DO you need a loan for your business? It can be essential if you need to upgrade your services and grow your business.
When you’re shopping for business loans, you’ll find that there are many out there. Some of these loans may require collateral.
What is collateral when you apply for a business loan? Keep reading to find out.
Loans and Risk
When lenders make loans, whether they’re business loans, home loans, or personal loans, they’re taking on a lot of risk in giving money to borrowers.
They need to be profitable on the loans, so they’ll charge interest on the loans. They also need to assume that a certain percentage of money loaned will be lost in defaults.
In that case, the bank has limited ways to recoup the lost amount of money when borrowers don’t pay them back. That’s why these types of loans are called unsecured loans.
What is Collateral?
Collateral is used to lower the bank’s risk to get a loan. It’s actually more common than you think. For example, when you have a loan for a home or a car, the home or car can be used as collateral.
If you default on the loan, the bank can reclaim the house or the car. Collateral is defined as property that is used to back or guarantee a loan.
In business loans, you can use collateral to back the loan. In many cases, business loans are used to purchase equipment. That equipment is used as collateral.
There are advantages and disadvantages to using collateral for a business loan. The main advantage is when you use collateral, you lower the risk that the bank takes on your loan.
You’re usually rewarded with a lower interest rate than you would with an unsecured loan.
What Can Be Used as Collateral?
Collateral for a business loan isn’t reserved only for equipment. There are a number of business assets that you can use as collaterals for business loans.
For example, you can use invoice factoring to get a loan if you have a shortage of cash. With financing invoices, you’re using unpaid invoices as collateral on the loans. You get an advance on cash and when your invoices are paid, you return the funds to the bank.
What else can be used as collateral? Inventory, equipment, cars, trucks, buildings or commercial space that you own are some of the ways to provide collateral. Think in terms of what the bank can sell to recover the costs of the loan.
Startup businesses face challenges to get a business loan because they don’t have assets built up in the business to secure the loan.
In that case, lenders may require that you provide personal assets in addition to business assets to secure the loan. Your home, personal car, savings accounts, and other assets could be used in order to get a business loan.
It is possible to get a business loan without collateral. You need to show an excellent credit history and be prepared to pay more in interest.
How to Get a Collateral Loan
The process to get a collateral loan isn’t that much different than getting an unsecured loan. Lenders are going to place a lot of demands on you to prove that you’re a low-risk borrower.
Here are some steps that you need to take to get a business loan.
Check Your Credit History
Even if you take out a business loan, you’re responsible for the loan. You have to show that you have a solid payment history and good credit. Remember banks want to get paid back. If you have average credit, you may get turned down.
You’re likely to pay a higher interest rate, even if you provide collateral.
If you find that your credit score is less than excellent, then take the steps to bring your credit score back up. Pay down any existing debt to lower your debt to credit ratio. This is a big part of your credit score and can help you bring up your score quickly.
Have a Solid Business Plan
What’s your plan to grow your business? Lenders are going to need to see how the loan will help you grow your business. Yes, they’re going to want to see how the loan will be paid.
If you’ve been in business for a while, you’ll also need to show cash flow and profit and loss statements to the lender. You need to show that your business is in good standing because banks don’t want to throw money at a sinking ship.
Find a Good Lender
You’ll want to find a good lender that you can work with. There are so many lenders, it can be hard to choose which one is right for you.
You can start with the bank where you do business. The Small Business Administration is another resource for small business loans. You may be able to find lenders online that provide great rates, too.
Make sure that as you’re evaluating loans, you’re getting a soft credit check done. That will give you an estimate of rates before you apply.
Get a Loan to Grow Your Business
There are times when you want to grow your business. You can increase capacity, hire more employees, and invest in more inventory.
It’s hard to do that and manage your cash flow at the same time. That’s why business loans are a great financial tool. They can be difficult to get without collateral, though.
What is collateral? It’s a way to back your business loan by providing something of value to the banks if you don’t make your payments. Collateral is made up of assets like buildings, incoming payments, and equipment.
That collateral protects the bank’s interests and you get a lower interest rate in the process.
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