{"id":4049,"date":"2015-10-22T07:30:56","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T07:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/?p=4049"},"modified":"2023-11-06T17:16:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T22:16:04","slug":"common-financing-mistakes-small-business-owners-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/common-financing-mistakes-small-business-owners-make\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Financing Mistakes Small Business Owners Make"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/small-business-alternatives-to-business-loan.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3429\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/small-business-alternatives-to-business-loan.jpg\" alt=\"small business alternatives to bank loans\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Most small businesses need extra cash at some point, and a loan is often the quickest way to obtain it. To ensure that you get the money you need, avoid making these common mistakes when seeking financing.<\/p>\n<h2>Being Ignorant of Options<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #404040;\">Today\u2019s small business owner has a broad range of financing options. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Banks aren\u2019t the only place to get funds and\u00a0going directly through them isn&#8217;t always the best choice.\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\">Alternative lending solutions <\/a>exist to help you obtain affordable loans that can be approved much faster than a bank.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/smallbusiness-bankloan-bank.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3209\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/smallbusiness-bankloan-bank.jpg\" alt=\"small business bank loan options\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here at ARF Financial we can offer a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/loan-products\/working-capital-loans\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blogpost&amp;utm_campaign=reducedebt\">Working Capital Loan<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/loan-products\/lines-of-credit\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=blogpost&amp;utm_campaign=reducedebt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Line of Credit <\/a>of up to $500,000.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Our business loans are brokered through FDIC-insured community banks and as such the interest you pay is tax deductible and your payments are fixed.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/merchant-cash-advance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Unlike cash advance companies <\/a>or other short-term lending options the business loans obtained through ARF Financial are regulated by the government since they go through a real bank. When you choose to take money from a cash advance or other short-term lender you often end up paying predatory rates because the cash advance industry is unregulated.<\/p>\n<p>Research the choices available to find the method that best suits your situation.<\/p>\n<h2>Misunderstanding Interest Rates<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Interest rates aren\u2019t as cut and dry as they seem.<\/strong> To understand what percentage you\u2019re really paying over the life of a loan, you need to consider the initial amount, how much is left to pay off each time you make a payment and how long a period you\u2019re taking to pay everything back.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Statement.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3616\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Statement.jpg\" alt=\"Paying The Bills\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>What seems like a low interest rate may in fact be much more than advertised when all of these factors are taken into account. Understanding true interest rates is essential for budgeting the right amount of funds to pay off the loan during the projected period.<\/p>\n<h2>Not Researching Fees<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Fees can make up a significant percentage of the total cost of a loan.<\/strong> Find out the exact amount of extra fees associated with the loan you\u2019re seeking, add them up and compare them to the total amount you\u2019re borrowing.<\/p>\n<p>Consider this along with the interest rate when deciding whether or not it\u2019s worth it to take the money. You don\u2019t want to wind up in a situation where you need to use so much of your revenue to cover the fees that it negates the benefits of getting financing in the first place.<\/p>\n<h2>Lacking Clear Financial Statements<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/unsecured-business-loan-guide.jpg\"><img class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3796\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/unsecured-business-loan-guide.jpg\" alt=\"unsecured business loan guide\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #404040;\">When seeking most bank loans, you need to have all of your company\u2019s financial information in order and ready to present to the lender:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #404040;\">Balance sheets<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #404040;\">Profit and loss statements<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #404040;\">Cash flow projections<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #404040;\">Tax information<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Include a statement of why the loan is necessary and what you plan to use the money for. The purpose of all this is to prove you\u2019ll be able to pay back whatever you borrow and instill a sense of trust between your business and the lender. It also gives you a better idea of how much money you actually need to achieve your goals so that you don\u2019t seek to borrow too much.<\/p>\n<div class=\"slim-scroll\" style=\"color: #404040;\" data-max-height=\"480\">\n<div class=\"text-content\">Being informed about loan options and keeping your finances organized can help you secure the money necessary to continue running your business. Arm yourself with knowledge and confidence before approaching lenders to get the best possible outcome.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most small businesses need extra cash at some point, and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,698],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business-financing","7":"category-small-business-financing"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Common Financing Mistakes Small Business Owners Make - ARF Financial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arffinancial.com\/development\/common-financing-mistakes-small-business-owners-make\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Common Financing Mistakes Small Business Owners Make - 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