Five common reasons banks refuse your start-up loan.

Nowadays, getting a loan for a start-up is a challenging task. Here are five reasons you will not walk out of the bank with a business loan:

1/ The bank is not in the lending mood.
Banks might (temporarily) decide not to back starting businesses for reasons of risk management. The bank doesn't know you. You are a beginner without a track record, so the risk for a lender is elevated.

2/ Your business is weak.
You present yourself to a branch representative and make your case. Consequently, your written business and financial plan are passed on to the back-office. Those guys did not see your sales pitch in person. They only have your documents to go on: lousy plan, no loan.

3/ Your project is fragile.
Your business plan is good, but the bank judges that your project has few potential and that the numbers do not add up. Usually, a financial plan makes some assumptions, and maybe the bank does not follow yours. Or they consider your premises to be too optimistic.

4/Too few earnings.
Money talks. Your business plan is good, but the bank thinks that the investment and the risk are too high in proportion to the earnings.

5/ Too smart.
Highly innovating and technological projects are challenging too fund. The bank has no feedback or numbers on similar innovations and projects, and that is why even fantastic business ideas are unable to get funding.

I could have written an article with 27 reasons why banks turn down start-up loans. But, to simplify the matter, all reasons boil down to one fundamental question: how likely is the bank going to see back its money with interest.
Here is what I want you to do.
Read your business plan out loud in front of a mirror.
Put yourself in the shoes of the banker.
Would you loan money to the guy in the mirror?
I hope you would!


Top 10 about the author; Erik Victor
1. is a serial entrepreneur and started his career in Engineering
2. currently a majority shareholder in corporations in the fields of Industrial Real Estate, Wealth Management & Investment funds, and International Tax Planning
3. has a passion for the dynamics of young businesses and actively endorses several start-ups
4. is an engaged member of several think-tanks and an international conference speaker
5. has a business footprint in six countries
6. speaks five languages
7. personal life - resides in Europe
8. Erik (48) is known as a discrete and private person, a family man
9. loves to spend his limited holidays in the mountains or at sea on his yacht
10. Erik has no social media accounts



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