What You Need to get a Business Loan

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Business loans are tough to come by these days.  You must be prepared and have been in business long enough to where banks and lending providers think you are a good low risk customer.  The last two years business loans have been so easy to come by that it forced small business owners to become lazy with running their business.  Banks and lending institutions didn’t necessarily care about your books, or your business plan or what kind of credit score you had.  If you needed money and you could prove that you had income, you were good to go.
Currently, with the changing of the markets and loss of revenue the big banks have suffered as far as deposits from consumers losing confidence in the baning system, banks and lenders are going to want to take a good look at your business from head to toe.  They want to make sure that if they hand out any kind of money that the funds are well deserved.  Because of all the mistakes the banks made in the past, the underwriting guidelines to be approved for a small business loan are tough and strict.  The banks are going to want to see that you have what you need to prove to them you business financing solution.
Make sure you have these items researched and prepared before you apply for any kind of business financing.
Business Plan- You must make sure you have a business plan that covers your marketing strategy, current and fore-casted financials, management team resumes, exit strategy, supporting documents, and any kind of intellectual property you may have.  Your business plan pretty much expresses to the bank what you plan on doing with the banks money.
Positive Business Credit Portfolio- Banks and lenders are going to rely on your corporate foundation and its history when making a decision to approve you for a business loan or line of credit.  If you think about it, why would a bank want to pile heavy bricks onto a week foundation.  Think of the business loan as the heavy bricks and your business as the foundation.  Banks want to see a strong foundation if they are going to give out money.  They want to know that you have the capacity to pay them back.  A strong business credit asset will help them make that decision.
Proper Supporting Documents- If you have anything that will strengthen your case about being approved for a business loan then you need to bring it with you when you go apply for your loan.  These documents can be purchase orders, government contracts, etc.
If you are going to be applying for a SBA loan guaranteed by the US Small Business Administration, then you are going to need not only the items above but a very clean history of doing business.
What are some of the other items you have needed in the past when applying for a business loan?  Did you not need certain things you thought you needed?  What was your experience applying for a business loan?
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