There has been some tightening in the commercial lending market. We have a good budget this year. We have plenty of lending capacity. When lenders are tightening their policies, they can use the SBA for credit enhancement, which means we'd guarantee a portion of the loan to offset some of the losses of the bank if the borrower defaults. The lender takes the first look.
Some lenders have the ability to make an immediate decision.
These are called preferred lenders. They get a response from SBA within 24 hours. Most failures are due to poor management. This means the business owner did not have a thorough understanding of their market or the cost of production or how to run a business. Look for information on developing a business plan.