Business Loans

You need to be prepared to respond to immediate opportunities or surprise expenses. A Business Line of Credit from Dacotah Bank is like insurance so you can focus on taking care of business. Call, click, or come in to visit with your local Business Banker or Contact Us.

• 12 Month Terms with Annual Renewals

Your good credit and business success will help you earn competitive rates for a wide variety of business needs. Call, click, or come in to visit with your local Business Banker or Contact Us.

• Inventory
• Vehicles
• Machinery
• Equipment
• Improvements
• Commercial Real Estate
• How to Apply
  • Application
  • Three years of business and personal tax returns
  • Current personal financial statement
  • Cash Flow projection

• First, let’s dispel a myth – SBA doesn’t make direct loans to entrepreneurs to start or grow a business. Instead, it provides a guarantee to banks and lenders for the money they lend to small businesses owners. This guarantee protects the lenders interests by promising to pay a portion of the loan back if the business owner defaults on the loan. So when a business applies for an SBA loan, it is actually applying for a commercial loan through a bank like Dacotah Bank, structured according to SBA requirements with an SBA guarantee.
• Essentially, SBA loans alleviate the risk associated with lending money to business owners and entrepreneurs who may not qualify for traditional loans – thus opening up lending opportunities to thousands of entrepreneurs, start-ups, growing businesses, minorities and veterans.
• What types of loans are available?
  • There are several types of loans that business can take advantage of, each developed to suit the needs of your business. The 7(a) loan program, for example, can be used for a number of purposes including working capital, revolving funds, equipment purchases, refinance existing debt and more.
  • SBA also offers export-assistance loans as well as financing for seasonal working capital (CAPLine) or major fixed-assets such as equipment of real estate (CDC/504 loans).
  • In addition, SBA can help business owners in need of financing to help with disaster recovery. Disaster loans – available to homeowners, renters, businesses of all sizes and private, nonprofit organizations – can be used to repair or replace items that have been damaged or destroyed in a declared disaster including, real estate, personal property, machinery and equipment and inventory and business assets.
  • If you are looking for smaller loan amounts (under $50,000), consider the Microloan program or the SBA Express program. A subset of the 7(a) loan program, SBA Express is designed for businesses with financing needs up to $350,000. The proceeds can be used to finance a variety of business activities and no collateral is required for loans up to $25,000.
  • It’s also worth knowing that fees on all SBA loans are currently extremely favorable to veterans and are currently set at zero for loans under $150,000.
  • For more on SBA loans, follow this link 

• Most business owners spend considerable time analyzing and trying to improve the cash flow of the business for day-to-day operations and for growing the business.
• One method of improving a company's cash flow is to lease necessary equipment instead of buying it outright. This saves an initial outlay for the entire cost of the equipment and spreads it over some term with a built in interest cost. Equipment leasing is a very common way many small business owners help capitalize their business and manage their cash flow.
• How does it work?
• An equipment lease is a contract between the company (lessee) and the financing company (lessor). The financing company may be a bank, leasing company or the equipment manufacturer. The contract commits the company to make monthly payments over a period of time for the use of the equipment. It may also include an option for the company to buy the equipment, for some stated price, at the end of the lease. The amount of the monthly lease payment is based:
• The purchase price of the equipment.
• An interest rate built into the payments.
• Term of the lease.
• Creditworthiness of the lessee.
• Estimated residual value of the equipment at the end of the lease.
• There may be some initial "down payment" on the lease. During the lease period, usually the company has the obligations for maintaining and insuring the equipment. At the end of the lease, depending on the terms, the lessee may buy the equipment or just let the lessor take it back.
• Pros and cons of equipment leasing
• Any initial down payment will, of course, be less than the total cost of the equipment. This immediately reduces cash outflow.
• Lease payments may be tax-deductible business expenses. If you own the equipment outright, there would be annual depreciation expenses.
• The lease approval process is usually relatively quick.
• The amount of paperwork may be less than that required for a business loan.
• If the lessor is also the equipment vendor, the lease may have a lower interest rate built into it than what would be used by an independent leasing company.
• An option to purchase at the end of the lease gives the business the right and not the obligation to purchase. This choice can enable the business to reduce the risk of ending up owning a piece of obsolete equipment.
• Some leasing companies may also require a personal guarantee of the lease by the owner of the business.
• In evaluating whether to buy or lease, make sure to weigh the benefit of improved current cash flow against the cost of money (the interest rate) built into the lease. If leasing makes sense for you, this method of financing can be a very good way to grow your business.
• To learn more, visit with your local business banker.