Handling SBA Loan Lags

Sadie Keljikian, Express Trade Capital

The current government shutdown is the subject of nation-wide distress for myriad reasons. Sources are reporting that the shutdown, which is officially the longest in US history, has delayed public services like tax refunds, food, beverage and aviation product safety inspections, and millions of dollars in Small Business Association loans.

Generally, the SBA handles approximately $200 million in loans daily, but since the shutdown began, they’ve been unable to provide any financing aside from disaster assistance. As a result, hundreds of small businesses nationwide have waited a month for vital funds to help them grow and operate.

While many of the delayed loans are relatively small amounts, nearly 40% of them are known as 504 loans. These are meant to help business owners purchase real estate or costly equipment and can amount to $20 million or more. Regardless of quantity, many small business owners who rely on these loans are wondering how to bridge the gap until SBA loans are readily available again. The answer depends on where each business falls in the wide variety of industries the SBA serves.

Substituting these loans directly is tricky. If you or your business have very good credit, you may be able to replace your SBA loan with a regular bank loan, but it will likely take at least 60 days to reach you, which is decidedly unhelpful when speed is a priority.

We’ve discussed creative financing methods before, but not in terms of which methods are fastest. Depending on your budget, there are a few options that will give you access to quick funding for your business:

• Factoring your receivables.

If you’re selling goods to creditworthy retailers, you can receive financing against your unpaid invoices. Provided you have all necessary materials and enough volume to qualify, you may receive funds within a day or two with this method.

• Finance your purchase orders.

Purchase order financing (or PO financing) is a method designed precisely for wholesalers who need help covering production and shipping costs while they wait for their customers to pay. So, if you have purchase orders from creditworthy customers and need to bolster your business’s funds, PO financing is a great option.

• Borrow against your unsold inventory.

If you have a stockpile of unsold inventory and a solid track record of consistent sales, you can borrow against your unsold inventory. This can take slightly longer than financing against your receivables or purchase orders since it requires a field examination (as do any lending arrangements involving goods, equipment, or real estate), but can be a highly useful tool if you find yourself in a slow season.

• Enter a merchant cash advance agreement.

If your customers pay you with credit or debit cards regularly, you may want to consider merchant cash advance options. Merchant cash advance arrangements, or MCAs, aren’t technically considered loans, but operate in a very similar way. At the onset, you receive a lump sum in exchange for a percentage of your future credit/debit card sales. With an MCA, you will receive funds very quickly, but it is important to note that this is by far the most expensive option, as interest tends to run extremely high among MCAs and compounds over time.

There are numerous ways to handle an unexpected lag in your business’s operational funds, but be careful not to let an urgent situation lead you to poor lending choices that could hurt you down the road.

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