Top Loan Companies

Of all the things you will have to take care of when starting your first small business (defined here as sales between $100k and $1 million in the first year) you're going to need start-up capital. You'll use this capital to help you with initial costs and cash flow until your business becomes profitable. Following are a few options you may have already considered:

1. A few searches on the internet will tell you Venture Capital Firms, Angel Investors, or Private Equity Firms are a great place to start. While this might be a great option for some, these types of firms are looking for the next sensation that will generate millions of dollars in a short amount of time. Not only that, you will have to give up ownership of your business and most times you will set a sale date before you even open the doors.
2. Another option you might consider is using your entire savings account, combined with a loan from your 401K, combined with 2-3 credit cards. While this option is attractive because you won't need approval from anybody to do it, if you end up needing more money you can get into trouble quickly. I would only recommend 100% financing your start-up by yourself if you 'll have more than 6 months of expenses in addition to your start-up capital, or a significant other has a job which covers all of your personal costs.
3. Ask your Mom, Dad, In-Laws, your rich Uncle Henry some cash. This can be a great option because they'll be more than likely to give you favorable loan terms and will be more willing to work with you if things get tight, well....maybe. The downside to this option is that your "borrowing money from your family" which means you've just added a layer of potential family problems. This can lead to an awful lot of stress on you so I highly recommend thinking it through if you decide to pursue this option.
4. Finally, borrow from thousands of people. That's right, but you might know this method better as "getting a loan from a bank". But, "Banks aren't lending anymore" is what anyone you ask will tell you. This simply isn't true, Banks are still willing to lend money to business start-ups with the assistance of the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 7(a) loan program.

The SBA 7(a) loan program is a government sponsored program which allows first time business owners the ability to borrow money from a bank to start a business. Here is how it works: As long as a bank follows certain guidelines, it can provide you with financing and the SBA will guarantee a large portion of 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. This greatly reduces risk in the loan for the bank creating the opportunity for you to borrow money to start your first business.

Here are a just a few of the benefits that make this the number one option for financing a brand new small business:

• Bank financing is one of the cheapest forms of financing available.
• You won't see your banker at family dinners.
• While banks decide whether or not they're going to lend you money in the beginning, they won't tell you how to run your business or force you to sell at a pre-determined date.

This is the short and sweet explanation of why SBA 7(a) loans are the best form of start-up financing for small businesses. If you would like find out more information on how to get approved for a 7(a) loan please visit http://7asecret.com. Best of luck to you in starting your business.

Understanding commercial real estate bridge loans can seem complicated, but it isn't really. When someone wants to purchase a piece of commercial real estate, and needs time to undertake some task such as property improvement, finding a tenant, or selling the property, commercial real estate bridge loans can make this happen.

Typically, these loans are planned around terms of six months to one year. However, sometimes the lender will allow the owner the option to extend this loan for an additional six months to one year. The fee for this extension is usually between ½ point to 2 points. This type of loan can be thought of as a "financing bridge" that takes place between the acquisition and development of a property and the time before a permanent, traditional take-out loan is enacted.

They can be useful in situations where a borrower wants to purchase a commercial building and is approved for a SBA loan. However, the conventional SBA loan is contingent upon one year of successful business. The borrower gets the money to fund the project by arranging for the seller to carry back thirty percent of the purchase price of a property. The borrower then secures a commercial real estate bridge loan for the remaining portion of the loan. The loan enables the borrower to go ahead and purchase the property and establish a good, solid operating history that qualifies it for conventional, long-term financing.

Permanent commercial loans cost less than commercial bridge loans because commercial real estate bridge loans are only designed for the short haul. They are usually paid off whenever the property owner gets permanent financing. This is after new tenants move in or improvements to the property have been made. These loans generally do not have any type of a prepayment penalty.

Sometimes, banks will extend loans in cases where a borrower has a large reserve of cash and excellent credit. There are many different kinds of commercial loans. One is called an "opportunity fund." This is a special fund that has been established to provide commercial real estate loans that are high-yield. These types of loans require special understanding and expertise. Real estate financing experts refer to these as "no-brainer deals." This means they are uncomplicated deals that are so straightforward that even a finance rookie could understand them. Typically, the types of people who invest in opportunity funds are those with endowment trusts, pension plans, private trusts, and some REIT's.

If a borrower has credit that isn't great, not much money to pay down on a commercial property, and little or no commercial real estate experience, that person may have to go to a "hard money bridge loan" lender. These kinds of lenders supply commercial real estate bridge loans based on the equity in a specific property.

Private commercial mortgage lenders can enable business owners to use the same strategies as professional real estate investors to raise capital. They tend to be ordinary people who are simply looking for a better return on their money than a bank savings account or CD can offer. Using them from the private sector can be one of the easiest methods for raising money for people who are unemployed or do not have good credit records established.

These lenders enable just about anyone to raise as much money as they need for a commercial property while avoiding the limits that standard commercial bank might impose. However, finding one is not as easy as it may sound. One can't simply put an ad in a newspaper and expect them to suddenly line up outside one's door.

It is important to make a good first impression when attempting to win over the confidence of anyone who is going to invest in your business. Without a solid financial game plan, you can expect to be disregarded as an amateur, a stigma that will be difficult to overcome.

They lend money to people they can trust and in whom they have confidence. Before approaching a group of private commercial mortgage lenders, it is crucial to have a solid business plan and to be able to discuss it intelligently and thoroughly. It is smart to know how to answer the lenders' questions before they are even asked.

Networking is very helpful in finding private commercial mortgage lenders. Having a prepared statement about one's financial needs and an outline of a specific project helps, too. These lenders want at least a safe 9-12% return on their money. They want to make sure that their investment are safe and the return of their capital is secured and guaranteed.

Placing ads in the REIA Newsletter or on a popular website such as Craigslist can be helpful at times. However, anyone who is looking for a private commercial mortgage lender should not rely on these methods. Some people who seek lenders print up postcards or flyers and send those out, or organize meetings with potential lenders and give detailed presentations. Upper income level senior citizen groups sometimes invest in private commercial ventures if a clear enough picture of the investment opportunity is presented clearly and if the opportunity offers a realistic chance of return.

Think of private commercial mortgage lenders as individuals that are comprised of a more diverse group than conventional lenders. As a whole, these investors seem to be willing to take on higher risk levels with the loans they take on. They have been known to lend money toward investments that have significant irregularities in order to gamble on getting a much higher investment return. They tend to be much more flexible than conventional lenders as well. They are really a good source of funding sources for your business and can be a big help indeed.

Handling a small business is not an easy task at all. Big business owners can easily raise capital for venture due to good brand name and image. However, it is almost impossible for those people who are running small businesses. Lenders put business owners in the same category where they put people with bad credit history due to unstable income. It is assumed that entrepreneur with small business can not earn fixed income every month.

Hence, such people are incapable to repay the monthly payments every month. After recognizing the problem and requirement of entrepreneurs, lenders introduced small business loans. These loans provide you monetary aid to fight against many expenses, like buying equipments, new technology, tools, raw materials, land, factor space etc. Even, you can use the case to raise capital and pay employee's salary.

Small business loans are very much similar with other available financial services where banks provide you cash at time of emergency and charge interest rate. This loan is provided by almost every leading banks, financial institution, lender and building society in two formats, secured and unsecured loans.

Secured loan - This loan is available only for those entrepreneurs and business owners who have property or home to place against the cash. It is a risky borrowing for applicants because it has risk of repossession. Due to almost zero risk, lenders can provide you money according to your terms and conditions. Here, you can obtain funds for your trade easily in the range of £25000-250,000 for the period of 1-25 years. Borrowers can also expect low interest rate and APR in this loan category.

Unsecured loan - It is a best solution for non-homeowners, tenants and students who are not capable to place collateral against the money. It is a risky lending for banks because they approve loan application on the behalf of repayment capability and business plan. Due to high risk, lenders do not accept your any condition or request and they charge slightly high interest rate to minimize the risk factor.

As per the nature of business and requirement, person can obtain money through any option. Small business loans exist in market to help those entrepreneurs who want to make it big in business world. However, not all lenders provide this money to loan seekers but with the help internet you can find out many lenders who are ready to lend money without any problem.

If you are looking for cheap insurance quotes for smokers in the UK, where do you start? Well you could give up smoking but unfortunately most life insurance companies insist you not to smoke for 12 months prior to applying for life insurance. So if you can stop smoking for 12 months and can wait for the life cover this might be an option. However if you need life insurance now it is not really something to consider.

Another thing you must be aware of is the different kinds of smoking that life insurance companies take into account when underwriting risk. Any type of tobacco use is considered smoking, examples being pipe smoking, cigar smoking or even chewing tobacco, some people do still use this stuff and it is still a tobacco product in the eyes of the insurer.

Insurance companies will always consider a smoker a higher risk than a non smoker.However other than giving up smoking you can do several things to lower the cost of life insurance quotes if you are a smoker.

First of all you can get quotes when you are young, if you are still in your twenties, thirties and even forties and a smoker, you are still a better a risk to an insurance company than a smoker in their fifties or sixties. So if you need life insurance get the quotes now, because as you get older and still smoke the more expensive it will become to get any type of life cover.

The next thing you can do, is to make sure when you request a quote for smoker life insurance, you request an amount that is going to meet your needs for a long period. Think about it, if you apply for a £100000 life quote now, but a few years later need another £50000 life insurance, you will be an older smoker and consequently a higher risk. Now I know nobody knows what the future holds and what life cover you might need in the future, but the old saying of never having too much life insurance is sound advice in my opinion. Let's face it, your loved ones or dependents are hardly going to complain about that extra £50000 they have just received from the insurer are they? So make sure you get enough cover, so that if your circumstances change you will not need to take out further life cover when you are an older smoker.

You can use all of these tips to reduce the premiums quoted when looking for cheap insurance quotes for smokers. However there is one final thing you can do and this is the one thing that can make all the difference to the smoker life quotes you receive.You simply need to shop around, do not accept the first quote you get. Now I appreciate that phoning around insurance companies for smoker life insurance quotes is a pain and you know what I totally agree with you. Thankfully you do not need to do this, by simply using an online comparison site Life Cover Search, you can obtain cheap insurance quotes for smokers if you live in the UK. Believe me the difference in the cost from the most expensive life quote to the cheapest is huge. Using Life Cover Search will give you access to every major UK life insurer. It takes about 2 to 3 minutes to obtain a smoker quote from the whole market.

So in conclusion take these steps to obtain cheap smoker life insurance quotes:

- Get quotes when you are young
- Get enough Life Cover for your needs now and in the future
- Stop smoking 12 months before you apply for quote/cover

Use Life Cover Search to source cheapest quote from Whole of Market.

I cannot calculate the number of times I heard this question. Oftentimes it resulted in a good conversation about insurance and what it does for you.

I am a firm believer that the importance of this question lies in an interest to protect oneself from a 'worst case' incident. What is the worst case? For a homeowner, how about an accidental drowning at a birthday party? Maybe a driver swerves to avoid a dog, loses control and hits a pedestrian instead. Both tragic. Both carry the potential of substantial loss to the insured.

Follow along with this simple exercise to aid in finding a comfortable protection limit. Imagine a treasure chest sitting next to you. In that treasure chest imagine your valuables inside. Think about your money and savings held in the bank or credit union. $1000, $2000, $10000, or $100,000. That floats in there. Imagine your stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. $10,000, $50,000, $100,000 or more. Float that in there too. Don't forget to float the equity in your home (s) and or rental properties. For some this number alone can be substantial. Put your equity in the treasure chest too. How about your possessions? What would it cost to fill your house or apartment again? These items are subject to seizure and auction. Add up your treasure chest total and hold that thought.

Now go for a drive in your car. But before you go, pick up your treasure chest and put it in the back of your car. Wherever you go that treasure chest goes with you. It is raining with low visibility and you hit or kill a pedestrian. What do you stand to lose in the event of a lawsuit? Your treasure chest. At a minimum your liability insurance on your auto or home should meet the value of your treasure chest.

Do you have a gap in your insurance? If your treasure chest has $50,000 in it and you are driving around with $15,000 in liability protection, you have a gap. If your gap is substantial, there are ways to cover the gap with both your insurance and supplemental protection. i.e. an umbrella policy. Does this exercise get you 'enough' insurance. No. I don't know that there is a 'perfect' solution to 'how much is enough' question. There are other factors to consider, but this gets you started, and hopefully gets you better protected for the catastropic loss.

Some other factors that may change your calculations are your job and income level, (wage garnishment), or retirement account balances. Retirement accounts have many different factors, they can be ERISA protected, or non-ERISA protected. A non-ERISA account can be subject to garnishment in certain cases. To properly protect your retirement balances you should review your protections with both your insurance agent and an attorney.

A notorious example of lack of protection, and protection of assets, was the OJ Simpson civil trial. When his case was closed, he lost everything from the clothes in his closet to the money in his bank. The reason he is living comfortably in Florida is most likely an ERISA protected retirement plan.

This exercise is a good tool for both the 'do it yourself' insurance shopper, and the 'agent oriented' insurance shopper. When going it alone you have a basis for a coverage decision, and when working with an agent you have some points to start your conversation. More importantly, you can stay protected which is really what insurance is about.