 TITLE: How to Get a Business Loan CONTENT: When Is It a Good Time to Take Out a Business Loan?\n---------------------------------------------------\nIt's been said that the best time to get a business loan is before you need it. Having strong sales and healthy cash flow boosts your odds being approved for a business loan. If you don't need capital now but know you will need it in a year or so, now is the time to start researching loan options.\nGood reasons to get a business loan include:\n*   To buy assets that will add long-term value to your business or help to increase your revenues. Paying cash for equipment, machinery or real estate ties up funding you need to run your business. As long as the purchases are good investments, using a business loan to buy them makes sense.\n*   To expand your business. Using a loan can help you finance expansion without draining working capital from the business.\n*   To better manage cash flow. If you have customers who take 60, 90 or even 120 days to pay you, or you're in a seasonal industry with predictable slumps, a business line of credit or invoice financing can help you meet your working capital needs.\n*   To help build your business credit score. Getting a business line of credit and using it responsibly can help a new business build a business credit history. Just make sure that the lender reports your payments to the major business credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax and Dun & Bradstreet. END