The reading level for this article is All Levels
Like most businesses that are starting out, yours will probably need a large business loan to help take off. While this may seem like a daunting task, especially in today’s economy, rest assured that options are still readily available for those that are willing to be patient.
If you have already started your business, built up a good credit profile and are looking to expand, you will probably have little difficulty going to the bank and getting a conventional loan. If this does not sound like your situation, though, you are far better off seeking the aid of smaller banks and credit unions. These localized creditors tend to be much more accommodating to the needs of small businesses, as they are in greater need of your business. Small banks and credit unions tend also to be much more competitive, as they have less overhead to pay for (and in the case of credit unions, no profit margins to make up either).
However, there is another method to getting big sums when you need a large business loan: get a bunch of small ones. Large loans, of course, require a great deal of risk and are not typically offered to struggling or start-up businesses (at least, not without predatory interest). SBA loans, by contrast are very small and highly accessible to individuals with bad credit or otherwise challenged lending status, but you can apply for many at the same time with very little repercussion on your credit score: just make sure that all credit pulls for these arrangements are done within two weeks, and they will all count as one loan. This is a standard rule of personal credit borrowing, but it applies also to business credit. This strategy can, of course, be integrated with other types of borrowing like P2P lending and cash advances if you need a large business loan, making it a very good method for many entrepreneurs.
