We can understand your plight. If it is any consolation you should know that getting an SBA loan is pretty tough. Getting those loans is a lot more difficult than people are led to believe. Just because you did not get the loan you should not think that reflects on you as a business person at all. I used to attend some SCORE meetings and my understanding is that less than 10% of all who applied were given an SBA loan. And that was back in 2005! Without getting insensitive I would like to say that not getting the SBA loan might be a great thing. You have to pay loans back. It's been my experience that most people have it stuck in their minds that they need a million bucks to open up this business or that website. Truth is, with some common sense and research you will be shocked how cheaply you can do a lot of things these days. I've read many stories of successful entrepreneurs who later said that they were grateful to start up their business on a shoe string budget because it forced them to focus and it eliminated a lot of false and costly assumptions. For instance, on one of the other threads in this forum someone wanted to open up a T-shirt business and wondered if he needed to do the manufacturing himself. Bear in mind I am not poking fun or anything but if he had gone ahead and purchased tens of thousands of dollars on equipment, chemicals, and training he'd be behind the 8 ball big time when all he would have to do is order some T-shirts on the cheap over the internet. You'd be surprised at how cheaply you can source things nowadays. So don't think that just because you don't have piles of cash lying around that you're through. As a matter of fact, you may very well look at this as a serendipitous moment. california patent attorney california patent lawyer ---This post was edited to remove a commercial link. Read our discussion policies for more Community best practices.

We didn't bother applying after discussing it with our business banker who suggested showing an income and explaining some of our other options. Plus, for us it would have been more of a safety net then a necessity. Have you looked into any type of private loans? Have you thought about bringing in an investor on a limited level? I was surprised that once we started our business, we started getting offers from people to invest when they saw what we were doing. I know it is difficult, but stay positive and talk to as many people as possible both online and in person...eventually things have a way of working themselves out.

Please don't get discouraged! Friend of mine was waiting over a year and finally got this loan and it was well worth waiting.   Thanks, Mark Illinois Auto Insurance Agency

Well, I'm sure somebody has, although the odds are not in favor of you finding any of those individuals on this message board. On an annual basis, the SBA guarantees loans to less than 0.01% of all small businesses and the folks at the agency will be the first to tell you that they do not want to be (and are not supposed to be) the primary source of small business financing in the marketplace. As it happens, I gather that the primary source of small business financing is, and has been for several years now, credit cards. There is relatively little acknowledgement of that by anybody who matters but one can hope that small and microbusiness owners will be the unacknowledged beneficiaries of the credit card reform bill currently doing the rounds on Capitol Hill.

I am afraid that very soon our money won't be worth the money that it is printed on so it's going to be a non issue I am afraid. But to answer your question, no I have never had any luck with the SBA. http://get-six-pack-abs.org Get six Pack Abs Message Edited by NicoleD on 06-19-2009 11:33 AM

I live in central New York State and belong to Alternatives Federal Credit Union.  They do a lot of work with SBA and small businesses in the area.  I have gotten a low interest loan because of a grant they received from the SBA.   Also, being a woman owning a small business is a bonus!

SBA does not give out money - they only guarantee the bank loan. Thus, you still have to qualify for bank lending. It is not a perfect arrangement but that is what it is. If you are being turned down due to credit or some other issue - try to fix that issue. In the mean time, the SBA is working on a plan (part of the recovery act) to intice banks to pick up small business lending by reducing fees to both lenders and borrowers as well as increase guarantee rates and puchase other SBA backed loans. This program is supposed to take effect in June. Thus, until June - work on your current issues - then when the program come about you will be well situtated to take advantage of it.

Our familiy owned business srecently went bankrupt. We were unable to get any help at all from the SBA. Unfortunately this was right at the onset of the credit crunch. Everyone in my family ended up in bankruptsy. In the pasy (years ago) we had gotten money from the SBA. Times have changed and no one is giving money to anyone unless they do not need it, and can prove it.