Small Business Lenders in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Before reaching out to banks to discuss getting a bank loan, you will need to determine exactly what size loan you will be asking for.

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

A well-defined business plan is is critically important. If the money is to for a company that is already doing business, you should also have financial statements covering the last three years. You will also need to discuss 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 pledge your personal assets, such as stocks and bonds that you might own or life insurance policies. 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 participate in the financial assistance programs available through the SBA. 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.

To help you learn more about local small business lenders, here's our list of small business banks in Philadelphia.

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

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