Centralia, Washington Business Loan

Prior to meeting with banks for a loan, you will need to have a specific plan.

You need to be able to clearly explain your business, explain how much you want to borrow, describe what the money will finance, and show how you intend to to pay the loan back to the bank.

A well-defined business plan is essential. If the money is to for a company that is already doing business, 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 the equity in your home. 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 the banks in our list are SBA lenders. Prior to visiting local banks, 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 assist you in finding a small business banker, here's our list of small business banks in Centralia.

More Advice on Raising Money

If you are new to our site, you should know that we are all about supporting small business owners, and we have a lot of useful articles about to Raising Money. If you want to learn about raising money, we would suggest you read Attracting Investors.