Financing ? SBL ? – Why You Should Investigate the Canadian Small Business Governm

Updated: June 05, 2011

So what type of proof are we talking about? Well, how about 957 Million dollars - that's the amount of loans granted to businesses just like yours in 2010, in Canada. Unfortunately, and here's the bad news, your competitors took advantage of the loan program, and you seemed to have missed the boat! Let's get you back on the program.

A good starter would be of course to ensure you understand what the program does, and does not do. At it's essence it's a term loan, payable in equal monthly installments at competitive rates that even many larger businesses might not be able to achieve.

How much can you borrow - here is where the good news gets even better - the cap on the loan was increased to $350,000.00 during the last major recession in 2008 and 2009 timeframe. We have no reason to believe the current limit will not be staying the same.

So where does misinformation exist around the program, we have always felt it's important to outlines the pros and cons of any financing arrangement... (We feel strongly you'll agree the pros outweigh the cons on this one!) .

A major criticism of the program is simply that it's cumbersome and a bit bureaucratic re the forms, application, etc. Our opinion is that if you invest a bit of time in getting a solid action plan in place for the Canadian small business government loan financing program that you can be approved in a matter of days.

Clients who have experienced otherwise are either poorly informed, or are not working with a respected and credible business advisor who in many cases can finalize the transaction with minimal involvement from yourself and your firm.

We spoke of some mis information around the program. If we had to isolate constant piece of mis information on the program it's simply that many clients don't know what the program finances. So let's be clear on that. it finances only equipment, leasehold improvements , and real estate .

Many firms either believe, or have been told, (or perhaps wish?!) that the loan can be a cash loan or that it can be used to purchase inventory or finance receivables. It does not do that, so lets be clear on that. A good example of what some people don't know the program can cover is software, as that can easily be financed under the program. We're talking about application software of course.

Let's get back to eligibility. Why so we think you are eligible? Simply that if you are a privately owned for profit Canadian company, with actual or projected sales under 5,000,000.00$ you qualify. Can you imagine how many companies there are in Canada that qualifies under those two simple guidelines? (In actuality approx 7400 companies in Canada entered into an SBL Canadian Small Business Government Loan financing arrangement.