There are misconceptions in the world about credit. Debt is bad, financial institutions are evil and having a credit card is a mistake. Even more, that the credit bureau is some horrible place to be in, a punishment. None of that is true, as in most things, it’s all about the way you use certain tools at your disposal.
And one of the most important things when it comes to credit is comparison. In order to find the best small business loans like the ones Camino Financial offer, you need to shop around and choose the one that suits your needs and use it right. You wouldn’t use a frying pan to dry your sucks, would you?
The same goes for business loans that can become tools for your company and in so, remain good loans that are the ones that will help you grow, either personal or professionally, that are invested in education, infrastructure or technology. A bad loan would be the one used wrong like, hiring a business loan to go on vacation.
So, this is what you need to take into account when you do the work and compare your options:
Interest
This is the cost of borrowed money and the most common way to find it is by the name of Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and as a general rule, the smaller the number, the better. But you have to bear in mind the term. Normally, the rate is lower when the term is longer. But if you have a variable rate or if you are going to pay back faster, you might get a good deal with a higher short-term rate that will charge you for the time that the money is in your pocket and not for a specific term that could cost more.
Terms
If you are in need of extra cash just to get you by for a while until a project is paid or you get money you’ve been expecting, you don’t want to bind yourself to a 5-year loan that will make you pay more in interest. But if you need time to get the money back, a long-term business loan is the ideal solution. It’ll all depend on your strategy and plans for the money.
Special conditions or penalties
Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you have the option of paying back sooner, because you could be charged with penalties for early payment. Make sure your contract has an option to pay directly to the debt and not as an advance of future payments or just the interests.
Once you know these things, you’ll need to pay attention to red flags to avoid a loan disaster. Some of them are:
- Fees are not specified in the contract.
- You can’t pay off early.
- The terms are longer than you are comfortable with or outlast the life of what you are going to use it for.
- You or your friends and family don’t know the lender.
- The financial institution won’t ask you for any documents.
- You’ll have to sign documents that allow the financial institution to access your bank accounts without warning.
- The lender doesn’t have a physical address.
There are multiple options for you out there but if you want to find the best small business loans, you need to take the task as part of a project, very much like homework. Ask for the conditions on each and every single one of the products that catches your eye, analyze them, make financial projections of your company and choose the one that fits you better.
You can use a loan calculator or do the math yourself; the idea is that you get to know and choose the best one taking into account their conditions and your strategy and needs. Let us know in the comments if you already have some products in your sight and what’s the deal breaker for you.