As a business owner, you might want a business loan if you are expanding your current business, starting a new chain of business, or when you need to cater to the cash flow. There are many different types of business loans available from some of the top banks or lenders. Along with mentioning why you may need a business loan, this article lists the common types of business loans, some of the best banks to secure one, and a few factors to keep in mind while applying for a business loan.

Types of business loans

SBA Loans: The Small Business Administration typically backs loans that are in the range between $5,000 up to $5 million. Primarily, the object of these loans is to help small businesses. However, typically it is the commercial banks or the online lenders who offer this type of loan. So, the government backing ensures that the APR rates are low to guarantee that lenders have higher confidence in getting their money back. Businesses can use SBA loans for all types of business purposes. They have long terms of repayment and low APR rates. However, the only downside of this type of loan is that they are time-consuming, and the process of application is usually long.  

Business-Term Loans: This is the traditional loan for a business. It lets you borrow a lump sum amount of money, anywhere between the range of $1,000 to $500,000. So, you can repay this loan over the next few years. Usually, the term of repayment is anywhere between 1 to 5 years. However, there’ll be lenders that will offer you both shorter and longer terms. For these loans, the rate of interest is anywhere between 7% to 30%. Businesses can use these term loans for any purpose, and they do not need collateral. You’ll get a loan primarily based on your average monthly or yearly revenue, the credit score of the business, and the overall financial health of the business.   

Equipment Financing Loans: Though you can use your regular business loans to purchase necessary equipment, you can even use the dedicated equipment financing loan. Under this type of loan, the equipment that you are buying becomes the collateral against the loan. As a result of this, the average APR rate comes down to 8% to 30%. It makes the loans more accessible to businesses that have poor credit scores. Businesses can use the equipment loan while paying off the loan. In this case, the amount of loan that you get would depend on the value of the equipment. Banks usually offer you a loan up to 100% of the value of the equipment. So, naturally, the funding will take some days to come through. In most cases, long term loans can be as long as the usable life of the equipment, but typically they span over five years.  

Things to remember when applying for a business loan

When you go to a bank or a financing institute for a loan, they will ask you a couple of questions. You don’t want to be caught off guard during this interview. Thus, it would help if you were well-prepared to sound like a true professional who is in genuine need of a loan and takes finances super seriously. Some questions that you may have to answer during your interview with the bank are listed below:

Why is there a need for a loan?

You might have already answered this question in your bank loan application, so you have to repeat the same thing.

What should be the term of the business loan? Or when would you be able to repay this loan? 

Now, you don’t just have to give out a random number here. It has to be a practical term. You have to support your reply by talking a little bit about the sound financial history of your business. 

How would you ideally summarize the operations of your business? Is it unique to the others in the market? If so, how?

Be very careful with how you approach this answer. You have to model the answer to this question on the elevator pitch. Typically, your response should highlight the strength of your business and how it ideally fits the industry market. 

How would you explain a particular past failure of the business?

If the business has encountered a failure in the past, you will certainly come across this question in your loan interview with the bank. So, be prepared to explain any financial hardship faced. Try to be detailed in your explanation, but do not divulge too many details, which might go against you. 

Is your business insured? What are the insurances you already have?

Carry your insurance cards with you. You should also ensure that you will cater to the coverage requirements of the lenders if any. 

Talk about your on-going personal credit?

If your business is new, your creditworthiness will be taken into consideration. So, be honest with your credit score because the banks will cross-check this. 

In addition to answering these questions, you’ll also need to show your accounts documents ready. Further, you might have to explain any oddities within them.

Top reasons to avail a business loan

You wish to geographically expand your business

Expansion is excellent news. It certainly indicates a boom in your business. And if there’s a boom, you are ready for an expansion. However, being ready for expansion doesn’t mean that you also have the money with you for it to happen. In such a case, you would need a business loan that’ll help you finance your expansion.

So, whether it is starting a new chain or store or taking your business abroad, there’ll be a change in the overhead and up-front expenses. And mind you, this change will be crucial. Hence, before you plan out this change, you need to take a moment to calculate the additional revenue that this expansion would bring you. Will that be enough to bear the cost of the loan and still fetch you a good profit? You can use a tool for a revenue forecast in addition to your current business’s balance sheet for analyzing how this expansion would change your business’s status.

If you are adding a new retail location, you need to first do substantial research to ensure that the area where you wish to expand is a perfect fit for the target audience.  

You need more stock for the business

One of the most important expenses for every business is the stock. Just like equipment purchase, even replenishing the stock with better quality and quantity is needed for accelerating your sales. Now, this might seem unachievable, especially if you have to buy a huge stock before getting any return on investment. This primarily holds for those businesses that engage in a season-based business.

In other businesses, too, there might be occasions when you might need more inventory without adequate cash in hand. To ensure that it is a good business move, you can prepare a projection report for the sales. You can use your past sales record of the same months to be more precise. For this, first, ascertain the cost of financing this and then compare this amount with your projected sales. Now, based on this calculation, you’ll be able to understand whether your decision of taking a loan is wise or not. One should be aware that there could be a difference in the sales figures across different years. Which is why it’s best to be conservative in your analysis. 

The new opportunity of your business that you discovered supersedes the debt it could bring

At times, there’s a grand business opportunity that comes to you, and it is simply brilliant to let it go, or at least that’s what we think when we get it. For instance, you just found a good retail space at a huge bargain, or you are getting a massive discount on buying inventory in bulk. Sounds enticing, right? Well, before you give in to these alternatives, you need to first determine the ROI that you’d possibly need in order to overcome the value of this business loan. Then you need to compare it with the revenue that you might generate if you avail this opportunity. Here’s an example to clarify. 

You have a business, and you receive a new contract of $10,000. The problem here is that you do not have adequate equipment to carry out this job. If you decide to purchase the equipment, you’ll have to spend approximately $2500. To buy this equipment, you decide on taking a loan for two years, which would bring in additional cost (interest) of $500. Now, taking it all into consideration, this deal would still fetch you a profit of $7000.  

So, in any   situation, if the ROI is more than the debt, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t grab this opportunity. However, it is important to be extremely cautious with the calculations. Many entrepreneurs have made a mistake of overestimating the proposed profits and underestimating the costs. Hence, before availing any opportunity, you need to understand the advantages and disadvantages. Base your decision strictly based on numbers and the hard facts. Sometimes your gut instinct could work for you, but if the numbers say otherwise, let the opportunity pass. You do not need to fail your lenders and land your business in a soup.  

How can you improve your chances of getting a loan?

To improve your chances of getting a loan, you should: 

• Be thorough with your documentation
• Know about all the available borrowing alternatives
• Have adequate knowledge of your cash flows
• Know about the risk that the lender would possibly examine.

Banks that can help you in getting a business loan

You could reach out to some of the banks listed below while seeking a business loan: 

Wells Fargo : Wells Fargo refers to itself as the country’s leading lender for small businesses. If you do verify their records, it holds too. They have a bunch of different financing solutions and a vast experience of lending, especially in the small business lending sector. So, if you need financing, this is a great bank. 

Bank of America : Another bank that has been particularly beneficial to small business owners is Bank of America. By the end of 2019, the bank had $307 billion outstanding in commercial loans. At present, the bank has about 4400 branches and efficient mobile banking capabilities. It is one of the best alternatives for small businesses looking for a business loan. They mostly give loans to highly qualified borrowers. 

JP Morgan Chase : In the year 2019, the bank had loaned more than $91 million only in SBA loans. There are two reasons for including this bank in this list. One, the bank presents you with a myriad of lending options. From equipment financing to real estate financing and SBA loans, you can find it all with JP Morgan Chase. Secondly, the bank has an excellent lineup of credit cards for small businesses. So, if traditional loans are not a great fit for your business, you can avail a credit card from JP Morgan. 

Capital One : Capital one is predominantly famous for its consumer programs. However, the bank has indeed invested in its lending program. In 2019, they provided more than $20 million to SBAs. It is an excellent bank for business loans because they have a plethora of business loan options, which they give out to businesses.

Capital One can help you with vehicle financing, equipment financing, lines of credit, business installment loans, SBA loans, and commercial real estate loans. The good thing about Capital One is that they offer relationship-based rates. So, if you are an existing customer, you might be eligible for a personalized or a custom-made loan program, keeping in view the financing needs of your business. It is their customizability that makes it one of the top choices while securing a loan.