{"id":160348,"date":"2017-11-20T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/?p=160348"},"modified":"2023-02-09T10:47:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T18:47:50","slug":"questions-to-find-the-right-business-loan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/questions-to-find-the-right-business-loan\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Questions To Answer To Find The Right-Sized Small Business Loan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many business leaders need financing of some sort sooner or later in the life of their company. This is a normal part of growing a business and making it profitable. However, that doesn&#8217;t mean the loan application process is something to blindly dive into. There are certain questions entrepreneurs need to ask themselves and their lenders before moving forward with a loan application.<\/p>\n<h2>Why do I need a small business loan?<\/h2>\n<p>The most important question to answer is &#8220;Why?&#8221; Your answer should include\u00a0specific points of action that you&#8217;ll take with the money. Not all funding purposes are sound enough to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/aileron\/2014\/10\/02\/7-steps-to-getting-a-business-loan\/#7bbd82d01b00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">justify a loan<\/a>, explained Forbes contributor Aileron, a company that offers small business management consulting,\u00a0in a 2014 article.<\/p>\n<p>For example, seeking funds to cover ongoing losses isn&#8217;t a good strategy &#8211; you&#8217;ll likely need to solve the problem before obtaining a loan.<\/p>\n<p>Some examples of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/blog\/reasons-to-get-a-small-business-loan\/\">sound reasons to apply for a loan<\/a> include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Expanding your business to support growth.<\/li>\n<li>Adopting new equipment to improve operations.<\/li>\n<li>Stocking up on inventory in preparation for a large order.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How much do I need?<\/h2>\n<p>Once you&#8217;ve determined the purpose of the funding, you can begin to calculate how much you really need. It&#8217;s important to narrow down this figure to one you can clearly justify using real data and research.<\/p>\n<p>When lenders review loan applications, they do their own calculations to determine how effective the amount will be for the intended purpose. If your lender determines that you\u00a0requested for $5,000 less than you\u00a0need, it will raise the question of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/article\/227191\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">why you aren&#8217;t asking for your full requirement<\/a> and may reflect poorly on your company, Entrepreneur writer Lisa Girard wrote in a 2013 article.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, asking for more than you need can make you look greedy or like you&#8217;re hiding an intended purpose &#8211; two impressions you don&#8217;t want to make.<\/p>\n<p>To determine how much you really need, dive deep into your intended purpose. Will the loan close a cash-flow gap? Determine how much you need to pay your suppliers and how much you&#8217;ll bring in from your customers. Will the funds be used to buy or lease equipment? Calculate the full cost of acquiring that machinery as precisely as you can.<\/p>\n<h2>Do I qualify for the loan?<\/h2>\n<p>This question is critical to answer honestly before applying for a loan. If you apply for funding for which you don&#8217;t qualify, you probably won&#8217;t receive a loan. When this happens, there will be a record of a failed attempt at obtaining a loan and will give the impression to future lenders that you&#8217;re high\u00a0risk.<\/p>\n<p>Before applying for any loan, research the funder&#8217;s requirements. Do they require five years in business? Don&#8217;t apply if you&#8217;ve only been operational for two years; instead, find another lender who is willing to offer financing to businesses like yours.<\/p>\n<p>At National Funding, companies that have been in business for at least a year, have $100,000 in annual gross sales and can show us their past three months&#8217; bank statements can qualify for a small business loan. Does this sound like you? Reach out for a no-obligation conversation today.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalfunding.com\/application\/apply-now\/?utm_source=nf_blog&amp;amp;utm_medium=cta_graphic&amp;amp;utm_term=getstarted&amp;amp;utm_content=b_eop&amp;amp;utm_campaign=blog_lg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-146668 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.natfundcdn.com\/uploads\/2017\/10\/16172629\/NF-footer-CTA-V7-1-min.jpg\" alt=\"Small Business Funding \" width=\"720\" height=\"258\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How To Find The Right-Sized Small Business Loan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":192684,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[70,96,114],"class_list":["post-160348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-loans-lending","tag-equipment-financing","tag-inventory-management-tools","tag-managing-your-cash-flow"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Small Business Loan: Size Matters - The Bottom Line<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many business leaders need a small business loan of some sort sooner or later in the life of their company. 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