Small Business Lenders in Albany, New York

Prior to contacting lenders for a loan, you will need to develop the specifics of your loan request.

You need to be able to clearly introduce your business to the banker, explain how much you want to borrow, define how the money will be used, and show how you intend to to pay the money back to the lender.

Having a business plan is is critically important. If the money is to for a going concern, you should also have financial statements covering the last three years. In addition, you should itemize what collateral you have available to secure the loan. Collateral is relevant because banks always want to be prepared for a worst-case scenario in which cash flow from the business does not meet your projections.

If the business has few assets, you will likely be asked to to guarantee the loan with your personal assets, such as your individual retirement account or pension plan. The banks will check on your personal credit history in any case, so hopefully you have good credit history -- you may want to get a copy of your credit history prior to meeting with the banker.

Many of the banks in our list participate in the financial assistance programs available through the SBA. Before meeting with the banker, you may want to do your homework on SBA loans programs to see if you qualify. SBA 7(a) loans, SBA 504 loans and SBA disaster assistance loans may be available to you.

To help you learn more about local small business lenders, here's our list of small business banks in Albany.

This is a list of banks outside of Albany, New York that have provided SBA loans to Albany businesses. Some of these may be national banks with local branch locations.

More Advice on Raising Money

Take the time to learn as much as you can about Raising Money. To get started, we recommend you read Business Incubators.