VA Business Loans

The acronym VA stands for Veterans Affairs and relates to issues affecting military veterans. VA business loans are loans especially for veterans. If you are a veteran who wants to start a small business, you may find favorable programs to help you get started. The first thing you should do is contact the Small Business Administration (SBA) which is a nonprofit agency devoted to providing education and assistance to those with the goal of starting their own business. A good way to begin is to call their toll free number and ask the representative for the contact information for your local branch.

Next, contact the branch in your area and explain you are interested in learning more about VA business loans. A representative from the branch will explain how these loans work and if you are ready to apply, they can take your application information. It is necessary to be a retired veteran, active personnel, the spouse of retired or active military personnel, or a disabled veteran. The actual loan you will be applying for is called the Patriot Express Pilot Loan Initiative. If you work with the representative over the phone rather than in the office, you will need to complete and submit a signed paper application that can be mailed to you then mailed back to the agency when you have completed it.

You can also print the application from the SBA website, fill it out then mail it back in. Before filling out the application, it may help to grab some information from the site about the required documentation and qualifications. Take your time and complete each section of the application accurately then make sure you include all the required documents and sign the application before submission. The next thing to do is wait, usually between two and four weeks. You will be notified by mail and/or telephone about the status of your loan application.

The application is going to ask you basic information about yourself, including your full legal name, address, telephone number, social security number, email address and of course your military status. You may be required to show proof of your identification and military status. You will also be asked about your income to debt ratio, which basically compares how much income you have in comparison to your debt. The agency needs to make sure you can afford to repay the loan. You should also have a well detailed business plan.

A business plan is a report that goes over the details of your business from start to finish. Your plan may start off with an objective or mission statement, followed by a summary of what the business is. Your business plan should include how you expect to earn a profit, how you will advertise your business, how much overhead is anticipated to cost, how you expect to expand or grow your business in the future and other details. There is a great deal of information in books and online that can teach you how to write a winning business plan.

Your business plan is never set in stone; as your business changes your plan may be modified. However the initial business plan can help the SBA get a good picture of your goals and the business you want to start. This, combined with your financial information and credit, is analyzed during the decision making process. Even if you are not a veteran or active member of the military seeking VA business loans but you are someone who wants to start your own business, the SBA is still the perfect place to begin as they have a number of programs for both military and non-military individuals.