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Sba 504 Vs. 7a: How To Choose Your Loan Program

When you have a business to run, you will most definitely always think about making certain improvements that can lead to further growth and success of your company. Making those improvements is sometimes quite easy. Sometimes, however, doing that can be quite difficult, especially if you find yourself needing money for those improvements and simply not having it.

Of course, there is also the fact that you might need money to start your business in the first place, and this might help you learn how to get the necessary funds: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2021/10/29/how-to-get-money-to-start-a-business/?sh=2102c29a66fe 

I am here to make a suggestion as well. Practically, if you have a small business and you need to get money to, for instance, make those improvements that we have talked about above, you can think about getting the funds from a financial institution, i.e. borrowing it. This is probably the best solution that you have, since it would be quite weird for you to try and borrow this kind of money from your friends or family members.

Not only would that be weird, but chances are that those people wouldn’t actually have enough money to give you. So, you would be putting them in an awkward situation instead of taking charge and doing things the right way, without their help, but with the help of someone else. If you’re now wondering who that “someone else” is that will help you, let me make it clear.

I am basically talking about lenders. They are the professionals that you should get help from. Before you start working with these experts, though, there is one thing that you need to carefully think about right now. In short, there are some different types of small business loan programs that you should take into account before deciding which one you want to use to your advantage. For instance, there is the SBA 504, and then there is also the 7A.

If those two sound like nothing else but a bunch of confusing numbers and letters, then you absolutely need to do some learning. In other words, you need to learn more about SBA 504 vs. 7A and understand those differences between these two programs, in an effort to comprehend which one you should actually resort to using. In order to get a clear understanding as to which one you should resort to using, you’ll need to learn a bit more about both of these options.

SBA 504 Vs. SBA 7A

Usually, people use the SBA 504 loan program when they want to purchase certain large equipment, or when they want to finance a construction project, or perhaps buy a building. As you’ll see later, the SBA 7A solution is commonly used slightly differently. This, however, isn’t exactly written in stone, meaning that you can get one of these loans even if you have some different purposes for them. The trick is in talking to professionals and letting them give you some pieces of advice as to which one of these to choose.

The 504 program was first designed as part of a plan to help small businesses finance commercial real estate for their use. The idea was that a business owner could get a better opportunity to grow his or her business after getting a certain commercial property and giving a rather small down payment, i.e. 10%. This is, thus, a rather safe and secure lending opportunity that allows you to get the money you need at a fixed interest rate and without needing a huge down payment.

The SBA 7A, on the other hand, was originally designed for some higher-risk loans. The program was used for processes such as business acquisition, working capital, current debt refinancing, leasehold improvements and similar things. While this particular solution could also be used for those real-estate purposes, the simple truth is that it doesn’t provide as much protection as the above one in those cases due to its variable interest rate. Go here to learn more about these two options.

How To Choose Yours

It is perfectly normal for you to be a bit unsure as to which of these two options could be best for you. At the top of my head, I can tell you that the SBA 504 program is usually a better solution when it comes to buying equipment or real estate. On the other hand, the SBA 7A can be great for business acquisition and other purposes, and it is especially useful for people who want to get a loan without having to provide anything as collateral.

Those are only some basic facts that you should know when trying to make this choice. It would, however, be a good idea for you to dig a bit deeper before making any concrete decisions. So, you should talk to a financial advisor, lenders, and other experts that can help you make this choice.