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Ask HN: How to apply for a small business loan successfully

5 points by 404error ↗ HN
Hello community,

My quick story: For the past 5 years I have been working at a small newspaper (Web Design/IT Assistant). I'm hitting the point where I feel I cant do this anymore. I've always wanted to work somewhere that has something to do with football(soccer).

I have a been toying with a business idea in my head for a while, I've done some research, estimated my start-up costs, looked for empty buildings. I have no competition in my area and know that there is a market for my idea. My business idea involves soccer leagues.

I'm reaching out to the HN Community for advice.

Has anyone applied for a small business loan with success? If so, what steps did you take to help you get your loan? What did you do to make your application stand out from the pile on someones desk?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all in advance.

8 comments

[ 8.0 ms ] story [ 524 ms ] thread
il
It's very hard to get a loan to start a business nowadays. Banks like to give loans to businesses with an established business model investing in growth. If you really believe in your idea, why not finance it with credit cards?
brudgers
The best you are likely to do without collateral at a bank is a personal signature loan if you have good credit. But if you have good credit, you can still get a twelve month credit card no interest advance for about 4 points.

The real question is, why do you need a building? It's expenses like that which make a loan necessary.

magee
Getting loans from the SBA are very difficult for startup businesses. The best is to get a proof of concept going and then go to some angles for the money. SBA will not likely loan you operating capital, but asset purchase capital. They want something they can foreclose on.

hope that helps

staunch
There's a reason why venture capitalists and angel investors exist. No bank wants to loan money (without a personal guarantee) to a company that has a 30%+ chance of going out of business within the year.

Your best bet is to build up traction on a project and get an investor or fund it on revenues. Loans are not a realistic option.

epynonymous
and why do you need an office building? i think that's perhaps a bit exorbitant? just work out of your home until you can justify getting an office, unless of course you need a soccer field for your league.
404error
Actually that's exactly what I need. I need an empty warehouse and an indoor soccer arena. Soccer is huge in my area. I want to open an indoor soccer arena.
brudgers
You don't need a warehouse. You need an architect (of the sort that designs buildings). The building code requirements for an assembly use are very different from those of a storage facility particularly with regard to life safety (egress, fire protection, lighting, alarms, etc.). In addition, zoning issues relating to use in general and parking in particular are common in many jurisdictions.
bigohms
Yea, I feel your pain, but I would forget the thought of "traditional" lines of financing for the time being. Some thoughts on hackfinancing:

1) Set up an organization website, profile and all the relative legal structures prior to actually quitting your job. Determine cap ex and operating costs upfront and use them as a barometer of short and long term financial viability -- don't forget to include your salary. Identify all the costs that can be extended over the long term (for example, artificial turf that can be bought under letter of credit from the manufacturer). This all does take quite a bit time and after the paychecks stop coming, the urgency to get the show on the road is on. Save yourself much of this by starting now.

2) Develop a community of soccer enthusiasts by asking them to get on an e-mail list on your site and/or collect them out and about in different places.

3) Develop a community of businesses in your local community that would be interested in supporting your organization once you get off the ground. Use a free CRM tool to keep track of your relationships and be relentless about setting up the ground work and pounding pavement early. Do the same with family and friends.

4) Develop a program based around a specific operating season that invites team captains and corporate sponsors to buy into the league's founding year at X costs. Use the team captains as your primary vehicle for driving the membership model for your initial run. Promote shamelessly to corporate citizens with various contribution levels and use the organization's structure and initial interests to drive participation.

5) Take the participation metrics, financials, organization's structure to the equipment suppliers/manufacturers are request special financing terms that will allow you breathing room to lengthen your operating horizon given the special liquidity situation you're currently in. Pay hard cash for only the essentials necessary to keep the concept moving forward. Take a similar approach and now approach your target locations with a sound proposal for renting the space, with allocations for build out (most available with property improvement assistance from the landlord if they have the resources). Seek probono assistance from a commercial property managers interested in the project on how best to set this up and approach the landlords. Do so ONLY after all the steps above are completed and documented to confirm how you intend to run the enterprise.

Additions:

Seek friends and family financial assistance for net difference by allowing them to become founding partners in the operation - granting options or stock (under the allowable limits as determined by the SEC).

Sell yearly "pickup" game passes for specific day of the week pickup games on a membership plan.

Host weekend day birthday games for kids (see how climbing centers do this really well). Sell 10 pack kids party tickets in advance to parents to build up cash.

Set up and host summer camps, sell passes early.