Minority Small Business Loans

The first procedure for getting Minority small business loans is to submit an appropriate application form of the financial institutions/banks. It is worth mentioning that there are different types of application forms for different categories of grants. The information furnished in the application covers, inter alia, the following: the name and address of the borrower and his establishment; the details of the borrowers business; and the nature and amount of security offered.

The application form has to be supported by various ancillary statements like the financial statements and financial projections of the firm. The application is then processed by the financial institution-giving grant. This primarily involves an examination of the factors like ability, integrity and experience of the borrower in the particular business. General prospects of the borrower's business, purpose of grant, requirement of the borrower and its reasonableness are also taken into perspective.

Once the application is duly processed, it is put up for sanction to the appropriate authority. If the sanction is given by the appropriate authority along with the sanction of grant, the bank specifies the terms and conditions applicable to the grant. These usually cover the amount of the loan or the maximum limit of the grant, the nature of the grant, the period for which the grant will be valid, the rate of interest applicable to the grant, the primary security to be charged, the insurance of the security, the details of collateral security, if any, to be provided, and the margin to be maintained.

The detailed appraisal of the project is done by the lead institution. The appraisal covers the marketing, technical, financial, managerial and economic aspects. The appraisal memorandum is normally prepared within two months after site inspection and placed before the Senior Executive Meeting (SEM) for a decision about approval of the project and determining the sharing arrangement among the institutions. Once a favorable decision is taken at the SEM forum and the sharing arrangement worked out, the case is referred to the Board of Directors of the lead financial institution. After the Board of Directors of the lead financial institution approves the proposal, a financial letter of sanction is issued to the borrower.