These are tough times if you are in the market for loan funding. Banks are not as friendly any more and in general want you to have money before you apply for money. Yeah, self-defeating, I know.

What do you do?

One place where you can get a lot of help and possibly even find the funding sources that will work for you, would be the SBA. The small business administration has been actively pursuing the small business loans area and seems to have a pretty good success rate in finding funds for the small business community.

SBA to the Rescue on Small Business Loans

Although there are a number of programs being offered to the small business community, the most popular programs are the 7a and the 504 packages. There are significant differences on these packages and a thorough reading of their requirements will help you find out if this is for you.

Loan Packages: 7a and 504

The 504 program is available to established businesses and is primarily used to buy fixed assets, such as an equipment that is going to help your business but isn’t going to be included on the products you use. A business truck could be considered a fixed asset and your best bet would be to consult with the SBA. The other loan package 7a could be used to pay off debt or to buy inventory and again you should consult with the SBA to find out if this will help your situation.

Loan Guarantees

These are great times for you to take advantage of these programs as well as find out what other options are available to you. The SBA maximum guarantee on these and many other loan programs has increased from the 70’s to the 90 percents now so that it makes it more acceptable to those same banks that won’t talk to you. What this also tells you is that you will be required to come up with 10% or so to make the deal work and as with any other government program, be prepared for a long process of compiling paperwork.

If you are in the market for a loan package and are being turned down by snooty unhelpful banks that advertise just the opposite, then make sure you consider these loan packages or consult with the SBA for additional options.

Wishing you the best in your venture.