Athens, Tennessee Small Business Loans

Local Athens Business Lenders

Without further adieu, here's our list of small business banks in Athens.

Business Loan Providers for Athens Businesses

This is a list of banks outside of Athens, Tennessee that have provided SBA loans to Athens businesses. Some of these may be national banks with local branch locations.

Athens Bank Loan Tips

Prior to reaching out to banks to discuss getting a bank loan, you will need to develop the specifics of your loan request.

You need to be able to clearly explain your business, explain how much you want to borrow, describe what the money will finance, and show how you intend to to pay the loan back to the bank.

A well-defined business plan is an important prerequisite. If the financing is to for a going concern, you should also have financial statements covering the last three years. In addition, you should itemize what collateral you have available to secure the loan. Collateral is relevant because banks always want to be prepared for a worst-case scenario in which cash flow from the business does not meet your projections.

If the business has few assets, you will likely be asked to secure the business with your personal assets, such as your individual retirement account or pension plan. The banks will look at your personal credit report in any case, so hopefully you have good credit history -- you may want to get a copy of your credit history prior to meeting with the banker.

Many of these banks participate in the financial assistance programs available through the SBA. Before meeting with the banker, you may want to read up on on SBA loans programs to see if you qualify. SBA 7(a) loans, SBA 504 loans and SBA disaster assistance loans may be available to you.

Gaebler.com Advice on Raising Money

If you are new to our Gaebler.com site, you should know that we are dedicated to providing advice to small business owners, and we have a lot of information pertaining to to Raising Money. For example, we recommend you read Business Incubators.