The Small Business Administration reports that women owning businesses in the United States are continuing to rise and today these businesses employ over 27 million people and contribute over three and a half trillion dollars to the economy. But the same agency also reports that women entrepreneurs still face great challenges in getting support from financial institutions to achieve their goals. No where is this disadvantage more pronounced that in getting banks and other lenders to provide small business loans for women.
To assist in opening up more avenues for small business loans for women the Small Business Administration offers a series of programs and services designed just for women entrepreneurs. The Online Women’s Business Centre is one of these resources. It offers general advice and assistance to women as well as a list of local and regional resource centers that assist women businesspeople to get small business loans for women. There are even special supports offered to women with disabilities and young women who are just starting out in their small business careers.
But even with the assistance of the SBA it is still not easy to qualify for small business loans for women, especially in the all important area of start up financing. Most women simply do not have the access to capital that men do because they have not been in the workforce as long or because they have taken time in their careers to look after their children and families. This also means that they may not have the extensive personal financial credit that many lending institutions seek before they qualify for business credit, including small business loans for women.
If you are looking for assistance with a loan, the SBA provides specific assistance to women through women’s business representatives in all its local offices. These are women who have helped thousands of other women navigate their way through the paper and procedures to obtain small business loans for women.
It still may not be easy to qualify and get approved for small business loans for women but all of these resources can at least women pointed in the right direction. Once they have the right information and support women entrepreneurs have proved themselves to be just as capable as men in achieving business success at every level of the economy. More small business loans for women can only help them continue to achieve, grow and contribute to the nation’s wealth and prosperity.
David Gass is President of Business Credit Services, Inc. His company publishes afree weekly e-newsletter on Small Business Consulting at their web site smallbusinessconsultingdotcom