Bellingham, Massachusetts Business Loan

Before meeting with banks for a loan, you will need to develop the specifics of your loan request.

You need to be able to clearly explain your business, explain how much you want to borrow, walk the banker through the planned use of proceeds, and show how you plan to pay the loan back to the bank.

A well-defined business plan is an important prerequisite. If the financing is to for an existing business, you should also have financial statements covering the last three years. In addition, you should itemize what collateral you have available to guarantee the loan. Collateral is relevant because banks always want to be prepared for a worst-case scenario in which you cannot repay the loan .

If the business has few assets, you will likely be asked to secure the business with your personal assets, such as your individual retirement account or pension plan. The banks will look at your personal credit report 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 these banks participate in the financial assistance programs available through the SBA. Before you sit down to talk with a small business banker, you may want to get up to speed 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 Bellingham.

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

More Advice on Raising Money

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