Loans for Business: Hope Amidst Frustration in 2009

If you’re a small business owner, or have dreams of becoming one, recent news on the financial front can be a bit discouraging. The lead story in every newspaper and online publication is the apparent freezing of lending across all fronts. Keep in mind that it’s never really as bad, or as good, as it seems. Here’s why.

First, the Bad News
Sometimes, it’s best to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. In that spirit, we’ll examine the challenges that lie ahead. In its Top 5 Trends for Small Business Finance in 2009, Small Business Trends paints a fairly bleak picture in the efforts to acquire loans for business. Here are a few of the lowlights:

• The amount of capital provided to small and start-up companies will continue to shrink
• Investors in start-up companies will face a poor market for exiting from their investments
• Government officials won’t pay much attention to entrepreneurial finance

MCAs Provide Some Light
The merchant cash advance is an alternative form of financing that is garnering some much deserved attention in the last five years or so. Vendorseek describes the primary advantages of the MCA process.

• Credit history plays no part in your getting an advance
• MCA lenders are much more pragmatic and objective in decision-making
• With an MCA, there’s really no lending involved

There’s Always the SBA
SBA Loans Shack reminds us that the Small Business Administration is always a viable option. Loans for business are typically offered in amounts between $100,000-$2,000,000. And last year the SBA assisted small businesses with over 12 billion dollars of loan guarantees.