Business Loans With Bad Credit: Not The Only Financing Options Worth Considering

For every business owner, it is a major challenge to get approval on a business loan with bad credit. The economic climate makes life difficult for many small businesses, with lower consumer spending and growing pressure from lenders to maintain existing loan repayment schedules. But there are alternative options.

Whether keeping your business afloat or starting a new business, there is finance available from lenders. But while approval is down to the strength of your application and, ultimately, the decision of the lenders, the type of financing sought is down to the applicant. The key choice is between a loan or a line of credit.

Of course, when dealing with business loans or other financial packages, there is no such thing as a nominal amount of money. Getting things started or keeping an operation going requires real financial help, so sums of $100,000 and more are needed. But there are options to securing this kind of funds.

Getting a Startup Loan

Research is always important when approaching a lending institution with the intention of securing a business loan with bad credit. The principal concern is that, whether going to a major bank or a large private lending firm, the relationship will be long term. So, it is best to get all the facts necessary before deciding on a deal.

The main issues that need to be agreed upon are interest rates, repayment schedules, and any additional options that can be activated in the future should the task of repaying the loan become more challenging than expected. It is also worth asking about taking a line of credit instead of a loan to see if their terms are better.

When it comes to approving a business loan to finance a new business however, most lenders are very open to the idea. But they will still want to know the personal credit history of the applicant, as well as details of any previous business experience.

Choosing a Line of Credit

Getting a business loan with bad credit is not always the best option. Certainly, once a loan is approved the pressure to meet the agreed repayment schedule begins. It is not such a comfortable position to be in when starting out, or even developing revenue potential. It is, therefore, worth considering an alternative.

Agreeing a business line of credit can work to your advantage better. This is where a bank agrees to a maximum sum but only interest is charged on the actual amount of funds spent by the borrower. If, for example, $100,000 is granted and the borrower spends just $60,000, then interest on that $60,000 is charged. The balance can be accessed whenever necessary.

What this means is that interest payments can be kept lower than with a straightforward business loan. This is because no interest is charged on the remaining $40,000 until it is spent, while interest is charged on the full loan amount.

Other Key Considerations

There are some other aspects that should be considered before seeking a business loan with bad credit. Not least is the fact that, because of a low credit rating, the interest rate charged on the loan will be high. So, the size of the repayments each month can be quite high too.

The alternative option allows for interest repayments to be kept under better control, if the borrower can control spending initially. Therefore, securing a line of credit is a much more cost-effective.

For this reason alone, more and more businesses are favoring this option ahead of the all out business loan. However, it is essential that the specifics of both options are discussed in detail before agreeing between one of the other with your lender.