Our goal at Lending Valley is to provide all small business owners access to the best loans possible for their business. You can rest assured we will get you the best rates in the market!
Georgia is situated in the South-eastern Region of the United States and is the eight most populous state in the country. The state has a very impressive credit rating according to Standard and Poor’s. It is home to seventeen Fortune 500 companies and twenty-six Fortune 1000 companies. Georgia’s small businesses have flourished in recent years with about a million small businesses. The small businesses have shared their contribution to the state’s economy and helped lowering unemployment rate. With so much expectation from small businesses, Georgia small business loans also help the companies in their ventures.
How can I get a small business loan in Georgia?
A good portion of Georgia’s economy is reliant on the small businesses. Thus, small businesses are always trying to maintain a good form. To do so, external help is always required at some point in time. This is when different lending options come in handy. Loans for small businesses will help them survive in the market. There are different lending options to choose from.
Conventional Bank loans are the most common of all and is generally the default for any small businesses. They offer the lowest rates and the best terms among all commercial lenders with rates starting from 5 to 8 percent for 3 to 25 years terms and a funding time of seven to sixty days. They are mostly utilized by Georgia small businesses to take hold of other businesses, purchase commercial real estate, refinance a business mortgage, help with expansion financing of other businesses, and offer small businesses working capital.
Small Business Administration’s (SBA) lending program is also a great option as it is backed by the government. This means, when a Georgia small business defaults, an SBA loan reduces the lender’s exposure to losses as the government helps to compensate for most of their losses. This is why SBA lenders provide this service especially for small businesses as it minimises the risk. However, being controlled by the government, the process requires a lot of paper work. Rates for SBA loans vary from 6 to 8 percent for 3 to 25 years term and a funding time of 7 to 45 days.
USDA Loans are very similar to SBA loans where the government compensates for most of the losses of the businesses. The only major difference is that to qualify for USDA loan, your company must be in a community with 50,000 inhabitants or less. USDA lenders offers rates as low as 5 percent for terms up to 30 years and a funding time of 30 to 60 days.
Private business loans are offered by non-bank lenders. Lenders for this type of loan can include fintech lender, marketplace lenders, cash advance funders, equipment leasing companies, factoring companies and private business. Loans provided by investors are also categorized as private lenders. Private loans can be a good choice as it allows much more flexibility unlike conventional lenders. Rates offered by private lenders vary from 5 to 20 percent with 1 to 20 years terms and funding tome of 7 to 45 days.
Asset based loans (ABL) help the Georgia small businesses to legalize their assets on the company’s balance sheet. Assets such as buildings, land and other commercial property, along with account receivable, inventory and equipment and machinery can be legalized and utilized for an asset-based loan. Rates offered by ABL varies from 5 to 20 percent with 1 to 30 years and a funding time of 5 to 21 days.
Invoice Factoring is a business-to-business transaction that allows a company the potential to leverage unpaid 30, 60- and 90-day invoices to gain specialized short-term business financing before the customer actually pays the invoice. Georgia small businesses are offered much needed working capital to help with cash-flow at a reasonable rate.
Cash advances are not actually any kind of business loans as they are business-to-business transactions where the small business sells a small portion of their future revenue to a much more established company in expectation of more efficient profit. This makes it possible for a small business in Georgia to get funded with a merchant cash advance even if they have a bad credit. Cash advances include long-term merchant cash advances, bad credit cash advances, additional position cash advances, and advances used for consolidation, which are repaid by either making a remittance to the cash advance funding company, or by having a set amount automatically sent to the funder using Automated Clearing House transaction via the business’s bank account. Cash advances are offered at varying rates.
Although the economic climate is very friendly in Georgia, there are certain challenges that businesses have to face. There has been significant deterioration in per capita personal income creating a tough labor market. Moreover, access to capital has become a struggle for many business owners in Georgia. Georgia is one of the states with the lowest recovery rate from the great recession with about 0.9 percent.
Unsecured Business loans in Georgia
Business lines of credit is a kind of small business loan that offers flexibility which usual loans does not offer. Georgia banks offers varying rates for lines of credit.
New or used business equipment can also be financed in many ways through equipment financing. While some Georgia small businesses will find it easiest and most affordable to obtain a term loan or other type of lending facility to purchase business equipment, other small business owners may find that the best way to obtain the equipment is to lease rather than buy. By leasing, the company won’t be forced to pay the full-price for the equipment upfront. Moreover, they will enjoy the latest equipment beforehand.
Term loan is another form of loan which is paid in instalments over a set period of time. Term loans can also be used as acquisitions, and consolidations and refinancing business debt. This type of loan offers varying rates.
Documents required to get a small business loan in Georgia
– 1-page application
– 3 months of bank statements
With small businesses seeing good days, it is also important for owners to look for the right lending options as the economic state of the country makes it inevitable to look for external financing at any time. Besides, government is still working hard to recover from certain challenges after the recession.