Miami, Florida Small Business Loans

Before meeting with lenders 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, describe what the money will finance, and show how you plan to pay the loan back to the lender.

Being able to present a well-written business plan is an important prerequisite. 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, 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 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 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 Miami.

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Our site is deeply committed to aiding small business owners, and we have a lot of resources related to to Raising Money. For example, we would suggest you read Choosing VC Firms.