How Lexington, SC Auto Repair Shops and Gas Stations Move a Business Loan Request to a Decision

Nothing has to be attached to start: the request form takes contact details, the company name, time in business, annual revenue and the amount. When a funding partner reviews a counter-service restaurant, it can ask for records like these:

• Recent business bank statements, showing card deposits and the daily low balance.
• Point-of-sale reports for the same months.
• Last year's business tax return, plus a profit and loss summary for this year so far.
• The lease on the restaurant space, with its end date.
• A quote for any equipment the money will buy, such as a fryer or a walk-in.
• For a franchise, the franchisor's approval where the agreement calls for it.

In underwriting, the partner works out whether this practice can carry the payment it is asking for. For a physician office, a large part of the income can come from insurance claims, so a partner can look at claim payment timing as well as deposits.

1. A partner can read the request: amount, time in business and revenue, with the purpose talked through by phone.
2. It confirms the business, its ownership and who can sign.
3. It reviews cash flow from bank statements and, for a practice, claim payments.
4. It may check the owners' credit as part of its own review.
5. It looks at existing loans, leases and any advances already being collected.
6. It decides, and either offers terms or declines.

Scored from 0 to 300, FICO SBSS rates a small business for credit purposes; it is a number lenders can consult. Rowanleaf Lenders does not provide or sell the score. A station owner who wants to know whether it matters to a request can ask the funding partner reviewing it whether it uses SBSS, and what it found.

What a station can control is the record behind any score: bills paid on time, card processing statements that match bank deposits, and current filings with the state.

A home builder qualifies for business funding the same way any business does: a partner can look at time in business, revenue, cash flow and credit before it decides. What changes is the purpose. A builder's request here can cover a skid steer, a crew's payroll between closings or a credit line for material orders. Loans to buy lots or build houses are property financing and are outside this site.

• Show a few years of business income, and the jobs behind it.
• Keep business and personal accounts separate.
• Bring a written quote for any machine on the request.
• Name the purpose plainly when a partner calls.

There is no one requirement list for a restaurant loan; each funding partner writes its own. Points a partner can check before an offer include:

• Years under the present ownership, counted from the sale or the opening.
• Annual revenue and the trend in card deposits.
• Credit, in the partner's own review.
• Advances or loans already taking a share of sales.
• How many years are left on the lease.

The loan types page matches each requirement list to a product, and the Lexington, SC question page covers credit checks and line terms.