Best business loan tips to guide you through to success

One of the best business loan tips anyone can offer you is to shop around for the best loan which fits your needs and your company profile.

By: Hitesh Khan/

Most retail banks offer loans to the small business sector. They all have different products and services on offer. Make sure you shop around to find the right loan that suits your needs and consider whether it makes sense to consolidate your business with one bank to get the benefits of a package or have different providers for different products. You may also consider visiting a finance broker, as they can help a small business evaluate the options of many lenders.

Other best business loan tips requires you to give yourself time to do some homework

The first aspect of the process is to find out what banks have to offer you. The bank you already bank with may not be the best for your business and may not offer you a loan. Do research, talk to other people in business, look at websites and gain plenty of background information about what all the banks offer. You do not have to confine yourself to one particular bank. Technology makes it possible for you to work with a bank based anywhere in Singapore.

Types of best business loan tips most people won’t give you is to not wait until you are desperate to ask for money. This is not a good foundation for a successful loan application. The bank wants to feel secure in its decision. It does not want to hear that your business needs the loan to survive; it wants to hear that your business needs the loan to grow.

If you don’t have the time to search for loan products, approach a loan specialist, The loan specialist will be able to give you the best business loan tips.

Ask around; try to find out which bank has loan specialists who understand the industry sector you are in. Most banks have loan specialists who will have a better understanding of the sector you are in, which means they have a better appreciation of the conditions your business is exposed to.

If you are a small business or a start-up, consider making your first approaches to banks with a small business focus or small business support already in place. Study bank websites to see which banks offer what kinds of business support.

Some banks offer free software applications that can run alongside your internet banking. Such software may assist you to monitor your accounts, pending automatic payments, the exchange rate and more. Ask the bank during the application process if they have a particular banking service which may assist your business.

If you score an interview for your small business loan application, presenting yourself well is among the best business loan tips anyone can give you. Presenting your business in the best light at a meeting, means presenting yourself in the best light.

Remember: this is a business meeting. There is no reason to feel intimidated or nervous about asking a bank for money. They will want to do business with you, if your proposition is sound and your business knowledge and skills are apparent. If it will add to presenting your business in a sound light, ask your financial advisor or loan specialist to go to the meeting with you. Make sure the bank officer understands clearly what the involvement this person has with your business.

If you have been successful with your loan application, this is not the end of the relationship with your bank. The process of providing information to your bank continues over the term of the loan. If the loan provided by the bank is more than $1 million, banks generally carry out annual reviews.

This usually happens either when your annual accounts are available or on the anniversary of the borrowing. At the annual review time you should be ready to provide all the information you prepared the first time. It is also likely that you will be called in for an interview.

For the relationship with the bank to develop well there is one requirement that must be observed, and that is that there must be a candid approach that involves keeping the bank properly informed. Any tendency to tell the good side and leave the bad side unmentioned should be avoided. Any downturn in events should be discussed with your bank manager as soon as it is known.

Banks do not approve all applications from small businesses, in fact up to one in four fail (depending on the prevailing economic environment). The reasons can be many and varied, so this is why it is important to seek feedback from the bank as to why. This feedback can provide some valuable insight into the weaknesses of the business and/or application.

One best small business loan tips most people won’t give you is to not wait until you are desperate to ask for money. This is not a good foundation for a successful loan application. The bank wants to feel secure in its decision. It does not want to hear that your business needs the loan to survive; it wants to hear that your business needs the loan to grow.

Bankers for example, will be very interested in how you run your business as a profit generating exercise and your plan to generate cash flow. Healthy cash flow is the very essence of a successful small business. After all if your cash flow is poor, your business will struggle to operate efficiently and repay any loan.