Herkimer, New York Business Loan

Prior to contacting banks to discuss getting a bank loan, you will need to have a specific plan.

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

A well-defined business plan is essential. If the capital 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 guarantee 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, the bank may ask you to to to guarantee the loan with your personal assets, such as the equity in your home. 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 are SBA lenders. 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 Herkimer.

More Advice on Raising Money

Our site is deeply committed to supporting small business owners, and we have a lot of useful articles about to Raising Money. To learn more, we recommend you read Find Start-Up Capital.