When applying for a startup loan, the most important factors to consider are the four Cs: capital, credit, collateral, and conditions. Capital refers to your ability to repay by looking at your business and personal earnings, savings, and debt. Credit is the credit history of your business and/or you, personally. Collateral includes assets that can be used to secure the loan if it is a secured loan. And lastly, conditions refers to the purpose of the loan, time in business, and industry of the business.
In addition, the top four financial challenges for startups are sales and marketing, contingency planning, human resources, and scaling up. Sales and marketing are important for bringing in new leads, while contingency planning helps you ride out the worst storms. Human resources are critical for finding the right people to handle opportunities, and scaling up is necessary to maximize profits.