My frequent readers will recognize Deborah Brenner as someone who I’ve written about several times before.  She and I first met on the set of MSNBC’s “Your Money” and since then she has become a member of the Make Mine a Million $ Business RACE, continued to grow her business, and just recently met with Secretary of State Clinton’s staff about having her wines served at Secretary Clinton’s events and to female delegates visiting the White House.  While talking to her about this, she gave me an update on a new SBA loan she’d received.

Deb got her first SBA loan three years ago, which she paid off fully in January.  She applied for a second loan through HSBC, and though she did get the loan she saw that the application process had changed to involve much more scrutiny.  Lenders now are more skeptical, she said, and are spending more reviewing business plans and projections to be certain that the loans can be paid back.  She agreed with other women I’ve spoken to who said their process would have been much more difficult if President Obama hadn’t increased the percentage of loans that can be backed by SBA funds up to 90%.  Even considering the help that’s being offered to grease the business-lending wheels, Deborah has some sage advice for entrepreneurs who want to increase their odds of getting a loan:

“Make a relationship with your banker.  Numbers are on a piece of paper, but your bank needs to see the person who is behind the company.  They need an understanding of how you understand your business and what you’re doing.  That relationship will help them ask the right questions and enable you to answer them.  It makes a very big difference.”

Your elevator pitch is as important in the loan process as it is anywhere else!  The foundation of your elevator pitch is presenting what you’re doing now, and how you’ll do even better in the future.  “I was talking too much about where I came from.  Men don’t do that, they assume they don’t have to justify that they’re qualified for what they do.  You have to be confident in what you’re doing now, where you are in the marketplace, what your markets are and what you’re making.” 

“No one wants you to default on your loan, and there’s a lot of expertise that you can tap into if you need help or have questions." Deborah is taking her own advice and continuing to work closely with her bank’s relationship manager.  She also used the SCORE website to download templates for documents she needed to prepare for her loan application.

And finally, “The SBA is one of the country’s best-kept secrets.  Go to SBA.gov to find out the top lenders for SBA-backed loans in your area.”  Deborah told her winemakers about her experience getting a loan and they’ve done the same, which has helped them grow their businesses as wine makers and hers as a distributer.

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Believe in you,
Nell