5 Things to Consider Before Applying for an SME Loan

March 31, 2020
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Clare Louise
Posted in Finance
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Do you feel prepared for this? You might have gone through the ups and downs regarding the fair shares. There might be many uncertainties. Well, many of the people often fail to get approval for their SME business loan. If you think of taking your SME on the right path, a business loan can pave many paths by bringing a plethora of opportunities to you. Undoubtedly, financing plays a crucial role in any business. However, it is important to know how you can get a business loan effectively.

Have you applied for several SME business loans? Did you prepare a few loan applications? Has your application bitten the dust each of the time? If yes, you got to be sticking yourself with this article. We have brought foolproof tips that you must consider while applying for an SME loan from popular .

We highly recommend you to keep these things into your mind.

Check the SME status of your business

First, you got to be checking the status of whether your business has got the recognition of a small or medium enterprise or not. However, if you are not aware of it, you can check it out. There is a thing you must keep in mind. Several parameters decide whether your business falls under an SME or not. Well, for this, you must be considering the parameters set by the banks and financial institutions like Capitall Singapore. These things usually include product-based and service-based sectors. The differentiating parameters are like sales turnover and the number of employees.

So, before you apply for an SME business loan, check the SME status of your business carefully.

Operating time

For how long have you been doing your business? Well, there must lie a criterion on which your business be standing well.

We consider it to be one of the most important criteria. Hence, it is obvious that meeting these criteria can be beneficial for you. For instance, in many cases, the operating time should be not less than two years. Well, you got to be checking the criterion according to the region in which your business is operating. Make sure you have the proper documentation which is capable of determining your operating time in detail. This proper record can help apply for an SME loan.

Gather legal and financial documents

We have seen many lenders and banks asking for several legal and financial documents. During the processing of your application, the lender can ask for the documents we mentioned below:

Income statement and balance sheet
Commercial leases
Business and personal income tax returns
Incorporation articles
Financial projection in case of the operating history which is limited
Business licenses
Business Profile

Well, such a huge number of documents can make the procedure more time-consuming. However, this won’t be a problem if you seek a long-term SME business loan in case of a major investment.

But, in case if you need money quickly, online lenders can be the best option. Online lenders offer SME business loans with only a few documentation and faster process. If you have got strong business finances and a decent credit score, you can get the rates that you get in case of bank loans.

Develop a strong business plan

Lenders are going to check everything carefully. How are you going to use the money? How strong is your plan to utilize this money effectively? How capable are you to repay? Hence, you got to develop a business plan which is strong enough to get the approval from the lender.

The business plan must include the financial projection along with the current financial statement. It must assure that the cash flow is enough for covering up the expenses as well as the latest loan payments. With such qualities in your business plan, the lender will be confident while approving the loan.

Here are the things your business plan must include:

Management team
Service or product description
Company description
Industry analysis
SWOT analysis
Operations plan and facilities
Marketing, promotional and sales strategy

Tenure of the loan

You might be aware of this. However, we have to mention this so that we can remind you of the dependence of the tenure period on the amount. The loan tenure is set by the money that you want.

Also, you must know that you are not gonna pay only the amount within the tenure period. You have to pay the interest as well. Hence, before applying, make sure to know what the rate of interest will be.

Now, as you have found these five things, begin with the research and go for the loan that better fulfills your business needs. Moreover, you got to be keeping your plans in your mind at the time you apply for the loan.