Today because of the current economic situation in the U.S. your getbusinesstoday, like so many others, may be in dire need of a commercial business loan. However even in this current economy you can still get the business loan your company needs, but it will take more work and effort today than ever before. Here are six steps you can take to help you get the loan you seek:

1. Decide how much money you need and for what purpose. Coming to a clear understanding of the purpose of your loan is key in selecting the kinds of business lenders you will need to approach since many commercial lenders specialize in certain areas. Some of your options would be working capital, inventory, equipment, expansion and new facilities financing.

2. Determine what collateral you will use for the loan you are seeking some of you options are your cash flow, inventory, equipment, receivables, commercial property, a new contract and personal guarantees. While you may not have to come up with 100 percent collateral coverage all lenders will want some kind of guarantee so start lining up your collateral.

3. Pull your company’s business credit report and examine it very closely for accuracy and any errors, the last thing you want is for something unexpected to prevent you from obtaining your loan. Also pull your own personal credit report and those you of your top management team or key officers and partners and do the same kind of through review as you did with your business credit report.

4. Prepare a good business plans detailing your business operations, how you will use the funds you receive, and what kind of profits your use of these funds will create. The profits your use of the business loan will create is key to any business plan or funding request, because it is from those profits that the loan will be repaid.

5. Develop a list of lenders specific to your loan needs your list could include commercial banks, commercial finance firms, specialty lenders, private lenders, and government loan programs. In selecting lenders keep in mind that while commercial banks have very strict lending guidelines there are many different kinds of commercial lenders who will lend to companies that banks will not.

6. Select those lenders you want to work with and prepare and submit your loan requests to them then give them plenty of time to make a decision on your loan request. The last thing you ever want to do is to try and rush a lender into making a fast loan decision on a loan request, or you won’t like the fast decision you get I promise.

In your search for a business loan there are many factors that are beyond your control, but these steps are six factors that you can control as you look for business financing. In troubled economic times like those we are experiencing now you may have to look a little longer for the business loan your company needs, but it will be worth the effort when you get the money you need to operate and grow your business.