From Montauk to Chautauqua and Champlain, owners of businesses are looking for small business loans in New York. If you’re looking for working capital, there is funding available.
Even people looking to start a new small business in New York will have an array of choices for company money, including National Funding.
Top Small Business Loan Options In New York
Option 1 – The Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation
The BOEDC offers emergency business cash and bridge loan funding. The idea is to tide a business over until government relief comes in. Get up to $100,000 with payback terms of up to five years. The loan rate is 1% and payments aren’t due until 180 days after funding.
They also offer up to $1 million for major improvements (like buying equipment) with up to 20 years to pay the small business loan back.
New York entrepreneurs must provide collateral in the form of mortgages on property; liens on equipment and machinery (and on other assets in some cases); lease assignments, and personal and corporate guarantees.
You can also get technical assistance through this New York state department.
Option 2 – Microloans from the WEDI Economic Development Program
This loan program serves local entrepreneurs about as far away from New York City as you can go—the Buffalo area in Western New York. This Community Development Financial Institution serves the minority, refugee, and immigrant communities. Microloans are for up to $20,000.
They also operate a small business incubator, the West Side Bazaar. Because the bazaar was damaged in a fire, this small business development center is soliciting donations.
They offer community support and education, and it conducts Pitch Your Pivot, a live virtual pitch competition for small business owners. They named an Entrepreneur of the Year, a title which comes with a monetary prize.
One of their small business services is educational programs to help area New York business owners take advantage of funding opportunities like grants, equity funding, and debt financing. They also offer a partnership program.
Option 3 – Small Business Loans Through the Cooperative Federal Credit Union in Syracuse
For central New York businesses, the CFCU offers business loans for equipment, business lines of credit, and personal VISA Classic Credit Cards which can be issued in a business’s name.
They also work with entrepreneurs on their finances to improve their success at business borrowing. This includes anyone starting a new business in New York. The CFCU provides help for business owners to understand their personal credit and dispute errors if necessary.
Rates depend on New York business loan type, risk level, and collateral, but are currently (as of late 2022) as low as 6.50% – 12.50%. There is no minimum loan size, flexible underwriting, and reduced documentation for loans under $10,000.
For more SBA options, like the SBA Express Loan, check your local SBA New York district office.
Option 4 – Financing, Running, or Starting a New York Business from Pursuit Lending
Pursuit Lending offers working capital loans, construction and improvement loans, inventory financing, equipment and technology loans, and ways to refinance business debt. They will finance owner-occupied commercial real estate.
This small business lender is located in Albany but will lend to New Yorkers throughout the state. Their loan program offerings include SBA 504 and 7(a) loans and Small Business Administration microloans.
Pursuit also offers Bridge to Success contract financing via Empire State Development. Get a business line of credit up to $200,000. Pay an interest rate of Prime + 4.0% (currently 8.75%).
Receive working capital 4 – 6 weeks after submitting your complete application. Loan terms run from 12 – 18 months.
Option 5 – Business Loans and Microloans in New York City from Accompany Capital
Originally called the Business Center for New Americans, Accompany Capital works with refugees, immigrants, and women in New York City.
Accompany works closely with the Women’s Enterprise Action Loan Fund (WEALF) to benefit from referring their clients to WEALF for mentoring.
At the same time, WEALF refers their New York business clients to Accompany Capital for larger loans. WEALF offers interest-free loans of up to $10,000.
As a Community Advantage lender, they help small businesses with an SBA-guaranteed small business loan. These loans are available to any qualifying small business in Queens and Staten Island, and to qualifying immigrant, refugee, or women-owned small businesses in Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx.
Option 6 – Company Credit Cards and Lines of Credit from TD Bank
TD Bank loans throughout the country, and not just to New York businesses. They offer company credit cards that will report, thereby helping you establish and improve your business credit.
They offer two cards through Visa with $149 annual fees and a cash-back credit card and a select rate card (these are also Visa cards) which have no annual fee.
To qualify for their company credit cards, you will have to provide proof with supporting documents that your business exists and if applicable, will need to share documentation from other business partners. But they will also work with sole proprietors.
Option 7 – Tax Breaks via Start-Up NY
START-UP NY helps new and expanding small businesses through tax-based incentives. This program offers new and expanding businesses the opportunity to operate tax-free for 10 years on or near eligible state universities and college campuses in New York State.
Since the New York state university system has campuses all around the state, small business owners from Stony Brook to Plattsburgh can take advantage of this program. You don’t have to be near their NYC department.
Your business must partner with a New York State college or university, create new jobs and contribute to the economy of the local community.
Some industries are not eligible, such as financial services, and retail and wholesale small businesses.
Online Loan Options
Provider 1 – A Merchant Cash Advance from National Business Capital
National Business Capital provides a number of options including MCAs. Get up to $5 million in one to three days. To qualify, you must be in business for at least six months, with gross annual sales of $120,000 or more. There is no minimum FICO requirement.
Their varying types of business loans also include a business line of credit, an SBA loan, and equipment financing. They will fund cannabis businesses. They have a lender marketplace where you can compare term loans.
An application for a term loan will not affect your FICO score. They also offer Performance Advance™ financing.
Provider 2 – A Term Loan from Funding Circle
In addition to term loans, Funding Circle also offers SBA loans and business lines of credit.
You can see if you qualify in minutes. Get up to $500,000 in as little as three business days. Terms run from 6 months – 7 years. There is no prepayment penalty and it will help you to build corporate credit.
However, you will need moderately good personal credit in order to qualify. Most of the time, they will only do a soft pull on your credit. In general, longer-term loans (3 – 5 years) will require some form of collateral.
Use this loan for nearly any business purpose.
Provider 3 – MCAs from Gud Capital
Gud Capital has a variety of lending options available.
With MCAs, you can get factoring rates as low as 1%. This is for a one-year term. Funding time is 7 – 14 business days.
Or get USDA Business and Industry loans. These are for rural areas with populations of less than 50,000 people. The government guarantees loans originated by private commercial lenders. Lenders guarantee 80% for loans of $5 million or less.
Use a USDA loan for a variety of purposes. These include:
- Startup
- Repair, modernization, and development
- Purchase and development of land, buildings, and/or facilities in rural communities
- Leasehold improvements
- Purchase supplies, equipment, machinery, and inventory
- Refinance business debt (if this creates jobs)
- Business and industrial acquisitions
Provider 4 – ERTC Loan from Biz2Credit
An ERTC loan is an advance on a tax credit via the Employee Retention Tax Credit. You can get a loan for up to 60% of your tax credit via Biz2Credit.
Get up to $500,000 in fast small business funding to keep your business running. Payback with interest-only payments for up to 12 months or the flexibility to pay over up to 36 months.
You will need to have a pending IRS credit of $100,000 or more and be in operation for at least since February 2020. And, you will need to have a FICO score of 660 or better. They do not seem to be looking at annual revenue.
How to Qualify for a Business Loan in New York
Have a Good Credit Score
A good personal credit score helps you get financing anywhere. Business lenders and credit issuers want to see objective proof you pay back credit cards and other debts on time.
Since your FICO score makes up some of your Experian and FICO SBSS scores, it always helps to keep this score high. And since the SBA uses FICO SBSS scores when determining eligibility for its loans, a good personal FICO score is even more vital.
Keep a good personal FICO score by paying your bills on time, not applying for too much credit all at once, keeping older accounts open, keeping utilization under 30%, and having a few different types of credit accounts.
Have a Proper Business Plan
You should never skimp on your business plan! Here is where, if you do not have experience creating such a plan, it makes sense to call in a professional. A good business plan helps you get funding.
A business plan is just that—a roadmap of how you want your company to go from startup to success.
Lenders are not the only entities that will want to see your business plan. Small business credit providers, including starter vendors, are likely to want you to be able to produce your business plan before they will extend credit to you at all.
Business Revenues
Proven business revenues will always help you get business funding. This also means existing businesses must be in business for at least 6 months. Both metrics, together, assure lenders and credit issuers that your business is on the right track.
Past results are no guarantee of future success. Still, they show you can do this. Business revenues are also what separates successful businesses from the rest of the herd. A business with proven past revenues is far less likely to fail.
Even profitable businesses can go under. But a lender will be more inclined to lend to you if your New York small business can show it is bringing in revenue. This means your advertising and marketing efforts are working.
It also means that you at least in part understand your market and are fulfilling their needs with your product or service.
Takeaways
A small business owner in New York has an array of options available to them when it comes to corporate financing. And they do not have to be in New York City, or even close to a smaller city such as Albany.
You can no longer get a PPP loan, and the only way to get an Economic Injury Disaster loan is if your business is part of a declared disaster. But there’s a lot more out there.
Contact us today for more information on business financing in New York state or wherever in the country your business calls home.
