Question – What Is The Best Business Loan For A Minority Woman?
Our Response – There were a handful of loan and loan guarantee programs about a decade ago that have since mostly been phased out that targeted women and minority businesses from various state and federal agencies. These programs were typically nothing more than a rebranded version of a program they already had in place. There are still a few programs in existence that are targeted for women and minorities. These are typically state operated micro loan programs, such as Georgia’s woman owned business loans program.
At the end of the day all loan applications are going to be judged on the confidence the lender has on your business/personal ability to pay the loan back in addition to collateral, not whether you are a woman, minority, etc, as that would be illegal. There are a lot of good loan programs (see our information about ways to finance a business) to help businesses start and expand already so instead of looking for the particular best loan program I would recommend tapping into the more widely available resources for business advice and mentorship. Several states have programs to help make women, minority and veteran businesses more successful. The level of support varies at the state level, but check out SBA’s dedicated resources such as the Office of Women’s Business Ownership and their network of Women’s Business Centers to provide free advising to make your business more successful.
