The different types of commercial loans are:
· Secured commercial loans: Secured commercial loans are backed by security or collateral. If you fail to honor the terms of the loan, you lose your collateral. Examples of collateral include assets, inventory, real estate, etc.
· Unsecured commercial loans: Unsecured business loans, as the name suggest, are not secured by collateral. It’s based on your credit worthiness. Unsecured loans have higher interest rates.
· Equipment loans: In case of equipment financing, the equipment you purchase becomes the collateral. In case of defaulting, you risk of losing the equipment. Depending upon your usage¸ equipment financing can range from few thousands to millions of dollars.
· Working capital: Working capital loans depend on your line of credit, and can be used whenever required to purchase inventory or supplies. The interest is only paid on the balance, and the loan has a short repayment term.
· Short term loans: These loans are secured for a specific task such as paying off debts and buying new equipment. In most cases, these loans are backed by collateral, and the term is about 90-120 days.
· Long term loans: These loans typically have a term of more than 3 years. These loans are normally not extended to start ups and new businesses because of the likely risks involved.
Both local and federal laws dictate the structure and conditions associated with a commercial loan. If you are seeking a commercial loan, do some due diligence with your lending institution to evaluate the current working capital needs of the company. Also evaluate all the possible loan solutions before making a formal application for the loan.