The following article is re-printed from an email sent by Mike McGrane, an SBA lender with Wells Fargo based in Roseville, CA.

The Senate and the House have both passed various versions of the following improvements to the Small Business Admin 7a and 504 loan programs. This is a very good thing for Small Business, Entrepreneurs, Banks and Business Brokers and Developers. There is something for everyone in this Senate Bill outlines below. It still needs to be signed into law and the SBA needs to make their official guidelines public, but this should be what is coming.
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The following is an article by Chrystal Jarvis of the Birmingham Business Journal about good news for Small Businesses looking for positive news about finance for their business.

The U.S. Small Business Administration is looking to offer more government-backed loans to commercial businesses.

The government agency has proposed increasing the size standards for 71 different types of businesses, two-thirds of them in retail trade sectors. The rest are in accommodations and food services and other services.

If adopted, more small businesses will become eligible for government loans and will have access to the SBA’s financial assistance, contracting and other programs.
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Buying or selling a business is complex task as there are so many moving parts. The moving parts obviously include the buyer and seller but may also include lenders, landlord, franchisors, attorneys, accountants, customers, suppliers, competitors, employees and others. Just as you can get help from a residential real estate to buy or sell a house, there are also business brokers or intermediaries who provide the services of an intermediary. If you are looking for the help of an intermediary or business broker, consider the following.
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A lot of new business owners like to move quickly. They work through their decision to move into business ownership, do a little research, decide how much money they have, how much they can borrow and then start doing “it”…whatever “it” means for them and their business.

There’s no question that research and understanding your finances are important. Going into business requires money and what goes on around it. However, if you want to borrow money to help fund your new business you are going to need at least 4 things. If you can’t be bothered getting these together you will not be taken seriously by sellers, landlords, business brokers, lenders or other related parties. Or worse still, you’ll be taken seriously, asked for these documents and when they found not to be in order, your dream will be shattered.
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If starting your business is in your immediate future you and are not sure where to start, there are five major areas I would suggest you consider. This article is just about one of those, which is the need to create a solid business plan, but the four areas to help determine your fitness for business ownership are as follows. First, are you a self-starter? Second, how well do you connect with other people? Third, how good are you at making decisions? Fourth, are you physically and emotionally ready to start and build your business?

As I mentioned above, this article is about area number five, that is, how well do you plan and organize. If you plan on going into business you should, at a minimum, look at the following. First, you’re going to need to build a business plan. Just as you’ve heard Look before You Leap, you should have heard “If You Fail to Plan you Plan to fail.” I think a business plan is one of the best kept secrets. Everyone knows you need a business plan but so few business owners actually put one together. And if you’d like to test this out, call three people you know who own and run a business and ask them if they have a business plan. I will be surprised if one out of the three does. And if you find one business person that does have a business plan either ask if you can borrow it to model off it, or if that’s too sensitive, ask if you can meet with this owner to go over yours as I would guess the owner that does have a business plan is successful. And it’s always good to talk to successful business owners.
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The reality of the current downturn in the economy is that many companies will need to restructure to create the private sector jobs President Obama is talking about. At the time of writing this article there is 7.2% unemployment or the good news, 92.8% full employment. That’s good news if you’re one of the 92.8% but bad news if you’re one of the 7.2%. And these are national figures so if you live in some States in the US the unemployment rate is higher.

Regardless of your local unemployment statistics, if you have lost your job or are concerned your company may downsize but you need to make some money to put a roof over your head, feed the family, buy the gas to get around plus all the other things you need to do in life, perhaps you are thinking it’s time to get off the employment rollercoaster. This means putting yourself in control so you can work the hours you want, work in an industry you want to be part of and ultimately be in control of your own destiny. If that makes sense, what are your options?
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A business plan is a critical document for any business. PERIOD

SCORE – the Senior Corps Of Retired Executives lists the lack of a business plan as one of the top three reasons a business fails. Any creditable book on owning or running a business ownership states its importance.

If you put a business plan together there are two types. The first is a business plan for a brand new business with second type for an existing business. If you would like a free template to use for either business plan, please visit my website; www.andrew-rogerson.com/sample documents. Items 7 and 8 are the respective business plans and come from documents created by SCORE and are available for free.

To create the best business plan that you can, consider the following ten tips.
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If you plan on selling your business, it will help you to understand the different types of buyer. Each buyer who inquires will have their own unique reason to want to buy. By talking with the buyer, understanding their needs and then placing them in one of the categories below, will help you understand what they are looking for so you are better prepared to discuss and negotiate the transaction.

Individual Buyer

This is generally one person with good financial resources and background or experience for managing and leading a particular business in a particular industry. This type of buyer is usually looking for a particular business that is financially healthy. They are looking for a return on their investment and some flexibility in lifestyle choices. They also believe they can buy and at least maintain the current performance of the business or take it to a higher level.

Corporate Executive

This is a buyer who has many years of service with a large corporation and has concerns that downsizing may occur. In some cases, they are getting older and have their retirement money tucked away and would like to see what it would be like to run their own business. Franchise businesses are particularly attractive to them as they like the structure and organization that comes from working in this business model.
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There are five critical areas an SBA lender considers in detail when deciding whether to underwrite an SBA loan. These five areas are Cash-flow, collateral, credit, management experience and liquidity. If you plan to apply for an SBA loan make sure you consider each of these areas. You don’t need to be perfect in all these areas but if you are weak in one area you will need to be so much stronger in another.

Let’s have a look at each of these in a little more detail.

1. Cash-Flow

This is one of the most important areas. The lender is using a concept called Debt Service Coverage (DSC.) In simple terms, the lender wants to know that the business is producing enough positive cash flow to service the costs to run the business, provide an adequate income to the buyer so they can pay their personal bills and feed the family etc plus service the debt that will be incurred if a loan is approved. To use some numbers to provide a specific example, if the buyer of the business wanted to make an SBA loan that required an annual loan payment of $100,000 for the loan only, the bank would want to see the business generate a positive cash flow over and above all expenses to run the business of at least $120,000 per annum or at a Debt Service Coverage ratio of 1.2.
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Selling and buying a business is rarely a simple and straightforward process. When I sit down and try to categorize each of those experiences, be it from my own personal experience as a Business Broker in Sacramento or the experiences I’ve heard from the 14 Business Brokers that are part of my office, the different experiences tend to fit into one of the categories below.

The seller expects to:

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