The Marketing Agency Talk

When you are running a business, like an advertising agency, there will come a time when you will have to consider taking up a loan. But as all business owner will know, getting a loan is really easy, if you have lots of money in the bank and a large multi-national corporation backing you.

Unfortunately, as a small agency, the only thing you can do is to flip through the junk mail and attempt to compare loans - loans from various financial institutions. Most of the time, small business owners end up taking personal loans to avoid the hassle of getting a commercial loan approved. Is this the best way to do it? Most definitely not. But in many instances, that is the only recourse that a small company has. There is a great risk involved when the lines between your business and your personal life is blurred. As if the stress of running an agency is not enough, do you really need to put your house or you car on the line to get the working capital you need?

Some banks have tried to capitalise on the needs of the small businesses and have come up with various loans that are targeted at them. But the reality is that banks, being banks, have lots of rules and procedures, which bring us full circle, back to the difficulty of getting a loan. Perhaps it is tougher to get a business loan but easier to get homeowner loan. Getting a home loan, renovation loan and even refinancing seems so easy. In fact, I was offered some freebies when I applied for refinancing with a competitor bank. Will banks start treating small businesses this way? I’m skeptical but let’s see.

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