America takes pride in being a multicultural country. There are people from different races, ethnicities, and religions scattered all around the country. Naturally, this multiculturalism is very much evident in its business fraternity.
So regardless of your cast, color, and creed, you can have access to suitable loans so that you can play your part to contribute to the country’s economy. If you belong to a minority community, here is the list of seven financing option you can explore to nurture your needs:
- SBA loans
SBA loan is a rich platform for minority or disadvantaged communities. It is a vast umbrella that covers various loan programs.
Talking about SBA’s community advantage loans, it can help you to get the loan even if your accounts don’t contain much balance. What’s more, you don’t have to put anything as collateral. Given the above details, this program can be an ideal choice for small-business owners.
Knowing that SBA guarantees 85 percent of the total amount of the loan on your behalf, you get the borrowed amount faster. Though this program is not deliberate for the minority groups, they but have equal access to its perks and privileges.
Apart from that, there is an SBA 8(a) loan program. Its primary purpose is to help out businesses that are controlled (minimum 51 percent) by a person belonging to a minority community. From its very guidelines, one can quickly assess that this program is specially crafted to strengthen the minorities financially.
- Union Bank
The Union Bank offers loans to whosoever falls under its criteria of minorities. Going by the definition of union bank, veterans, women, and minorities are disadvantaged communities. If you are one of them, you can quickly get loans on both secured and variable repayment terms. You can also avail of the option of a secured or unsecured line of credit.
Union Bank can fund you up to 2.5 million dollars. Bear in mind; your sales must not exceed the annual limit of 20 million dollars.
- Grants
If you are entirely cash-strapped and badly need money to run your business, minority business grants can provide you some breathing space. The standout feature about these funds is that you are not bound to pay it back. It is one reason why you should be prepared to face fierce competition here. But before competing with others, you will have to walk a tight path of guidelines.
There are various grants available, and all of them have their eligibility criteria. To give yourself a fair chance of getting an award, apply for the ones which are mainly for the minority-controlled businesses. A few of these grants include POWER, Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program, and Tribal Energy Development Capacity Grant.
- Business center for new Americans
If you explore the traditional options, you can be denied the loan if the asked amount is too low. For all such borrowers, the Business Center for New Americans (BCNA) could prove to be a great facilitator. If you happen to be an immigrant, woman, refugee, or a minority entrepreneur, BNCA can grant you anything between 5,000 to 50,000 dollars.
If other lenders have turned their back to you due to low credit score or requesting for a small amount, then you have a high probability of being funded by the BNCA.
- National African American Small Business Loan Fund
National African American Small Business Loan Fund is currently available in three cities – New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. However, according to well-documented numbers, over seven million minority business owners have been helped out by this loan program. Along with African-Americans, women have also received funding through this initiative.
Addressing the loan amount, you can get between 35,000 to 250,000 dollars with minimum hurdles compared to the traditional loans out there. It is estimated that soon, this loan scheme will expand to other cities as well.
- Minority-owned business loans
Accion is an NGO that facilitates these loans. The top priority of this organization is to provide a cushion to the minority communities without entertaining factors like race and ethnicity. The most significant benefit associated with the loan program is the freedom of using the money for any business.
To top it off, you can also make the most out of the workshops, which are a byproduct of this loan scheme.
- The Hispanic small business loans
With every passing year, the population of Hispanics is going up in America. Similarly, their businesses are also expanding here. Realizing this, the Hispanic community has come up with an initiative of giving loans to the people of their origin. This loan program is called Balboa capital.
Unlike other loans, the forerunners of this program have kept the paperwork to the minimum. All you have to do is to fill an online form with a few personal details, and that’s about it. The rest will follow up.
The final verdict
In America, minorities own about 15 percent of the country’s total business. The numbers show that minority communities are very much part of America’s economic strength. Therefore, the government and NGOs have together pledged to ensure financial assistance to start and expand their businesses.
