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In business, it is typically understood that you get what you pay for. Well, there is a large caveat to that that has been a standard for a long time, and that is the financial industry. When it comes to business, cheapest loan equals best loan (just as long as you are sure that you are comparing apples to apples!)

The tricky thing is that you may not know where to find the cheapest loan. Your instincts may be to look in the direction of the largest, most successful banks. Your instincts in this case might very well be wrong; large banks tend to offer worse rates than their smaller counterparts, and tend to be much more difficult to deal with (this is true for home loans too). Small banks also spend less money on overhead, and don’t have to pay for as much advertising or extensive ATM networks. This makes them a little less convenient as a place to hold your checking account, but it is much nicer if you are looking for a loan to start business. Cheapest loans, however, are available through credit unions, which not only are highly competitive and willing to hear your pitch with a minimal amount of overhead, they also have no profit margins to cut into your interest rate.

You may also want to consider an SBA (Small Business Administration) loan. The SBA is the nation’s largest guarantor of loans, with a portfolio worth over $45 billion. The SBA offers business loan programs to women, minorities, veterans and others, and they are offered at a very reasonable interest rate; exactly what you are looking for to start your business: cheapest loans.

If you have friends, family or associates that are willing to lend you money, you may want to consider virginmoney.com, which provides you with all the legal and business tools that you need to start a loan transfer from person to person. Sometimes, this is the easiest way to do it.


This Business article was written by Mark Karavan on 12/12/2009