Lenders reviewing a Williston, ND contractor or shop look at five things: time in business, revenue in the bank statements, the owner's credit, the cash left after expenses, and what the money buys. Each partner weighs them its own way.
A Willowpeak Capital Group article on what funding partners read in an application from a Williston, North Dakota contractor, retailer or service company.
Business Loan Requirements Explained With a Williams County, ND Retail Shop Buying Signage
Business loan requirements come down to proof that the business exists, earns and can carry a payment. For a retail shop buying signage, that means the business registration, the bank statements, the tax return and the sign bid.
Retail employers in Williams County, ND numbered 144 in 2023, the same count as construction (County Business Patterns). The retail page covers fixtures and stock.
A sign bid should name the size, the materials and the installation, and note whether the city requires a sign permit. The City of Williston, ND lists a sign permit application on its building permit page.
Equipment Financing Requirements: Excavators and Materials
Equipment financing requirements add the machine: the quote, the year, make, model and hours, and the down payment. A contractor buying an excavator and materials should split them, since the materials have no resale value behind them.
The equipment financing page and the construction page go further.
For an excavator, the partner also reads the contractor's backlog: signed contracts that will keep the machine working. Bids not yet won count for less.
Working Capital Loan Requirements: Vacuum Trucks and Rig-Up Costs
Working capital requirements lean on cash flow and receivables. A service company asking for money to cover rig-up costs while it waits on a vacuum truck's first invoices should show the receivables aging and the operator agreements.
The working capital page and the oilfield services page cover both.
A partner reading rig-up requests also looks at how long past jobs took to start billing. A company that can show its own past rig-up periods from invoices and statements gives the partner a realistic gap to size.
Small Business Loan Requirements: What Williston, ND Retailers Should Know
Small business loan requirements for retailers include card-processing statements, which show sales by month, and the lease, which shows the store can stay put for the life of the loan.
- Bank statements from the business account, covering three to six months
- Card-processing statements
- The latest business and personal tax returns
- A list of existing debts with their payments
- The lease
- The quote or bid for what the money buys
A retailer with seasonal swings should send statements covering a full year, so the partner sees the slow months alongside the busy ones rather than guessing at them.
Two things weaken a retail file that are easy to fix before applying: deposits that run through a personal account instead of the business account, and a tax return that shows far less revenue than the statements. A partner compares the two, and a gap between them needs an explanation from the owner or the accountant.
How a Partner Reads the File, in Order
- Identity and ownership: the owners and the share each one holds.
- Time in business and registration.
- Bank statements: deposits, balances and any overdrafts.
- Tax returns: revenue and profit, compared with the deposits.
- Credit: the owner's personal credit and any business credit file.
- Existing debts and their payments.
- The purpose: the quote, the bid, the invoices or the payroll behind the request.
Each partner adds or drops steps, but the order explains why a missing bank statement stops a file before the quote is read.
Construction had 144 and support activities for oil and gas 137 employer establishments in Williams County, ND in 2023 (County Business Patterns); a contractor or service company file reads the same way as a shop's, with contracts in place of card statements.
Cash Left After Expenses: The Number Under Every Answer
Under every answer is the cash left after expenses. A partner subtracts the business's monthly costs from its monthly revenue and asks whether the new payment fits in what is left.
Illustration only, invented figures: a shop with $64,000 in monthly revenue and $51,500 in monthly costs has $12,500 left. A $60,000 loan over 36 months at an annual rate of 13% costs about $2,022 a month, which would leave about $10,478 a month for everything else.
A partner looks for room between the payment and what is left. The term loan page and the Williston, ND page go further.
The same test applies to every funding type on this site. An equipment loan, a term loan and a credit line each add a payment; a partner asks whether the cash left after expenses can carry it with room for a slow month. A business that already carries several payments has less room, which is why a list of existing debts belongs in every file.
By Willowpeak Capital Group · Updated
