Small Business Loans: 3 Experts: Tips for Survival

We've written extensively on the topic of small business loans. With the current economic climate, they are becoming more important than ever. That's why we reviewed three reviewed three top articles on the subject and wanted to share what's new and what's not.

Your Business Credit Score Matters When Getting Loans

If you've only just started your small business, you might not know much about small business credit scores. Small Biz Trends writer Annie Pilon has a great piece about how your credit score is more important than you might think. Essentially, your business and personal credit scores operate in a similar way, in that they show experts and bankers the potential risk in giving you a loan or apartment or whatever else. Business credit scores operate on a scale of 0 to 100 and are used for making loan and credit decisions (among other things). Most business don't realize that they have to proactively reach out to credit bureaus like Dun & Bradstreet. Unlike your personal credit score, your business credit score isn't automatic. You want to avoid a nasty surprise when looking for credit, and there's a blank report

How to Translate Bank-Speak

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If you're trying to get a loan for your small business, you will need to pass as an expert on how to talk to banks. While this can be difficult, Saige Driver at Business News Daily has a great primer on negotiating loan deals, especially when it comes to the terminology that you'll need to learn for your success.

Bank-speak is tough. But it doesn't have to be a foreign language. With a little practice, you can conquer it.

Know What Your Business Needs When You Ask for a Loan

Gerri Detweiler at Forbes wrote about this in a great piece, pointing out the five tips on how to get an SBA loan. While all are important, we think there are 3 that are at the top: Know how much you need, know your numbers (how much you are likely to be able to get), and Get help. We have a free course on this topic, which is live on July 13th

Business Loan Experts... In Summary

If you aren't sure you need, there are people who can help. We work with this, but more than that you need to know how your business operates and what it will have to survive off of. Here are the main things to remember:

1. Keep track of your business & personal credit score
2. Learn how to navigate Bank Speak.
3. Lastly, it pays to do your homework. Know how much you need, how much your likely to get, and where to go if you need help.