Van Buren, Arkansas Business Loan

Before meeting with lenders 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 introduce your business to the banker, explain how much you want to borrow, describe what the money will finance, and show how you intend to to pay the money back to the lender.

Being able to present a well-written business plan is essential. If the financing is to for an existing 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 secure the business with your personal assets, such as stocks and bonds that you might own or life insurance policies. 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 these banks 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 Van Buren.

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