How Long Does It Take To Get a Business Loan? A Guide

February 24, 2023

The first commonly asked question is, “How long does it take to get a business loan?” Sure, it’s a valid question, but deciding on business financing shouldn’t be a drawn-out decision. While it doesn’t have to take long to get a business loan, it is worth understanding the factors that go into the loan itself. Why? It will better help you better understand your financial situation overall.

If you are involved in the financial decision-making process for a small business (or future business), then it’s important to know that you have options. While many things go into your business planning decisions, the matter of how long it takes to get a business loan shouldn’t drag down the process or cause you stress.

Let’s break down how long it takes to get a small business loan. Then, we’ll dive into some of the factors that play a role, like the loan type, repayment terms, etc.

One of Many Steps

There is more than one step for securing a business loan, and knowing this ahead of time can help you better prepare for the process, and ultimately save your time and energy. For example, if you are applying for an SBA Loan through the U.S. Small Business Administration, you might be waiting up to 45 days or more.

On the other hand, some business loans can be secured in closer to 24 hours. You might be choosing one type of loan over another because of your credit rating, or perhaps because of your timeframe. The bottom line is, knowing which loan to apply for is only the first step in the process.

Another step is to have everything you need (such as business documents, tax returns, other financial documents, etc.) ready to go and delivered on time. Depending on your lender and the type of loan you are applying for, different items might be required, so make sure you know what will be asked of you so you can have it ready to go. 

There are also simple steps you can take to make the process go as quickly as possible, such as applying for your loan on a weekday. Why would this speed the process up? It is common that small business owners are busy during the week, and tend to apply for financing over the weekend. Setting aside time to send your application during the week (when fewer applications are likely coming through) could mean eyes seeing it more quickly after submission. 

All in all, your financing partner will help you navigate the many steps you need to take during the process, and so it is important that you take the appropriate steps in a timely and efficient manner.

Credit Score and Financial History

Yes, your credit score and financial history play a role in setting the rules of your loan. This doesn’t just mean the loan amount, but also the repayment terms or interest rate. These details (if provided with all of your information upon making the official loan request) will not make the time longer to get your business loan, but again, they will help establish the terms.

However, there is a misconception that you cannot get a small business loan if you don’t have the strongest financial history, or if your credit score is below 500. This is not the case. The professionals at Yarrow Financial can provide competitive rates for your business loan regardless.

Additionally, you can typically receive final approval of your loan application within a few hours, and then funding is typically sent between 24-48 hours after acceptance of final terms. It’s true that there are some financial institutions that might require additional time, or look at additional factors before making their decision.  However, that isn’t the case at Yarrow Financial. 

We want to make the process simple, and that means not taking an unnecessarily long time when getting a small business loan to you after you apply. In fact, we want to help you even earlier. 

You can know where you stand ahead of time by using our loan calculator. If you’re serious about securing business financing, then you have nothing to lose by using our loan calculator to get a sense of your situation. While this might not be the final number, it will point you in the right direction, and get the process started. 

Know Where You Stand

There’s enough stress when it comes to opening or expanding your business, and we believe that securing funding shouldn’t add to that stress. Check your rate with our loan calculator, and let’s get started on your small business loan today!