Looking for a Small Business Loan?

So it seems I may have inadvertently started a series (of posts) centering around what was going on when I went missing from my blog for a year.  I promise there are happy endings and learning lessons wrapped up in all of these posts. 🙂

When things got tough with my business, I started to pour more effort into some side projects that were still in the construction phase.  One of my side projects was an online store.  I have always wanted to create products based on my illustrations, artwork, photography and quirky sayings, but I hit a bit of a funding snag when things got super slow with my design business.  This lead me to start looking for a small business loan.

My original plan was to bootstrap the online store concept with funds from my design business.  To be completely honest, the idea for the store and for different product designs came about long before I actually tried to launch the concept.  The tough times that I was experiencing with my business served as a catalyst to try to bring the ideas to fruition.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

While I would have preferred to self-fund the store myself, I just didn’t have the cash flow needed to launch in a short period of time.  Instead, I decided to try financing with a small business loan.

The biggest expense I faced with launching the store was trying out different print vendors with my designs.  I needed to purchase samples.  I needed to see who had the best quality and which designs worked best for printing.  This required money.

Looking for a Small Business Loan

The first thing I did was to turn to “the Google.”  I did a search for small business loans and a familiar name popped up…Kabbage.

A friend of mine that is an eBay and etsy store owner had told me about Kabbage a year earlier.  He had used their site to get a small business loan to purchase inventory and supplies for his business.  The way he explained it was that it was an easy process to qualify for funds and easy to pay back.

Before I clicked on the link to check out Kabbage, I called my friend to make sure they were still a legit source for him.  I also wanted to make sure that in the year since he had first told me about them, his experience was still favorable.  He told me he did still occasionally use the site and that he still felt it to be a good alternative to going to the bank.

So I went back to “the Google” and I clicked the link.

The process to sign-up was pretty easy and because my design business uses Paypal as a payment processor, it was easy for Kabbage to analyze my revenue.  I honestly can’t remember if it took a few minutes or a few days to determine how much I qualified for and I don’t want to lie by trying to venture a guess.  I do remember that it was a very easy process and once I knew how much I qualified for, gaining access to funds was immediate.

I ended up qualifying for more than I actually needed and I liked that Kabbage did not force me to take that entire amount.  I submitted the amount that I wanted to “withdraw” from the approved amount, and they gave me a list of terms and a time period to repay the funds.  I was given specific dates and amounts that would be withdrawn from the Paypal account that I had linked to Kabbage.  Once I gave my agreement/acceptance, the funds were immediately made available within that Paypal account.  This allowed me to use those funds right away.

Another bonus or thing that I really liked about Kabbage was that there was no penalty for repaying the loan early.  At any time, I could go in and submit a payment for any amount.  It would post to the principal and reduce the amount I owed on the next payment.  I paid my loan off prior to the term limit (6 months) for the original amount.  I did go back about a month later to withdraw some more money to cover advertising for the new store.

It has been a little less than a year since I last used Kabbage, but if I needed funding for my business again, I would definitely use them.  Since that time, I received a notification that the amount I qualify for has increased.  Although I don’t need it now, it’s good to know! 😉

If you are a digital or online business and you are looking for a small business loan, I would definitely recommend Kabbage.  Like with any loan, you do have to pay it back and in a timely fashion.  So if this is something you struggle with, I think you should put your idea on hold.  If you can handle making payments, or just need an advance on funds, Kabbage may be what you are looking for in a small business loan.

I would like to note, that my experience with Kabbage is my experience and was favorable to me.  I also would like to note, that I am not being paid to write about my experience, although I was encouraged to do so by a Kabbage rep for a campaign they are doing to get the word out about their services.  With that said, no compensation has been given, no promises of exposure and no affiliate links appear in this post.  Just my two cents. 🙂