How To Get Small Business Loans For Restaurants

Restaurants have a (somewhat unfair) reputation for being especially risky businesses that are hard to get off the ground. The good news is that restaurant business loans aren’t especially hard to find, even if you’re looking for a loan to open a restaurant.

Want to know how to get restaurant financing or a loan to open a restaurant? Below, we’ll look at how to finance your restaurant with working capital. If you’re specifically looking to finance restaurant equipment, check out our companion post on restaurant equipment leasing.

Comparison Chart

	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review
Borrowing Amount	 $10K – $5M	$10K – $5M	$2K – $100K	$20K – $500K	$1K – $5M
Term Length	Varies by product	Varies by product	3 – 36 months	1 – 4 years	Varies by product
Required Time In Business	Varies by product	Varies by product	1 years	12 months	6 months
Required Sales	$1.50 for every $1 borrowed	—	—	$100K/yr	$10K/mo
Required Credit Score	640	670	620	 660	550

 

	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review	Read Review
Borrowing Amount	 $5K – $500K	$5K – $500K	$6K – $5M	$25 – $10K	$1K – $35K
Term Length	3 – 36 months	13 – 52 weeks	6 – 12 months	3 – 36 months	2 – 5 years
Required Time In Business	6 months	9 months	6 months	N/A	N/A
Required Sales	$10K/mo	$42K/yr	$120K/yr	N/A	N/A
Required Credit Score	550	550	600	 N/A	600

Where To Get Restaurant Business Loans

Most traditional and alternative lenders, at least on paper, offer restaurant lending services. Typically, your ideal option for restaurant funding is a bank or credit union with whom you have an established relationship. In most cases, they’ll offer the best rates and terms.

If you or your business are too risky for a traditional lender, however, there are still restaurant financing options in the form of alternative lenders.

The Cost Of Restaurant Financing

Before we look at your restaurant funding options, you want to be able to compare the offers you might come across.

Here are some of the data points to consider when comparing restaurant loans:

• Term Length: The amount of time you have to pay back your loan. The longer the term, the higher your interest or factor rate will usually be.
• Interest/Factor Rate: A percentage or decimal multiplier that determines the amount of money you have to pay back. For short-term loans, this may be a flat fee rather than accumulate over time.
• Origination Fee: This is a closing fee some lenders charge in addition to interest. It’s either a percentage of the amount you’re borrowing (1% – 5% is typical) or a flat fee. In most cases, it will be deducted from the amount of money you receive from the lender.
• Administration Fee: This is a fee charged to maintain or set up your account. It may be a percentage or a flat fee. Sometimes charged in place of an origination fee.
• APR: Annual percentage rate represents what your effective interest rate over a year would be. This can help you determine how expensive a product is relative to another.
• Payment Schedule: If you’re used to monthly billing, you may be surprised to hear that some lenders expect payments weekly or even daily. May sure you’re prepared for whatever terms you accept.
• Collateral: An asset, property, or cash deposit used to secure a loan. Not all loans require collateral.

Types Of Restaurant Business Loans

Restaurant loans and related products come in a few different forms. When you’re looking for a lender, you’ll also want an idea of the type of financial product you’re seeking. All of these products will get you the money you’re seeking, but with different terms. Some are cheaper; others are more versatile. Some are more available to applicants with bad credit.

• Term Loans: Term loans are for a specific amount that, once received, is paid off in regularly scheduled installments (they’re also sometimes called installment loans). Medium and long-term loans usually accrue interest over time while short-term loans have flat fees.
• Lines Of Credit: Lines of credit are a bit like credit cards. You’ll be approved for credit up to a set limit. You can draw on your account as often as you want as long as you stay below your limit, paying interest only on the outstanding balance.
• SBA Loans: As is the case for other business types, there are Small Business Administration loans for restaurants. These loans are partially guaranteed by the SBA, allowing you to access better rates. Just bear in mind that the application process is usually more complicated and often slower.
• Merchant Cash Advance: MCAs aren’t technically loans, but can serve as the financial product of last resort for businesses with bad credit but steady credit card revenue.
• Equipment Leasing: If you’re looking to finance restaurant equipment, you also have the option to lease it, which you can read about in more detail in our restaurant equipment financing article.

Restaurant Loans For Start-Ups

If you’re looking for start-up restaurant financing, you’ll face a narrower band of options, but you aren’t completely out of luck. Conservative lenders may still consider approving a loan to start a restaurant if you have a good business plan and credit and are able to put some of your own money into the mix. Additionally, some alternative lenders offer loans specifically geared toward brand new businesses.

Restaurant Loan Providers

Not sure where to start looking for small business loans for restaurants? Here are some lenders to consider.

For Good Rates

Wells Fargo

Borrower Requirements: • Credit score of 640 or higher

Read Our Review

As big banks go, Wells Fargo is one of the easier institutions for small businesses to work with. Due to their size and resources, they can offer a wide range of products for restaurants of any size. Their credit restrictions are higher than those of most of alternative lenders and they require you to show strong month-to-month revenue, but they’re more accessible than many of their conservative competitors.

Chase

Borrower Requirements: • Excellent credit

Read Our Review

Chase has a reputation for offering some of the best business loan rates out there. The trick will be qualifying for them. Despite its size and prominence, Chase is very conservative about who they lend to. You’ll also need to have a branch near you as you’ll need to go to your local branch to apply.

StreetShares

Borrower Requirements: • 1 year in business • 620 credit score

Get Started With StreetShares Read Our Review

If you don’t have a bank in your area with whom you’ve built a good relationship, you can still find good rates with online lenders. StreetShares is a bit more selective than many of their competitors, but they offer loans and lines of credits at reasonable rates with no collateral.

Fundation

Borrower Requirements: • 1 year in business • 660 credit score • $100K/yr

Get Started With Fundation Read Our Review

Fundation is another option for borrowers with good credit who would prefer (or have) to avoid dealing with a traditional bank. Fundation offers both installment loans and lines of credit with no collateral needed. Just be prepared for a slightly lengthier application process than you’ll typically experience with alternative lenders.

For Borrowers With Bad Credit

Lendio 

Borrower Requirements: • 6 months in business • 550 credit score • $10K/month

Get Started With Lendio Read Our Review

Lendio is an online lending platform that matches businesses with lending partners. This is a handy service for restaurant owners who don’t have a lot of time to compare loans on their own, or who have bad credit. Lendio’s pool of potential lenders is big enough that you’re more likely than not to find one willing to work with you, even if you haven’t been in business very long. If you’re looking for a loan to open a restaurant, however, you may have to look elsewhere.

OnDeck

Borrower Requirements: • 12 months in business • 500 credit or higher • $100K/year

Get Started With OnDeck  Read Our Review

OnDeck is one of the bigger names in alternative online lending and a solid choice for borrowers with poor credit but decent cash flow. Just be aware that their factor rates use a per month formula rather than a flat fee, which can make them a little bit difficult to compare to many of their competitors.

OnDeck offers installment loans and lines of credit.

LoanBuilder

Borrower Requirements: • 9 months in business • 550 credit or higher • $42,000K/year

Get Started With LoanBuilder  Read Our Review

LoanBuilder doesn’t offer as many products as some of the other lenders on the list, but they do give you the freedom to tweak the terms of a short-term loan to your liking. Combined with relatively low qualifications and integration with PayPal’s infrastructure, working with them should be pretty painless.

BlueVine

Borrower Requirements: • 3 months in business • 530 credit or higher • $100,000K/year

Get Started With BlueVine  Read Our Review

If your company is profitable, but you haven’t been in business long enough to build up a good credit score, BlueVine might be the lender for you. Rather than offering installment loans, BlueVine gives you the option of getting a line of credit or, if you do a lot of B2B business, invoice factoring. Just be aware that their lines of credit aren’t available in every state.

For Borrowers Starting Their Restaurant

Kiva

Borrower Requirements: • A strong professional and social network

Read Our Review

If you’re coming up blank with ideas about how to get a loan to start a restaurant, Kiva is one possible solution. Kiva is a nonprofit microlender that operates worldwide. Rather than measure your income and credit, Kiva uses a process called “social underwriting” to measure your community standing and character. Best of all, the loans have zero interest.

So what’s the catch? Well, Kiva uses a type of crowdfunding to finance your loan, which means you’ll be waiting longer to get your funds than you would with most other lenders. You’ll also be limited to a maximum of $10,000, which may not cut it for your business plan. If you have some of your own money to put into your new business and just need to make up that last few thousand dollars, though, it’s worth a look.

Avant

Borrower Requirements: • Credit score of 600 or higher

Read Our Review

Another way around the time in business restrictions you’ll often encounter when seeking new restaurant business loans is to forget the “business” part and get a personal loan. While you won’t be able to borrow the large amounts that you can with a business loan, they can get you a modest ($1,000 – $35,000) amount of money with which to start a restaurant.

Note that you’ll still have to show a strong income relative to the amount of money you’re seeking. Additionally, Avant cannot currently lend to individuals in Colorado, Iowa, Vermont, or West Virginia.

Final Thoughts

If you didn’t find what you were looking in our examples above, don’t fret! We’ve barely scratched the surface of the resources restaurants can tap to find funding. If you don’t have much in the way of collateral, you can try to get an unsecured business loan.

If you’re looking to finance restaurant equipment, check out our resources on leasing and equipment loans. Good luck hunting for restaurant business loans! Do your research and you’re sure to find something that fits your needs.

The post How To Get Small Business Loans For Restaurants appeared first on Merchant Maverick.

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