Business LendingBureau

Tool

Loan fit finder

Five questions, including the two that actually decide it: when you need the money, and where the repayment comes from.

Reviewed and updated · How we research this

Most loan selectors ask what the money is for and how much. That is not enough to answer the question, because two businesses wanting $100,000 for working capital need completely different products if one is repaying from a single customer invoice in 60 days and the other from general trading over four years.

Why these five questions

  1. What the money is for

    An asset gets asset finance. A gap gets revolving credit. A purchase gets term debt. This sets the shape.

  2. How long you have been operating

    Time in business is a hard gate at many lenders rather than something they score, so it rules options in or out rather than adjusting your rate.

  3. How much

    Size changes the lender, not just the product. Some of the highest-volume SBA lenders in the country have a median loan under $50,000 and others sit above $1 million. See the lender rankings.

  4. When you need it

    The question most tools skip. A need inside two weeks rules out SBA entirely, and that single fact changes the realistic answer and its cost more than anything else here.

  5. Where the repayment comes from

    The one that decides the shape. Repayment from a specific customer payment should be financed with something that clears when that payment lands. Repayment you cannot name is the signal not to borrow yet.

What this will not do

  • It will not tell you whether you will be approved. Nobody can, and a tool claiming to is guessing. Approval turns on your cash flow, which is the affordability calculator.
  • It is not a referral. We take no money from any lender and send nothing anywhere. Your answers stay in your browser.
  • It will sometimes say do not borrow. If you cannot name the repayment source, that is the honest output.

Then do these three things

  1. Run the payment through the affordability calculator and check coverage clears 1.15x, or 1.10x on an SBA 7(a) Small Loan.
  2. Find lenders whose actual book looks like your loan, using the rankings and who lends in your market.
  3. Apply to more than one. The single most effective negotiating position in small business lending is a genuine alternative.

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