Stop what you're doing. Get a line of credit.

[CareCPA]

You could try Fundbox or Kabbage. The interest rates will be high, but if it's just short term it may not make that much of a difference .

 

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[ChrisR]

Negotiating skills mean jack when the underwriter is a faceless drone in some corporate cubicle farm who you don’t get access to.

I totally agree.

 

[Ronak]

@Scot if you've been in biz at least 9 months and 42k in rev, loanbuilder.com from paypal may be an option. No hard credit pull unless you sign the loan agreement, and they go based on revenue/bank statements. Took about a day.

They offered me a decent amount, rate wasn't awesome, but it wasn't payday loan rates either, better than kabbage.

 

[Ronak]

Thanks to this thread I now have six figures of credit lines that I didn't have before. The aforementioned short-term financing from PayPal, 0% for 1 year credit card with Chase, and a line of credit from a local bank that didn't require the usual ream of paperwork and was able to approve me the same day.

Will share some lessons learned later, but for now +Rep to OP!

 

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[Scot]

Thanks to this thread I now have six figures of credit lines that I didn't have before. The aforementioned short-term financing from PayPal, 0% for 1 year credit card with Chase, and a line of credit from a local bank that didn't require the usual ream of paperwork and was able to approve me the same day.

Will share some lessons learned later, but for now +Rep to OP!

Local bank you say?

 

[PizzaOnTheRoof]

I took out a line of credit.........4 of them to be exact.

And that's why I'm effed right now.

 

[Ronak]

I took out a line of credit.........4 of them to be exact.

And that's why I'm effed right now.

Care to elaborate?

My guess is you either got the wrong terms or misused the funds.

Debt is like fire, when used properly it can be very powerful, but let it get out of control and it will consume everything!

 

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[PizzaOnTheRoof]

Care to elaborate?

My guess is you either got the wrong terms or misused the funds.

Debt is like fire, when used properly it can be very powerful, but let it get out of control and it will consume everything!

Credit cards and a college student with absolutely no money management skills...

 

[Ronak]

I tried Chase Bank a few weeks ago and they were totally useless. I was told the only way I'd get approved is if my business was in the medical field. I've been banking with them for almost 20 years with credit over 800 and they more or less wouldn't give me the time of day.

One thing I've learned is that each branch and perhaps even each banker is like talking to a separate entity. As others have echoed here, a lot of these "bankers" don't know their foot from their...hand.

If you don't get a response from one employee, go to another branch and talk to their business banker. Some branches don't even have a business banker and have a regional person rotate between branches. There is a wide scope in quality between one banker to the next.

Keep trying until you find one that knows what they're talking about.

Case in point, Chase is my main bank, and I usually use a suburban location close to my home. They have no business banker on site. I've spoken to the regional person a few times on the phone, and every time they've insisted that I need two years of full financials to qualify for even a penny.

I basically wrote off Chase because I didn't want to deal with reams of paperwork.

After reading here and elsewhere about people getting good limits with Chase, I decided to call another branch in our city's business district. I met with the business banker there and it was like night and day. The other person was just giving me half the information, but when I sat down with this other knowledgeable banker for 30 mins and discussed my actual situation, I found out that I had many more options and the potential to borrow more than twice what I was even looking for. They provide up to 100k with 1 year financials, 250k with 2 years, and even talked about going 500k+ if I provided 3 years.

In this day and age, phone calls are old fashioned, but you wouldn't believe how many places I called that never followed up. We're not talking about Bubba's Bank, but large multinationals players just let leads slip through the cracks.

Nothing beats face to face, however. It allows you to separate the wheat from the chaff. It takes time, but time well spent IMO...

There are indeed many places that offer LOCs with no financials, also known as "streamlined" loans.
Besides PNC,
From my investigation:

TD Bank- up to 100k unsecured
Wells Fargo- up to 100k unsecured
US Bank- up to 100k unsecured
Synovus Bank- up to 50k unsecured

BOA may provide something, but they don't tell you what they need until after you apply.

I closed on 50k from a local bank in a matter of days, no financials, no collateral, 6.5% APR. Going to start the process with Chase as well to up that significantly.

Know your credit score:

wallethub.com gives free daily updated credit scores, which was invaluable in the process.

 

[Ronak]

If your business with Amazon is ever significant enough... I used Amazon Lending. Their interest rates were egregious but the approval process was almost instantaneous. At the maximum I had extended over six figures only secured probably buy the Amazon FBA inventory that I had at the time. It was very expensive but very easy. However, you have to wait for them to offer it to you. There are no restrictions on how you could use the money.

When I sold the company one of the terms of sale was at the purchaser paid off the Amazon lending agreement.

This won't be a solution for a lot of people but for those of you who have a significant Amazon Centric business this was very easy access to Capital.

Another ninja tactic I picked up after my meeting with my banker-- Chase will actually refi Amazon term loans, potentially extending the term and lowering rate significantly!

 

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[Ronak]

@Scot Another thing I forgot to mention is 0% APR credit cards.

With decent credit, that may be the best option for anyone with a newer business. A lot of business cards pull personal credit but do not report balances. You can use balance transfers to pull funds and pay like 3% the first year.

 

[ChrisR]

One thing I've learned is that each branch and perhaps even each banker is like talking to a separate entity. As others have echoed here, a lot of these "bankers" don't know their foot from their...hand.

If you don't get a response from one employee, go to another branch and talk to their business banker. Some branches don't even have a business banker and have a regional person rotate between branches. There is a wide scope in quality between one banker to the next.

Keep trying until you find one that knows what they're talking about.

Case in point, Chase is my main bank, and I usually use a suburban location close to my home. They have no business banker on site. I've spoken to the regional person a few times on the phone, and every time they've insisted that I need two years of full financials to qualify for even a penny.

I basically wrote off Chase because I didn't want to deal with reams of paperwork.

After reading here and elsewhere about people getting good limits with Chase, I decided to call another branch in our city's business district. I met with the business banker there and it was like night and day. The other person was just giving me half the information, but when I sat down with this other knowledgeable banker for 30 mins and discussed my actual situation, I found out that I had many more options and the potential to borrow more than twice what I was even looking for. They provide up to 100k with 1 year financials, 250k with 2 years, and even talked about going 500k+ if I provided 3 years.

In this day and age, phone calls are old fashioned, but you wouldn't believe how many places I called that never followed up. We're not talking about Bubba's Bank, but large multinationals players just let leads slip through the cracks.

Nothing beats face to face, however. It allows you to separate the wheat from the chaff. It takes time, but time well spent IMO...

There are indeed many places that offer LOCs with no financials, also known as "streamlined" loans.
Besides PNC,
From my investigation:

TD Bank- up to 100k unsecured
Wells Fargo- up to 100k unsecured
US Bank- up to 100k unsecured
Synovus Bank- up to 50k unsecured

BOA may provide something, but they don't tell you what they need until after you apply.

I closed on 50k from a local bank in a matter of days, no financials, no collateral, 6.5% APR. Going to start the process with Chase as well to up that significantly.

Know your credit score:

wallethub.com gives free daily updated credit scores, which was invaluable in the process.

Thanks dude. Great post. Rep+