA is committed to expanding access to capital for small businesses and entrepreneurs in under-served communities so that we can drive economic growth and job creation.” The new initiatives promise a smaller application...
By Bplans
Is Small-Business Credit Starting to Flow?
I just saw Denise O’Berry’s post “Credit Becoming Available to Small Business Again (Slowly)” on her Small Business Expert blog. Denise knows this territory very well because she focuses a lot of her work on the financial side of small-business management. She says: It’s been a long, dry spell, but I think things are slowly...
By Tim Berry
Need Credit? Plan Ahead
Sad but true: Compare these two scenarios, holding everything else–the company, its history, its credit rating, its founders’ credit rating and its balance sheet–constant: Scenario 1: Company goes to the bank in April with business plan output showing they’re going to need a bridge loan to finance an expansion over the summer. Scenario 2: Company...
By Tim Berry
Good News from the SBA on Business Loans
Here’s some good news from the Wall Street Journal’s Independent Street blog: SBA Loan Programs Getting Back on Track: “It’s finally happening. Efforts to get money to capital-strapped small businesses are beginning to work, as banks have returned to making loans backed by the federal government, says Karen Gordon Mills, the new Small Business Administration...
By Tim Berry
Grants and Such: Alice, Welcome to Wonderland
I got this question today in the bplans.com ask the expert area, and it’s one that I get often enough, so I decided to post my answer on this blog. Question: Are there funds available for a minority women owned business? Answer: These things change fast, so make sure to update yourself on whatever I...
By Tim Berry
Grants. Seriously, Grants
There’s a comment on my post about invention grants from last week, asking for more information about grants. The source site for that was the NCIIA, National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, which has some grants for companies and for teachers, too. I may have to rethink grants. I’ve been pretty negative about grants on...
By Tim Berry
Becoming an investor/lender through Kiva.org
On this site, and many others, the talk regularly concerns how entrepreneurs can get their startup funding. It is an important part of every business startup. And two parties are always involved. The people who need to get (borrow usually) the money, and those who give (lend, usually) the money. Today I’m encouraging entrepreneurs to...
The Personal Guarantee for Credit Approval
A personal guarantee (PG) is requested by lenders in order to ensure that they get paid any debt issued to a corporation or LLC. The personal guarantee is signed by an individual typically involved in the business. In most cases it’s one of the owners, officers, or board of directors. The National Association of Credit...
By David Gass
