SBA Small Business Loan Lenders

SBA loans are small business loans given out by certain approved banks backed by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA is a government agency funded by the US Treasury. Many small business owners believe that the government is the one that directly lends to small business owners. This is no longer to be true. In the past, the SBA directly issued business loans to small businesses. The SBA then pushed this responsibility to America’s qualified banking institutions.  

If a small business is seeking an SBA loan, the certified SBA lender will request a loan guarantee from the SBA.  The SBA will approve or decline this request.  If the SBA approves the request, depending on the SBA loan program , the SBA will guarantee repayment of that loan up to a certain percentage of the loan if the small business owner defaults on the loan.  In order for a bank to offer SBA loans as apart of their loan program, they must go through certain qualifications. Once the bank is a certified SBA lender, they have the write to offer all of the SBA’s loan programs.

The SBA (The Federal Government) does not directly lend to small businesses

There are different types of SBA loans in order to entertain the different small business scenarios in the United States. The SBA has also created SBA loan programs to entertain natural disasters, economic disasters, and small business owners who are experiencing financial stress.  In order to be approved for these types of government backed loans, you must fall under all the certified SBA lenders qualifications.  SBA loans take between four and six months to process.  There are quite a few qualifications a small business must go through in order to be approved for an SBA loan.  These government backed loans are not for small businesses who are in current real-time need of business capital.

Minority SBA Loans
SBA Loan Rates
SBA Loan Requirements
SBA Loans for Women

The SBA has offices all over the country in order to assist local small businesses on their needs.  Search for an SBA office nearest you.

Below are the different types of SBA loan programs backed by the SBA.

SBA 504 Loan Program– This loan program is mainly for commercial mortgages.  If you are looking to purchase a building you can apply for an SBA loan to assist you in the purchase.

SBA 7(a) Loan Program- This loan program is actually a bunch of different loan programs for different business purposes.  The SBA 7(a) program is the SBA’s most flexible loan program and is mainly for start-ups and existing businesses.  Please see the different SBA &9a) loan programs below:

7(a) Express Loan Programs

SBA Express – This allows for a borrower to have a response of their application within 36 hours.  There are quite a few qualifications to even apply for this type of accelerated loan program.

Community Express – This program serves the under deserved communities in certain areas in the US or HUBZones with a unique loan that covers cash and technical assistance.  This program also entertains loans of up to $25,000 no matter where your small business is located in the United States.

Patriot Express – This program assists small businesses that are 51% or more owned my veterans or anyone in the military.

7(a) Export Loan Program

Export Express – This programs assists business owners in their exports business.  The SBA offers backing for loans and lines of credit up to $250,000.

Export Working Capital – Allows for small businesses that can support export sales to do so with the assistance of a Export Working Capital SBA Loan.

International Trade Loan Program – Program assists in businesses that are looking to start or already export or have been affected by import competition.  The funds must put the small business in a position where they can compete.  This loan is caped at $1.75 million.

7(a) Rural Lender Advantage Program

Rural Lender Advantage - Program is designed to assist small rural area lenders that have been negatively impacted by anything to streamline application process.  This is apart of a larger SBA initiative.

7(a) Special Purpose Loan Program

CAIP – The Community Adjustment and Investment Program is dedicated to assist US companies that are doing business in areas of the country that have been affected by NAFTA.  CAIP loans allow for the payment of SBA loan fees to lenders.  In many cases these fees can be very large.

CAPLines – This program is an umbrella program and assists small businesses meet their cyclical working capital needs.  This loan features five different lines of credit:  Seasonal Line, Contract Line, Builders Line, Standard Asset Based Line, and Small Asset Based Line.

Employee Trusts – This program assists in employee stock ownership plans.

Pollution Control – This program allows for different 7(a) loans for the main purpose of pollution control.

SBA Micro Loan Program – This loan program is dedicated for start-ups and caps at $35,000.  Main purpose of this loan program is for working capital to buy equipment, inventory, etc.

SBA Disaster Assistance Loan Program – This program offers low interest loans to any business property or assets that have been destroyed in a natural disaster.

Small Business Start-Up Financing - How to Get Up to $150,000 to Start Your First Business

Believe it or not, one of the best places to get financing to open your first business is a bank. While banks are incredibly strict when lending money to first time business owners, there is a special loan program that helps them to loosen up their lending requirements. That program is called the SBA (Small Business Administration) 7(a) Loan program.

The 7(a) loan program can be used in many different ways by many types of businesses. The focus of this article will be using the 7(a) loan program to secure up to $150,000 in financing to start your first business.

The SBA 7(a) program works like this:

• The SBA agrees to guarantee a large portion of a loan made by a bank to a first time business owner, granted the bank follows specific guidelines when approving the loan.
• The guarantee means that if the loan goes bad, the SBA will write a check to the bank for the guaranteed portion of the loan.
• The effect of the SBA guarantee is that it greatly reduces a bank's risk and the bank will be much less strict with its lending guidelines.

So the SBA gives anybody looking to open their first business a shot at getting a bank loan to help with start-up costs. That's the easy part to understand. While a bank will loosen up its lending requirements with an SBA guarantee, it can still be hard to get approved. There are several things you need to know if you if you decided to pursue this type of financing.

1. First, you've got to have a solid Business Plan. This is what the bank will rely on heavily to determine if you know what you're doing. A solid Business Plan and Income/Expense projections will go a long way towards getting your loan request approved.
2. Second, you've got to have some business experience either directly or related to the business you are trying to open. If you don't, you'll have a hard time getting an approval.
3. Third is cash. You'll need to provide 30% of the total cost of starting your business in cash. So if you determine that you need $100,000 to start your business, you'll have to come up with $30,000 of your own cash to invest in the business.
4. Fourth, strong personal credit is a must. The better your credit scores, the better your chances of getting approved. If your credit scores are less than 650 or you have a bankruptcy you' ll have to seek other avenues to get the financing you need.

That's it in a nutshell. If you have all of these things covered you stand a decent chance of getting approved for a 7(a) loan to open your first business.