Lincoln, Illinois Small Business Loans

Local Lincoln Lending Resources

To assist you in finding a small business banker, here's our list of small business banks in Lincoln.

Business Loan Providers for Lincoln Businesses

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

Lincoln Bank Loan Tips

As a prerequisite to reaching out to banks for a loan, you will need to determine exactly what size loan you will be asking for.

You need to be able to clearly explain your business, explain how much you want to borrow, walk the banker through the planned use of proceeds, and show your ability to pay the loan back to the bank.

A well-defined business plan is essential. If the bank loan is to for a company that is already doing business, 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 stocks and bonds that you might own or life insurance policies. 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 are SBA lenders. Before you sit down to talk with a small business banker, you may want to get up to speed 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.

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