When striving to start up or grow your business, finance is one of the key things you’ll want to look at. Similar to your personal life, if you have an unexpected financial emergency, you may look at 24 hour loans to help resolve your situation. When it comes to your business, you want to ensure you’re in a stable place where a surprise bill won’t harm you. There are many funding options available, but it can be hard to sort through them all. Here, we explain how you can choose the right loan and grant for your business.
Types Of Loans
There are two types of loans that you should be aware of, secured and unsecured. A secured loan means not only are you lent the finance, but business assets can be used as collateral. This is so if you can’t make the repayments, they can acquire things like machinery from your business and sell it. A secured loan can mean you end up borrowing more if you have the assets to cover it. If you have a commercial building worth a lot more than your requested loan amount, the lender is more likely to say yes to your application.
An unsecured loan doesn’t take your assets as collateral. Instead, they look closer at your profitability and business history. When choosing between the two, it’s important you think about if you’re happy to use your assets as support for your application. Or if you feel your turnover is good enough that you can apply for an unsecured one instead.
Flexible
Most loans have fixed repayments each month for a fixed term. However, there are flexible options available which let you only pay for what you use. These types of loans work similarly to an overdraft. You have a limit on how much you can borrow, but you only pay interest on the amount used, rather than the whole lump sum. Having such flexibility might be important to you if you don’t want to be stuck paying off the same loan for a long period of time. This means you could use your loan throughout the month and then pay it all off at the end. When the credit has gone back down to 0, you don’t pay interest until you start borrowing again.
Be Realistic
When choosing a loan or grant, it’s best to be realistic. If you rely solely on a grant application that ends up being rejected due to a high demand, you’ll feel defeated. Try to discover the different types of grants and loans that you best fit the criteria of and you’re more likely to be approved.
Repayment Terms And Interest
A large part of having a loan is paying it back, so when applying you really want to ensure you’re happy with the repayment terms. If you have a lower credit score, you may be classed as a higher risk to finance, so you might end up with a higher interest rate. Always check your business credit score before applying for any loans or grants, as you want to demonstrate that you’re worth taking a chance on and that you can definitely make the repayments.
With any loan or grant application, it’s not a given that you’ll be approved. But, if you take every precaution and check out the criteria beforehand, you’ll be more prepared. You may decide you’d prefer a secured loan, but don’t just apply without researching this type of loan with your chosen lender. Different lenders can have different terms and conditions and you want to be certain that you’re choosing the best funding for your business.
