Check out Four Alternative Lending Options for Entrepreneurs...

There is much talk these days about the rise in alternative lending sources since the credit crunch really started to squeeze small businesses in late 2008... here is a great explanation of four of those alternatives...

Four Alternative Lending Options for Entrepreneurs

www.smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com
Published August 14, 2012

When the credit crunch begain in late 2008, traditional banks tightened the spigots on funding for small businesses. When the big banks said no, small banks and non-bank lenders increasingly said yes. While big banks reject loan applications almost nine out of ten times, and smaller banks approved less than half of small business funding requests, alternative lenders filled the void.

According to Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index (figures for the July 2012), big banks (insitutions with more than $10 billion in assets) approved 11.3% of small business loan requests, while smaller banks gave the green light to 47.4%. Meanwhile, non-bank lenders picked up the slack. Credit unions approved 54.6% of requests, while alternative lenders, such as Cash Advance Network (CAN) and accounts receivable financers, okayed 61.4% of requests for funding from small companies.

So who are the alternative lenders? They are comprised of non-banks, such as credit unions, CDFIs, micro lenders and accounts receivable financers.

To read a full explanation of each alternative lender... click here to read the full article.

Check out Starbucks Initiative to Brew Up U.S. Jobs through small business lending

A Starbuck Initiative to Brew Up U.S. Jobs

Posted by Michelle Goodman
Entrepreneur.com, January 2012

For little more than the price of a latte, the average American can help finance a new business startup. That's the premise behind Create Jobs for USA, the brainchild of Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Schultz. Through the program, every $5 donated at a Starbucks location or through CreateJobsforUSA.org supports $35 worth of small-business lending.

To get these funds directly into the hands of business owners, Starbucks partnered with Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), a collection of 180 Community Development Financial Insitutions (CDFIs) that specialize in lending to low-income and disadvantaged indiaviduals and underserved communities throughout the nation.

To read more about this great initiative of Starbucks... click here.

Check out A 'Match.com' fr entrepreneurs and lenders from crainsnewyorkbusiness.com

crain's new york business.com
By: Elaine Pofeldt
October 18, 2011

BoeFly aims to aid businesses disappointed by their banks, but there's new competition in this financial services niche.

The Company: BoeFly
What it Does: It's an online marketplace matching small business borrowers with lenders around the country.
How's It Doing: Founded in 2010 by two finance industry veterans, the Manhattan-based site is generating nearly $150,000 in revenue a month. It has raised $4 million from private investors. The founders expect it to become profitable in 2012.

To learn more about BoeFly... read the full article... click here.

Check out ""Small Business Administration is an unnecessary, costly agency"

Interesting....

The San Francisco Examiner
sfexaminer.com
By: Tad DeHaven - Special to the Examiner
08/18/2011

Washington continues to entrust stale bureaucracies with the job of righting the economic ship, instead of getting the federal government out of the way. One of those bureaucracies is the Small Business Administration, which has been employed by Congress and President Barack Obama to reignite private-sector lending.

The SBA does this by guaranteeing loans issued by private lenders for up to 85 percent of losses in the event that loan recipients default. As a result of the guarantee, lenders are more willing to lend money to riskier applicants because the SBA - and thus taxpayers - is ultimately responsible for the bulk of any losses.

to read the full article... click here.

Check out... Big Banks Shrinking As SBA Lenders

www.boss.blogs.nytimes.com
You're the Boss: The Art of Running aSmall Business
By: Robb Mandelbaum
08/10/2011

The Small Business Administration's guaranteed loan program is back. Nudged by stimulus provisions that reduced fees and increased guarantees, American banks made a record amounf of S.B.A. backed loans in 2010 (measured in dollars), reversing a demoralizing four-year slide. But there's something noteworthy about who was doing that lending: while banks as a whole loaned more government-backed money than ever, the biggest banks loaned less.

The 25 American banks with the most deposits in 2010 underwrote $3.6 billion in S.B.A. general business, or 7(a), loans. That is just 20 percent of all 7(a) loans approved that year, down nearly a third from the share these same banks loaned in 2006. The decline cannot be tied to a decline in deposits. In that same period, these banks grew to control $5.8 trillion in deposits, 61 percent of all bank deposits in 2010.

In other words, in 2010 the 25 biggest banks held 32 percent more in deposits than those banks did in 2006 - but approved 30 percent less in S.B.A. loans...

read the rest of the article... click here.

Check out: Money is available for small businesses, but it takes work

Posted 11/21/2010 6:00 PM
USAToday.com, Small Business

AskAnExpert: Steve Strauss

Q: I hear that there is more money available these days for Small Business Administration loans. Is that true? If it is, how do I apply to the SBA to get one? Thanks in advance. Maurice

A: Yes, it is true that there are more SBA loan funds available right now than in years past. This is mainly due to 1) a change in administrations, and 2) the fact that both TARP and the new small business law added funding for SBA lending.

To read more... click here.

Check out Editorial: Small businesses need more access to credit

By News Sentinel Editorial Board
KnoxNews.com
Posted November 19, 2010 at midnight

Small businesses breathe jobs into the economy, but tight credit is strangling them even as the nation slowly recovers from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Banks and other lenders remain tight-fisted, frustrating many small business owners who are ready to expand. Without access to credit, business owners can't invest in new equipment or new workers. Seasonal businesses that rely on credit to smooth out dips in cash flow are finding themselves vulnerable, even though they're profitable on a yearly basis.

To read the full article... click here.