Business Loan Walnut Creek, California

Before meeting with banks to get 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, describe what the money will finance, and show how you plan to pay the money back to the bank.

Having a business plan is an important prerequisite. If the money 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 you cannot repay the loan .

If the business has few assets, you will likely be asked to to guarantee the loan 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 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 read up on 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 Walnut Creek.

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

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If you are new to our site, you should know that we are dedicated to providing advice to small business owners, and we have a lot of resources related to to Raising Money. To learn more, one article that might be of interest to you is How Equity Dilution Works.