Financing Your Business

Banks and Credit Unions

The most common sources of funding, banks and credit unions, will provide a loan if you can show that your business proposal is sound. For startup companies, however, the burden of proof is much higher than for an existing business seeking for a loan to expand current operations. Conservative projections and careful attention to the assumptions that underlie these projections are critical to increasing the chances of receiving startup funding.

SBA Loans

Click here to go to the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) small business lender portal. After a quick registration, SBA will help link you with potential lenders.

You may also be interested in the ‘Capital’ section of the SBA Business Resource guide, which starts on page 18 here.

The Louisiana Small Business Development Center (LSBDC) provides links to all sorts of small business financial information, including a database of over 4,000 small business lenders which is located at the bottom of this list.

Angel Investor Funds

These individuals and firms help expanding companies grow in exchange for equity or partial ownership of the company. Under the Angel Investor Tax Credit Program offered by the state of Louisiana, a 35 percent transferable tax credit is available to angel investors. There are programs targeted to help startup businesses secure financing by reducing the risk to traditional lenders who make loans to small businesses. These programs, run by the Small Business Administration (SBA) on the federal level and Louisiana Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) on the state level, do not make any direct loans to business owners. Yet, as a business owner, be sure your lender is aware of these programs that aim to make lending to small businesses more attractive to improve your chances of securing funds. Again, both the SBA and LEDC’s programs are administered through traditional lenders such as banks.