The Challenge of Small Business Consulting for Commercial Loans

The commercial lending process has grown more challenging for small business owners, and business bank consulting might prove to be the most successful strategy for achieving commercial loan and working capital management improvements. Selecting a business loan expert is easily the most important step in hiring a qualified commercial bank consultant. This task must be pursued until a business owner is satisfied no matter how difficult it might seem.It is essential to include non-bank programs such as merchant cash advances in the overall evaluation of practical commercial loan options, so a business finance options expert selected must not only be familiar with banks but also equally capable of evaluating sources of non-bank financing. The business bank consultant will need to have a working knowledge of what distinguishes bad banks from good banks as well as identifying effective non-bank sources that can provide small business financing services which are increasingly unavailable even from the good banks.It should be noted that while it is likely that the thorough review of alternative business financing strategies might not be as urgent if an existing commercial bank is performing as needed by a business, there are still compelling reasons to consider other options in the event that something unexpected happens. For example, if their bank is classified as a bad bank, realistically it will be necessary for a small business owner to entertain the idea of firing their banker either sooner or later.If it becomes necessary to replace a bank, it should be realized in advance that based upon specialized small business finance criteria, only a few banks can pass the stringent tests to be viewed as a good bank. If a small business is currently using what is deemed to be a bad bank but still needs an ongoing banking relationship, a vital part of commercial bank consulting will be the identification of at least one good bank candidate. Even though many financial experts will debate whether there are any good banks left standing, the search for them must realistically continue.It is of course guaranteed that any bank referred to as a bad bank will challenge the assertion. Fortunately most small business owners have sufficient memories to recall that very few banks were credible sources of accurate information during the recent banking chaos. As with many economic and financial activities, there are independent statistics available to help judge whether small business financing is experiencing a severe downward trend or not.With widespread public reports showing business financing options at the lowest levels in many years, banks are simultaneously boasting about the supposedly robust level of their business loan activity. In one possible explanation for the disparity, banks might be offsetting a clear decrease in small business lending with an increase of commercial loans to large corporations.This report is recommending that small business owners be prepared to take aggressive steps when searching for effective commercial property loan and working capital management options. Stark disagreements such as those noted above do seem to make a credible case for the inclusion of commercial bank consulting in any efforts to improve business financing. Commercial borrowers should benefit whether the business bank consultant is called upon to serve as a commercial finance expert providing a second opinion or as a commercial loan umpire to make a final call before completing any new financing agreements.