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By Gerri Detweiler, Nav
www.nav.com
If you’re juggling business debt, you probably wish there were a simpler way. What if you could consolidate your small business debt into one affordable payment? That’s business debt consolidation in a nutshell. Finding the right loan option can be confusing though, so we’ll break it down in detail here.
With business debt consolidation, you get new financing to pay off existing loans. The ideal debt consolidation loan will give you one lower monthly payment at a lower interest rate. It isn’t always possible to achieve the ideal scenario, though, so identify which of these goals is your top priority:
Lower payments: If your payments are cutting into your cash flow, you may want to see if you qualify for longer-term consolidation programs to lower the amount of your periodic payment.
Less frequent payment: If you have loans or advances with daily or weekly payments, that frequency also may put a strain on your cash flow. A consolidation loan with monthly payments may be easier to manage.
Lower interest rates: Keep in mind that small business financing comes at a cost, but it isn’t always expressed as an interest rate. It may be expressed as a “factor rate,” “fee” or some other form that makes it difficult to compare to other financing. If your financing is high cost, you may want to try to reduce it with a lower-interest loan.
Sometimes you do get the trifecta of the perfect consolidation loan, but not always. For example, you may lower your payments but stretch out your debt, and that may cost you more over the long run. However, it helps to keep your main goals in mind as you explore your options.
Small business financing options may include lines of credit, term loans, cash advances, accounts receivable financing and more. Cash advances are a type of short-term financing that usually require weekly or daily payments. All these types of financing have their pros and cons, but what’s important to understand here is that the lender will look carefully at the affordability of any new financing. It will take into account the outstanding debt you already have. And some lenders may want you to take “cash out,” meaning they want to add new financing to your business debt consolidation loan. That means you must be able to afford the new larger loan or cash advance.
1. Multiyear term loan (1 to 5 years): A term loan may be one of the best ways to consolidate your short-term debt and get some cash out for growing your business. You may qualify for low monthly payments and no prepayment penalty. Business owners interested in this product should be able to demonstrate two to three years of profitability on business tax returns, two or more years in business, a personal FICO score higher than 650 and good business cash flow. Those who qualify may be able to get up to 250%, or 2.5 times, average gross monthly deposits.
2. Commercial mortgage refinance: If you have equity in the building from which your business operates or any other commercial property you own, you may be eligible for a “cash out refinance.” The cash portion can provide funds to pay off more expensive debt. You may be able to get a 30-year repayment term, low interest rates and more affordable monthly payments.
3. Accounts receivables financing: Are your customers or clients other businesses? If you have a sizable amount of accounts receivable due from other businesses, you may qualify for a line of credit using your receivables as collateral. You may be able to get an advance for 80 to 90% of your accounts receivable upfront and use that to pay off more expensive financing, such as daily or weekly cash advances, or short term high-interest loans.
4. Equipment refinancing: Businesses with large amounts of equipment owned free and clear or with significant equity also can qualify for refinancing. Interest rates often will be in the mid-teens to upper teens with multiyear terms. Generally, your business should be looking for larger amounts of funding, around $300,000 or more, for this option.
5. SBA loans: The Small Business Administration does allow some SBA loans it guarantees to be used to refinance existing debt, particularly when it improves the cash flow of the business. If you qualify, this can be an excellent way to reduce costs, as SBA loans typically offer favorable repayment terms. Keep in mind that the SBA doesn’t generally make loans except disaster loans. Instead, you’ll need to find a lender, often a bank, that makes these loans, and you’ll need to meet its qualifications on top of the minimum qualifications set by the SBA. Like most bank loans, SBA loans generally require good credit, and you must be able to demonstrate that your business has the cash flow to repay the loan. Learn about SBA loans, including the popular SBA 7(a) loan, in detail here.
6. Short-term to mid-term financing: If your business cannot qualify for any of the other options listed here, it may be possible to consolidate two or sometimes three advances with six to 18-month financing in the form of a loan or another advance. Typically, this financing requires you to qualify for twice the amount of the total balances on existing advances or loans and to take that additional financing upon approval. In other words, you will consolidate your debt, but you will take on additional debt, so be careful. Approval for this type of financing often is based on revenue, so the business will need strong, consistent monthly deposits and healthy daily balances. Clients experiencing cash flow stress from their daily or weekly payment financing with excessive negative balance days in their business bank account likely will not qualify.
7. Home equity: A hot housing market in many parts of the country means that you may be sitting on significant home equity. This is often tapped by entrepreneurs to help pay business debts. It’s risky. If you can’t pay your home equity loan, you can lose your home. If you are considering using home equity to consolidate small business debt, make sure you explore all your options and get help from a business mentor first. You may have alternative options available without putting your home at risk. Similarly, personal loans always carry personal guarantees, which put personal finances at risk. Some business loans require personal guarantees, but not all do.
8. Microloans: If you don’t need a significant amount of money to consolidate debt, you may consider a microloan. These are smaller loans, less than $50,000 in many cases, that are usually available through Community Development Financial Institutions. Interest rates and repayment terms are often attractive, and these loans often come with “technical assistance” designed to help the business be as successful as possible. It can be hard to find these loans, but inquiring with your local SBA office can be a good place to start. The SBA offers a microloan program in which funds may be used to refinance debt at the lender’s discretion.)
If you are looking for debt refinancing, your first step is to take an inventory of your current debt.
Next, you’ll need to inventory your qualifications. See more about this below.
Then, you’ll need to choose the loan option that works best for your situation. Ideally, you’ll want to work with a professional or loan marketplace that can help match you to the right lender based on your qualifications and current debt.
To understand whether consolidation makes sense you’ll need to take into account:
You’ll then need to compare those to the loan terms of the consolidated loan you’re considering. An important question to ask yourself is whether consolidation really will help your business financially or whether there are other issues you need to deal with first, such as a decline in customers and an increase in costs.
Most small business lenders will lend up to 50 to 100% of monthly average gross deposits. Higher business loan amounts will go to the least-risky customers. If your business revenue fluctuates or you already have several cash advances subtracting payments from your account on a daily or weekly basis, your business will be considered more risky and probably won’t qualify for as much.
Lender requirements can vary significantly by product, but you should be prepared for any of the following to be part of the decision when applying for a business loan:
Credit scores: Strong credit will provide you with more financing options. Lenders likely will check business and/or personal credit scores. Lenders often but not always will start with a soft credit check on the applicant’s personal credit. This soft credit check doesn’t affect your credit score. Some may check business credit and/or other data in order to determine whether there are UCC filings, tax liens or judgments against the borrower. It’s a good idea to check your business and personal credit before you apply.
Revenue: Your business finances are important. Lenders are likely to look at how much money your business brings in, as well as the various sources of revenue. Businesses that are making only a few bank deposits a month in some cases are considered higher risks than companies that make them more frequently, say 10 or more. A higher frequency of deposits can make a difference in your loan approval and interest rate with some lenders. Businesses that deposit only a couple times a month may have only one or two customers and that is why they are viewed as higher risk. Lenders also will look at how many times your account has a negative balance — overdrafts or nonsufficient funds — a red flag to many lenders, as well as days with low balances. Finally, lenders will look at whether your business revenue is fairly steady or very up and down — or worse yet, on a steady decline.
Collateral: Some lenders like collateral; it reduces risk by giving them something they can liquidate if the business defaults. It also adds an element of urgency for the business to repay its debts or risk losing that collateral. Collateral can come in the form of hard assets like equipment or inventory but also can be in the form of accounts receivable or even personal assets like home equity.
Debt: Be candid with your lender about all forms of outstanding financing your business has. Don’t try to hide debts; they are likely to come to light in the loan underwriting process and can result in a rejection.
Debt consolidation often is confused with debt negotiation or debt settlement. Those programs don’t technically consolidate your debt. Instead, they negotiate settlements with creditors after you stop paying. Halting payment on your debts in order to force the creditor into negotiation can impact your credit scores significantly and negatively. True debt consolidation, via which one loan is used to pay off another, typically has a neutral or positive impact on credit scores, depending on how the lender reports to business or personal credit.
Small business debt consolidation is a form of refinancing. The key difference is that with refinancing, you’re usually refinancing one loan with a new loan. With consolidation, you’re typically trying to take multiple loans and refinance them all into a single loan. Consolidation often can be more complicated than simple refinancing because the financing you already have probably carries a variety of repayment terms. That means it can be hard to compare the cost and terms of your new loan with the multiple loans or advances you had before. In other words, the math isn’t always as simple and straightforward as it is when you refinance your home or auto loan, for example. Either way, your new financing will be used to pay off previous financing. Sometimes you’ll be able to consolidate all your outstanding balances, and sometimes you’ll only be able to consolidate part of it.
If you can’t qualify for business debt consolidation, you may need to explore other options for business debt relief. Those options vary but they could include selling part of the business, selling assets of the business, restructuring debt through debt settlement or workouts with creditors, or business bankruptcy.
The first thing you’ll want to do is to reach out to your lenders. They may be willing to restructure debt or provide a temporary pause on payments. Keep in mind that this may impact your ability to get other financing, so you may want to explore other options first. Bankruptcy is also an option, but keep in mind that it will hurt your personal credit score and/or business credit score and may significantly impact your ability to get business financing in the future.
Sometimes the problem is bigger than the loan. If you’re struggling with debt payments and can’t qualify for another business loan or cash advance, it may be smart to work with a business advisor who can help you review your business plan and operations. You may need to focus on increasing sales, decreasing expenses or both.
Free help for growing your business is available through SBA resource partners like SCORE and Small Business Development Centers, and there are accountants, attorneys and business debt experts who work with small business owners who need help dealing with their debt.
This article originally appeared on www.nav.com.
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