Getting a Business Loan: Financing Your Main Street Business

Preface

I’ve spent the 30 or so years of my career in small business. Most of that time has been spent working with the Main Street–type businesses that feed us, do our dry cleaning, service our automobiles, and perform dozens of other services. Largely underappreciated, these Main Street businesses create the lion’s share of new jobs and employ about half of the workforce in the United States.

Although politicians and community leaders like to laud the achievements of the successful business leaders within their communities, it sometimes feels like the deck is stacked against them. Ask any small business owner, and he or she will likely acknowledge that access to capital is one of the biggest challenges they face every day.

Recent years have ...