Saint Louis, Missouri Business Loan

Local Saint Louis Lenders

To help you learn more about local small business lenders, here's our list of small business banks in Saint Louis.

Banks that Lend to Saint Louis Businesses

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

Saint Louis Business Loan Advice

Before meeting with banks for a loan, you will need to have a specific plan.

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 how you intend to to pay the loan back to the bank.

Having a business plan is essential. If the money is to for a company that is already doing business, you should also have financial statements covering the last three years. You will also need to discuss 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 the equity in your home. The banks will check on your personal credit history 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 the banks in our list participate in the financial assistance programs available through the SBA. Before you sit down to talk with a small business banker, you may want to do your homework 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 all about supporting entrepreneurs, and we have a lot of resources related to to Raising Money. To learn more, one article that might be of interest to you is Angel Investors.