Business Loans

There are a number of different types of small business loans entrepreneurs and company owners alike can take out to help them fund their businesses. In all cases, lenders require certain criteria to be met in order for them to approve your small business loan. They might ask for your credit score, your tax documents, even bank statements. Some lenders will even ask for you to put up one of your assets as collateral for the lent money. Although this is an option that many lendees take, we are suggesting that it might not be the best idea for a small business owner. Here are 3 reasons why you might want to pass on the collateral-required loans.

1. Long Processing Time

If a lender is asking you to put up an expensive asset as collateral, the idea behind it is that you have placed something of equal value to the money you’ve borrowed, on the off chance that you are not able to repay it back to the lender. This seems simple enough, however, unlike a solid loan amount which can be counted, the asset you put up (such as your home or your car) does not come with an exact price tag. It will take time for the lender to check in on your asset that you’ve offered up, to make sure of its value. This type of loan can take much longer to approve than a loan that only requires a credit check, where the numbers are laid out in front of you on your statements.

2. Lack Of Ownership

Maybe you’re just starting out in the business world, and you want to build your business and take it to the next level. Just because you have your business (or only your business idea), does not mean that you happen to own a worthwhile asset that could be used as collateral. The idea of your business is to eventually be making good money for yourself and your employees so that you will be able to buy your own home or your own luxury vehicle, but most people do not start out already owning them. Instead, go for a loan that doesn’t require you to put up assets as collateral, and then grow your business until you have enough to buy the assets of your dreams.

3. Risky Business

So, let’s say you take out a loan, go all-in for your business, and it fails. Unfortunately, this does happen from time to time, and sometimes it happens after you’ve already spent all of the cash you owe. If you’ve put your assets up as collateral, you will have a much harder time trying to find a new place to live, than finding a way to simply pay back the money. You could always take out other loans that can consolidate your debt until you get back on your feet. However, if you’ve put up your house to back the lent funds, you’d be in a much more difficult situation.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!

Taking out a small business loan can be a great relief and help for many entrepreneurs and business owners. With the right knowledge and understanding, getting funding to help get a company on its feet can be rather simple to do and very rewarding in the end. However, if you are considering taking out a loan to help fund your business, there are a few questions you should ask yourself before putting in your application.

1. How Much Money Do I Actually Need?

When presented with the opportunity of a lump of cold, hard cash just handed to you, it might be tempting to just take out a bulk of it and use it to your heart’s desire. However, a small business loan is far from being “free money”. In fact, taking out funding without seriously understanding all of the costs and risks that come with it can land you in some very hot water. Before applying for a loan, it’s important to do the math about how much money you will really need to cover the certain expenses you deem important and urgent. Otherwise, you might find yourself stuck in some bottomless debt.

2. What Exactly Will I Use This Money For?

Just like knowing the exact amount of money you need to take out is imperative, knowing exactly what that money will go for is just as important. You need to have a plan for what you will use your funding for, so you can make sure that you don’t frivolously spend your funding. Without becoming too rigid, as the business world is always changing, you need to at least have a set of specific goals you wish to accomplish with this small business loan. Having written goals will not only keep you organized, but it will also help you track your progress and see what aspects of your business really benefitted from the loan.

3. How Confident Am I In My Business?

This is a big one. Unless you are sure that your business plans are solid, you should maybe wait with taking out money that will need to be repaid with the profits of your company. Of course, that’s not to say you should avoid all business loans because you are not 100% sure that you will be successful, nobody can actually know that. However, you need to have a pretty solid plan and a mapped out list of goals and expectations, as well as confidence in yourself and in your business idea before you get yourself into debt.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!

Starting or running a business takes money, plain and simple. Working capital, and lots of it, is required for paying off all types of business expenses. Whether its paying employee wages, stocking up on inventory to sell, or just staying afloat with maintenance if you don’t have cash, you won’t have a business for much longer. Of course, just because your company is not profitable yet, or maybe you are just starting and you don’t have the cash to get your feet off the ground, doesn’t mean you cannot move forward with your business goals. Many successful small business owners opt to take out a business loan to get themselves the funding they need to make sure they can cover all of their expenses. In most cases, getting funding from a lender is possible if you meet certain required criteria that they are looking for (good credit score, a record of steady cash flow, etc). However, there are cases where you should NOT take out a small business loan because it might prove to be even more unhelpful in the end.

Firstly, if you do not meet the requirements of the lender, you will not be approved for a small business loan. These requirements include at least 12 months of bank states illustrating to the lender that you have had some sort of steady cash flow throughout your past year of business (even if your revenue goes up and down over different seasons), a decent credit score (which shows the lender that you are on top of your payments), and your most recent tax return (which assures the lender that all of your taxes are in order).

Assuming you do meet all of the requirements, there are still a few red flags which tell you that you are not in a good position to take out a small business loan, even if you do qualify. One of the biggest red flags that tell you taking out business funding is a bad idea is your income-to-debt ratio. Debt is a natural thing to happen to most companies, especially if you have taken out loans before, or you’ve made purchases bigger than your current profits could pay for. However, there is a point where you have so much debt that you cannot possibly pay off yet another loan.

The rule of thumb here is to make sure that your income-to-debt ratio is less than 50%. If your debt surpasses your income, so that you have more debt than you do money coming in, you are in a very bad situation. Taking out another small business loan, even if you want to use the funds for bumping up your business, will most likely end you up drowning in even more debt. If you find yourself in this kind of situation, you are better off waiting with yet another loan, and instead, trying to find ways to cut back on expenses and get your existing debt down as much as possible. Once you find yourself afloat once again, you will be in a much better position to take on another loan to make your business dreams a reality.

It’s no secret that every business needs working capital, aka cold hard cash, to run and stay afloat. That being said, not every successful business owner has the funds to take care of all of his company’s needs and to keep it steadily growing. Often times, business owners and entrepreneurs opt to take out funding, in the form of a small business loan, in order to make the necessary purchases needed to run their business and keep it up-to-date.

Most of the time, a business loan comes to you in the form of cash directly deposited into your account, so you have free reign to do whatever you please with it. However, you should always have a plan and a goal in mind when you begin to use these funds to help your company. Otherwise, you will find yourself indebted to the lender, with a failing business to boot. Here are some of the best ways to put your small business loan to good use:

1. Hiring and Training New Employees

Scaling your business means making every aspect of it bigger. This includes the number of people you have on your team making the whole thing come together. Of course, with growing your business comes many expenses, so it can be hard to find the cash to covers the growing pains AND the new employees you’ll have to hire to keep up with it all. If that’s your biggest pain point, use your business loan funds for the first few months of salaries for your employees, until your larger revenues will cover the costs for you.

2. Get Yourself Online

Every day, we learn more and more towards technology and away from the physical world. That’s not to say that your brick-and-mortar company is in danger, per se, but it’s always important to keep up with the times. If you don’t have a website, or you do but it’s not optimized and user-friendly, use your small business loan money to hire a web developer to make you a beautiful site with a clean interface. This will give your customers an option to purchase your products online, from the comfort of their homes, which will increase your revenues a great deal.

3. Consolidating Past Debts

Most business owners are no strangers to debt, and it’s very likely that you may have taken out a loan or two in the past that you are still paying off. Save yourself a headache, and some money too, by consolidating all of your loans into one. This way, you’\ll no longer have to deal with multiple interest rates, payments terms, and due dates.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!

It’s no secret that every business needs working capital, aka cold hard cash, to run and stay afloat. That being said, not every successful business owner has the funds to take care of all of his company’s needs and to keep it steadily growing. Often times, business owners and entrepreneurs opt to take out funding, in the form of a small business loan, in order to make the necessary purchases needed to run their business and keep it up-to-date.

Most of the time, a business loan comes to you in the form of cash directly deposited into your account, so you have free reign to do whatever you please with it. However, you should always have a plan and a goal in mind when you begin to use these funds to help your company. Otherwise, you will find yourself indebted to the lender, with a failing business to boot. Here are some of the best ways to put your small business loan to good use:

1. Keeping Up With Your Equipment

Unless your business is completely run online (and even if it is, this could still be relevant), you will eventually need to spend money on equipment. Whether it’s to fix a damaged machine or repair a broken appliance, or simply because you need the newest upgrade in order to keep up with the competition, your business loan funding could be very well used here. Making sure that you have access to the newest, most advanced equipment in excellent condition is imperative to keeping your business running as efficiently as possible.

2. Marketing Yourself

Even if you have come up with the most innovative and unique idea ever made, without marketing, absolutely no one will know you even exist! If you don’t have the funds or the revenue to take care of your marketing, using your loan here is a good idea. Marketing yourself effectively can mean the difference between being a nobody and having to fight off the paparazzi of clients at your door.

3. Buying Inventory

In order to open up a store, whether brick-and-mortar or a physical shop, you will need to purchase large amounts of inventory for you to sell to your customers. While the goal is to eventually buy it at a cheaper price than what you will sell it for, the fact remains that buying bulk inventory can take a pretty hard hit on your wallet. Instead, use your small business loan funds to purchase the inventory you need for however long of a season you wish to sell for. Hopefully, your revenue from the sales will leave you with enough money to buy the next round without taking another loan.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!

There’s no shame in receiving some funded to give you a leg up in your business. In fact, most business owners have taken out, or will take out, at least one loan to help give themselves a boost and supply themselves with immediate working capital for their company’s needs. However, taking out a business loan is not as simple as it sounds. Here are some major DO’s and DONT’S when it comes to taking out a small business loan.

DO all of your research to find a reputable lender

It might sound obvious, but it is vastly important to use a lender that is well-known and who has good reviews. Although the lender needs to be able to trust that you will pay his or her money back, it’s just as important that you can trust that he or she gives you honest, reasonable terms, and doesn’t have any secret loopholes that might get you into trouble.

DO get multiple quotes

It’s always a good idea to get a second (or third) opinion, and that goes for a business loan as well. Even if you think you might have found the small business loan for you, you should always get multiple quotes to compare to one another, and you might just find out that you almost missed a better rate. With any big purchase (even if it’s only lent money), doing a double or triple check, is never a waste of time.

DON’T take out more than you need

On the one hand, you should always take out as much money as you need in one loan, instead of taking bits of cash here and there (that will leave you with multiple interest rates and payment terms to keep track of). However, while you should take as much money out as you need, you shouldn’t take any more. This doesn’t include a small, calculated buffer amount that you might need for unaccounted expenses. But it is a bad idea to take out a big surplus of cash to use on unrelated expenses, which could land you in hot water when it comes time to pay them back.

DON’T use your loan for non-business related expenses

When you’re handed a large lump of cash at once, it might be tempting to use some of it to finish up your car payment or help buff up your vacation a little bit. Don’t do it! To keep yourself organized and out of monetary trouble, you should use your business loans for business expenses only. If you find that you need more money for your personal expenses, you should look into a different option for funding, that’s more geared for personal use.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!

There’s no shame in receiving some funded to give you a leg up in your business. In fact, most business owners have taken out, or will take out, at least one loan to help give themselves a boost and supply themselves with immediate working capital for their company’s needs. However, taking out a business loan is not as simple as it sounds. Here are some major DO’s and DONT’S when it comes to taking out a small business loan.

DO take out as much money as you actually need

It may seem financially safer to take out as small an amount as possible, even if you need a bit more, but in the end, it doesn’t pay off. You should absolutely take out the exact amount of money that your business needs. If you don’t take out enough to really make a difference in your business, the loan is essentially useless anyway.

DO have a clear understanding of the terms and conditions of your loan

Before agreeing to any type of funding, you need to be clear on what the terms of the loan are. What is the interest rate you will be paying, and is it accumulated monthly, annually? How much time do you have to actually pay the loan off in full? How often and what dates are payments due? These questions, and more, should all be answered sufficiently before taking out any sort of small business loan.

DON’T take out multiple loans at a time

It’s much more financially sound to take out one bigger loan, instead of multiple loans at once. Not only will this leave you with two different sets of terms to remember, but you will also have to pay two monthly payments of different amounts, most likely on different dates. This is a great way to become confused and get yourself into money trouble. It’s best to just take out the amount you need from one, trusted, loan provider.

DON’T put your assets up as collateral

There are some types of loans that don’t require the typical payment terms. While these may seem tempting, you should avoid putting up any of your personal or business-related assets up as collateral for your funding. This is a dangerous practice and could land you in some real hot water if anything goes wrong with your payments. Trust us, a late fee is a much better option than losing your home or your car.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!

Taking out a small business loan can be a huge help for any business owner. Whether you want to grow your business, purchase updated equipment, or consolidate past business debts, a loan can take a lot of pressure off and allow you to reach your financial goals, quicker.

However, just because you apply for a loan, does not automatically mean your application will be accepted. There is a process that you must follow, and documentation you must provide in order to qualify for funding. Of course, there is no need to be intimidated or worried that you won’t get the funding you need to grow your business, if you are prepared. Aside from having the correct documentation and information at the ready, there are certain circumstances you’ll want to wait for, to give yourself a better chance of being accepted.

Firstly, when applying for a loan, the lender will look at the status of your business. This means that he will want to know if you are earning enough money to where you will have the means to pay the loan back according to its terms. Unless your business has a steady rate of cash flow all year round (which is, admittedly, very rare) you will want to apply for your loan during your high season. So, if that means that most of your demand is during the summer months, you will want to apply at the peak of your strong season. This will look good to the lender, and he or she will feel more at ease with lending you some of their money, knowing that you have the cash to pay it back eventually.

Second, you’ll want to take a look at your credit score. Even if you’ve just broken into your high season, and you are making money, if your credit score does not reflect a good, steady cash flow, you will most likely be turned away (or at least be giving a higher interest rate to pay). Be sure that your credit score looks good enough to show the lender that you do pay back your debts, to the best of your ability. This is one of the first things that lenders check when deciding if they will accept your loan proposal, so be sure that you have everything in order beforehand.

Although it might seem scary to apply for a small business loan (especially if it’s your first time), it is very doable if you know what to do. By applying for the loan when your business is in its strongest and your credit score is healthy, you will most likely be accepted and in a matter of days, you will receive the funding you need to achieve your financial and business goals.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!

Virtually any type of business will, at some point, require you to have some sort of physical equipment in order to maintain it. Whether it be brick ovens for a pizza place, building materials for a construction business, or even a simple laptop for an online e-commerce shop, you will need to have equipment at your beck and call to perform your daily tasks.

The slightly unfortunate thing is, that even if you take meticulous care of your business equipment, eventually, you will need to spend money on things like maintenance & repairs, replacement, updates, and other expenditures that come with having “things” that you work with daily. Keeping up with your equipment can cost a pretty penny, and often times business owners cannot afford to make such big expenditures on their equipment when there are so many other costs involved in maintaining and growing a company.

Luckily, Equipment Financing loans are available to a wide range of business owners. Of course, taking out a loan does not come without its risks, so it’s important to be sure that an Equipment Financing loan is right for you. Here are three signs that it’s time to finance your equipment with a small business loan.

1. You Are Growing

Unless your entire business is conducted online, which is becoming more and more prevalent these days, if you want to grow your company you will more than likely need to purchase more equipment. Maybe you need more pizza ovens because you’ve expanded your restaurant to fit double the amount of people. Or maybe you’re opening up another branch and you need more inventory to stock up on. However you are growing, you will need to scale your equipment to match with your larger demand.

2. Your Equipment Has Broken

This is a fairly obvious one, but nothing in this life lasts forever, and that goes for equipment as well. Sometimes things break from damage or simply from overuse, and must be repaired or replaced altogether. Don’t let a malfunctioning appliance lose you customers. Instead, get funding for the money you need to have your equipment working at its optimum capacity, and keep your business running as usual.

3. It’s Time For an Update

Maybe everything is working “just fine” but the newest pizza oven technology has just been released, and can up your productivity 3X! Even though your equipment is functioning properly, sometimes it’s a better business decision to spend a bit of money to make a lot more of it. If having the newest, most updated equipment will help your business, it’s a good idea to make the purchase.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!