AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
7 questions bankers ask ... and you must answer. (business loans)
IT'S A FACT OF entrepreneurial life: As far as bankers are concerned, when it comes to loan applications, they have to sort through an awful lot of junk before they find the few loans that fit the needs and policies of their bank.
How can you avoid the junk heap? By distinguishing yourself with good answers to the seven key questions that bankers always ask. These questions apply if this is your first or your fiftieth loan. Even if they're not asked directly, these questions are always on your banker's mind. If you don't have satisfactory answers, you won't get your loan. It's as simple as that.
Most small-business borrowers don't have good answers. Loan officers are used to this. In your first meeting with them, you probably won't even get their full attention. They'll be looking for any obvious reason to refuse the loan, and if they find one, they'll turn you down. If there is no immediate reason to deny the loan, the officer will be vaguely encouraging. The banker then will give you a checklist of information needed to analyze the request.
If you are prepared right from the start, however, you will immediately send a signal that you are quite different from most small-business borrowers, that you will make the officer's life a little easier and the loan application less troublesome. Here are the seven questions:
1 How much
money do you
want?
I have actually had business borrowers answer this question with another question, "How much will you lend me?" These folks rarely get to the second interview.
Bankers give this question a lot of attention. Answer it with as exact a dollar amount as you can. Some people advise asking for a higher amount than you need, so that when the banker trims your loan request, you will still get enough. Others say that it's safer to ask for less and then stretch it out if necessary.
Both of these strategies will probably work against you. If you borrow less than you need, you have probably borrowed just enough to get you in trouble. Then you are in the tough spot of having to go back to the bank for more. You've hurt your credibility by…
- Republicans Raise Fees on Small Business Borrowers Says Kerry.
- News wire article from: The America's Intelligence Wire November 22, 2004 700+ words
...s largest lending program, shifting the cost to small business borrowers and lenders. In fiscal year 2002, the Congress rejected...program shifts more than $70 million in costs to small business borrowers and lenders that have already overpaid more than $1 billion...
- Capital ideas: SBA, banks angle to land small-business borrowers.(Small...
- Magazine article from: ColoradoBiz Stokes, Jeanie May 1, 2006 700+ words
...rising since last year, which would naturally drive more business borrowers like Patterson and Sheppard to banks and the SBA, but...card companies and national banks also have been courting business borrowers with easy-to-receive plastic. McLean, Va.-based...
- Banks to Court Business Borrowers.
- Newspaper article from: Kiplinger Business Forecasts November 23, 2004 700+ words
...increase between 12% and 15% next year, accelerating from about 6% this year. Banks will try to entice more business borrowers with discounted loan rates and higher loan limits. Lenders also will be ready to negotiate higher acceptable...
- Banks vying for small-business borrowers.
- Newspaper article from: The Kiplinger Letter October 12, 2001 700+ words
Banks will vie for small-business borrowers...seen as a good bet to help banks get through the profit squeeze caused by low interest rates. Small and medium-size banks...
- Mixed outlook for small-business borrowers.
- Magazine article from: Dallas Business Journal HOOVER, KENT May 25, 2001 700+ words
...Johnson says. "I also worry that the timing of such a change will reduce the credit available for these small-business borrowers as they seek access to funds in a slowing economy," he says. Congress shares that concern. It already has...
- Banks scrutinize Y2K readiness of new business borrowers, Y2K scams.
- Newspaper article from: The Kiplinger Letter May 7, 1999 700+ words
Banks are scrutinizing Y2K readiness of new business borrowers. Most applicants will have to provide details on their Y2K preparations and follow through with needed changes as a condition...
- Banks raising the bar for business borrowers.
- Newspaper article from: Kiplinger Business Forecasts August 24, 2000 700+ words
...creditworthiness of borrowers in cyclical industries such as housing and autos. Despite the tightening, many business borrowers"particularly medium-sized companies with good track records"won't notice a difference when they go to...
- Research report: assessing the risks of small business borrowers.
- Magazine article from: Journal of Commercial Lending McNamara, Gerry Bromiley, Philip October 1, 1993 700+ words
This article describes the development of a model to assess the risk of lending to small business borrowers. 7he model was developed using logistic regression analysis and a few common financial, ratios from commercial borrowers at Norwest...
- The family business borrower: how to gain critical insights: strategies for...
- Magazine article from: Commercial Lending Review Sherman, Gerald M. March 1, 2006 700+ words
...companies are family owned and operated. Given this, virtually every U.S. lending institution has family business borrowers, and most seasoned lenders have been confronted with some of the challenges they can present. In the extreme...
- Business borrowers eyed.(News)(Brief Article)
- Newspaper article from: Crain's Chicago Business January 19, 2004 700+ words
Byline: STEVEN R. STRAHLER Corporate bankers around Chicago see the acquisition of Bank One Corp. as another chance to swipe customers and employees as the city's biggest bank goes through its third ownership change in the past decade. "The phone's been ringing off the hook says Edward Wehmer,
Other Gale sites: Encyclopedia.com | HighBeam Research | Acquire Content | Books & Authors | Goliath | MovieRetriever | Smart QandA
The AccessMyLibrary advertising network includes:
