
Growing (or starting) a business can be a time-intensive process - and often when you’re working with a traditional financial institution like a bank, it can take even longer. Here are some ways that you can quickly and easily raise money to grow your small business in a way that benefits you and your customers.
Why does it take so long to get a small business loan?
It can be frustrating when it takes months for a bank to even process your bank loan application, just to tell you ‘no.’
On average, it takes two or three months to get a small business loan, and in some cases even longer! Darren Carter, of Carter’s BBQ in Cleveland, waited four months to just be rejected for an SBA loan. He then applied to Honeycomb for a loan, and got an approval in just two days!
There are multiple reasons that it might take so long for a business loan to be processed through a traditional financial institution. One reason is that there are just fewer banks to get loans from, thanks to the consolidation of small community banks that have historically lent to small businesses in their towns.
This consolidation means not only are there fewer banks, but they’re less likely to finance small businesses. Banks generally won’t lend to businesses younger than two years, or who don’t have need for a large loan that the bank can definitely make money off of. They’re also more risk-averse, so if they perceive your loan to be risky you probably won’t get approved.
How crowdfunding can help you raise money quicker than a bank loan.
So what makes a Honeycomb crowdfunded small business loan faster than a bank loan? It seems like the effort it takes to put on a crowdfunding campaign would mean it would take longer than it takes to walk into a bank. Well, it depends on what you put into it, if we’re being honest.
First of all, the approval process at Honeycomb does take a lot less time than the bank. Someone will get to your loan in two days and let you know if you’re approved or not quickly. As long as you have the documents we need for the approval process, the process should go smoothly and quickly.
Then it might take a couple of days for you to meet with your crowdfunding campaign strategist and come up with a plan, but you can get launched in as little as a week.
When it’s time to launch, an average Honeycomb campaign lasts about 45 days. However, you can access the cash you need as soon as you hit your funding minimum - even if that’s in the first day! That means you can get the funding you need to get started on your growth process, and you can continue money until your campaign ends or you hit your maximum.
So, how can you speed up the crowdfunding process? It’s all in the promotion of your campaign. One of the biggest roadblocks to campaigns are the fact that small business owners don’t adequately promote their crowdfunding campaign to their customers and social media followers. If you’re consistent and persistent with your promotion, you can speed up the process til you hit your minimum goal.
Another quick tip to expedite the crowdfunding process is to get some potential investors informed about the campaign before it launches to build momentum in your campaign. People who might be on the fringe of investing in your campaign might not want to invest until they see some proof that others are interested in it. That’s why we recommend that you have a plan about how to fund at least 10% of your campaign’s raise right off the bat.
Ready… set… grow!
You can grow your business quicker and easier than a bank loan by crowdfunding, and you get all the added benefits of crowdfunding with Honeycomb to boot!
Fill out the form below for more information about how to grow your business by crowdfunding your next small business loan.
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