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Text Box: Page 3 Text Box: The Business Financing Symposium offers the following tips to help you prepare before applying for a business loan: Ask yourself how much money you need. Decide on the type of lender you need (bank, state agency, federal agency, venture capitalist or other investor, or nonprofit lender, such as REAP*). Find out the lender’s minimum and maximum loan amounts. Ensure that the lender can meet your present and future needs. Find out what types of businesses the lender will finance. Find out what collateral the lender accepts. Text Box: Remember that lenders use the 8 “C’s” Rule: Credit (yours must be good) Capacity (your ability to repay) Capital (your money being invested) Collateral (your assets to secure loan) Character (you) Conditions (economy) Commitment (your ability to succeed) Cash Flow (you must prove the business can support its debt and expenses) Lenders will ask the following questions: How much money do you want? How will the loan be used? How long will it take to repay the loan? Text Box: How will the loan be repaid? What collateral do you have to offer? How much are you investing in the business? Before meeting with a potential lender: Call to find out the rules for business loans. Request a loan application be mailed to you. Make an appointment. Rehearse your presentation. Remember, your first customer is the lender. Before you sell anything, you have to convince the lender that your business concept has merit.

*REAP is a program of the Center for Rural Affairs and is Nebraska’s largest microenterprise program.  Since its inception in 1990, it has loaned more than $2 million to startup and existing small businesses in rural Nebraska.