Los Altos, California Business Loan

Before contacting 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 plan to pay the loan back to the bank.

Being able to present a well-written business plan is is critically important. If the financing is to for a company that is already doing business, you should also have financial statements covering the last three years. Bankers will also want to know 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, the bank may ask you to to secure the business 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. Before meeting with the 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.

Without further adieu, here's our list of small business banks in Los Altos.

More Advice on Raising Money

Take the time to learn as much as you can about Raising Money. For starters, we recommend you read Business Line of Credit.