SBA Loan: Qualifying and Applying

According to federal government research, small businesses provide about 75% of the net new jobs added to America's economy. They also employ fully one-half of America's private sector workforce. In addition, 99.7% of all employers in the U.S. are small business owners. These statistics make a strong case for the existence of a federal organization dedicated to the promotion and proliferation of small businesses in this country.

In 1953 the United States government established the Small Business Administration (SBA) as a way of assisting entrepreneurs in forming successful small businesses through government guaranteed loans. While the SBA itself doesn't make many small-business loans, its primary function is to guarantee the small-business loans made by private lenders.

Most SBA loans are secured through any one of the SBA's many licensed partners nationwide. Besides establishing lending guidelines for their partners, the SBA also ensures reasonable loan terms by guaranteeing major portions of the loan in the event of a borrower default. Because of the decreased liability provided by the SBA, the lender is able to offer better interest rates and options to businesses in the early stages of development.

Before we get too excited about the potential benefits of an SBA loan, it may be a good idea to first talk about who can potentially qualify. The size of your company obviously plays a large role in securing an SBA loan; after all, this is about 'small business'.

If you run a manufacturing company, its possible to have up to 1,500 employees working for you and still qualify for an SBA loan. On the other hand, depending on the type of manufacturing you do, it may be more likely that you'll be limited to 500 employees in order to qualify for loan consideration.

For some industries, the SBA lender may look at your company's average revenue. For example, if you run a wholesale or retail business, your average annual sales for the past three years cannot exceed $6 million to $29 million, depending on the type of business you own. Construction companies need to fall into the $12 million to $28.5 million range. Basically, if you make too much, you're considered too 'big' to need an SBA loan. It's also very important that you're running an independently owned for-profit organization if you are considering SBA loans.

If you still qualify keep reading.

When beginning the SBA loan application process, your lender will require you to have some specific information ready. The first document you'll need is your business profile; this simply describes the type of business you run, your annual sales revenue, the number of people you currently employ, and how long you've been in business. You will also need to provide a loan request. This is a description of how money you need and how you plan to spend it. As with any loan, you will need to provide collateral. Be prepared to explain how you plan to secure the loan.

The most important information you will need to provide is the business's financial statements for the past three years. These include: balance statement, income statement, and the statement of cash flows. As the owner of the business, you will need to provide not only your personal financial statements, but also the financial statements of any other individuals that hold 20% or more equity in the company. Most lenders will also ask for personal tax returns for the last three years.

In the next portion of this article, 'SBA Loan: Options, Benefits, and Lenders', we will further examine what kinds of loan options are available, and for what kinds of businesses they are most advantageous. Lastly, we will discuss different types of SBA lenders.

Cameron Brown is an internet marketer specializing in ranking automation. For information on how an SBA Loan can benefit you, visit Security National Capital

Latest News


Aljazeera.net

Added Loans to Iceland Will Help Pay Depositors
Wall Street Journal - 18 hours ago
While loans from the International Monetary Fund and the Nordic countries are aimed at supporting Iceland's tottering economy, the British, Dutch and German ...
IMF, Nordics pledge $4.6 billion loans to Iceland The Associated Press
Iceland welcomes loans from IMF, Nordics and Poland (Roundup) Monsters and Critics.com
IMF, Nordic Neighbors Agree Billion-Euro Loans for Iceland Deutsche Welle
Shropshire Star - guardian.co.uk
all 736 news articles

GETTING PERSONAL: Family Loans Serve Multiple Purposes
CNNMoney.com - 12 hours ago
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- If you want to help out a family member without giving a handout, consider a family loan. Loans between relatives can help the ...

Fort Worth's Trinity Bank Profits up 31%
MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
In a day when many banks are fighting for their existence because of bad loan decisions, we are fortunate that we have yet to have one loan loss or one ...
RMG Capital Corporation Reports Third Quarter Earnings CNNMoney.com
all 22 news articles

LendingTree Loans Selects IBM for Loan Fulfillment Services
MarketWatch - 19 hours ago
LendingTree Loans(SM), the company's consumer direct online mortgage lender, to provide comprehensive, private label mortgage loan fulfillment services. ...
LendingTree inks deal with IBM Bizjournals.com
LendingTree Loans Selects IBM for Loan Fulfillment Services International Business Times
IBM to provide loan fulfillment services to Tree.com's LendingTree ... RTT News
all 18 news articles

New York Times

December 22 Is Deadline to Apply for SBA Economic Injury Disaster ...
MarketWatch - Nov 19, 2008
The deadline to file applications for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) is December 22, 2008. Small businesses and small agricultural cooperatives that ...
Loans tougher to get but still available Salt Lake Tribune
Loans available for September storm damage Columbia Missourian
Low-interest loans available for Sept.-Oct storms Chicago Tribune
Marshall County Journal - MLive.com
all 253 news articles

International Business Times

Fitch Downgrades 1 Class of JP Morgan Chase, Series 2001-A ...
MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
In addition to the largest loan, Fitch has identified three other Loans of Concern, which includes the specially serviced asset. ...
Fitch Affirms Bear Stearns 2000-WF1: Assigns Outlooks MarketWatch
Fitch Downgrades 1 Class of Banc of America Commercial Mortgage ... MarketWatch
all 23 news articles

Calgary Herald

Congress Delays Action on Auto Industry Loans
Voice of America - 16 hours ago
The chiefs of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler asked for twenty-five billion dollars in new loans. Congress already approved twenty-five billion in ...
Ailing automakers plead for $25b in loans Boston Globe (registration)
Dealers have eye on DC Sand Mountain Reporter
Auto Execs Reset Bailout Pitch; Republicans to Rewrite CAFE for Loans Ward's Auto (subscription)
Los Angeles Times - Bloomberg
all 1,691 news articles

SBA loans drop, rationing under way
Bizjournals.com, NC - 17 hours ago
US Small Business Administration-guaranteed loans for the 24 counties south of Orlando were down almost $150 million in fiscal year 2008, which ended Sept. ...
Allegan, Barry country residents hit by flood eligible for loans MLive.com
Small business loans dwindle The Tennessean
SBA steps aimed to fuel small-business lending Finance and Commerce
Huffington Post
all 18 news articles

ABC News

UAW may give up jobs bank to revive auto loans
Detroit Free Press, United States - 18 hours ago
2 for how the loans might be used to transform them into viable companies, promising to bring Congress back into session Dec. 8 if the plans measure up -- a ...
Congress: Auto execs must show 'significant sacrifices' DetNews.com
Senators reach compromise on emergency auto loans: report MarketWatch
Big Three's plea for aid fizzles in Congress Seattle Post Intelligencer
Trading Markets (press release) - Detroit Free Press
all 3,063 news articles

Straits Times

Who's Getting $2 Trillion In Fed Loans?
CBS News, NY - 18 hours ago
The Federal Reserve Board has been quietly providing $2 trillion in "emergency" loans to banks, and the pace has been quickening, Early Show National ...
Video: Consumer Prices Drop Record 1 Percent in October AssociatedPress
Can the Fed fight deflation? How? BloggingStocks
Depressing Times CFO.com Magazine
all 1,566 news articles

Resources