MIND YOUR BIZNESS
Growing Your Business? These 3 Financing Mistakes can Cost You Big
Article by BPT Website
(BPT) - Starting a business can be tough. Growing one can be even harder. Dr. Nacondus Gamble knows this all too well. After her optometry practice, The South Eastern Eye Center, began to establish a reputation for great patient care, Dr. Gamble decided she was ready to expand. So she began looking for business financing to open another location in Georgia. That's when she discovered that many lenders don't share her commitment to high-quality service. "I called a couple of places, but I just felt like they were taking advantage of me," she said. "It was unnecessarily harsh."
Dr. Gamble ended up borrowing through Funding Circle, an online platform focused exclusively on small business loans. Known for its speed, transparency and customer service, Funding Circle has helped more than 40,000 businesses around the world get financing, says co-founder and U.S. managing director Sam Hodges.
Today there are more options than ever before for businesses looking to grow. While some of these newer options can offer a significant leg up, others can actually end up doing more harm than good.
So how can you get the best deal on a business loan? It helps to watch out for these three common mistakes:
1. Not understanding the true cost of your loan. When shopping for a business loan, it's easy to become overwhelmed by fast-talking salespeople, endless strings of acronyms and confusing terms. If it's unclear how much you'll really pay for financing, that's a good sign you should walk away, Hodges cautions.
A good lender will always be willing to help you calculate the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and explain all the terms of your loan clearly. They'll also help you understand what fees you can expect over the life of the loan - some lenders sneak in additional hidden fees, concealing them in fine print or confusing legalese, which can significantly inflate the cost.