As a business owner you need to take into consideration the options available for financing your business.  The first thing you need to know is if you need capital for short-term needs or long-term needs.  Most banks are long-term players by providing repayment terms ranging from 3 years to 5 years.

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These loans are good for long term purposes such as opening up another location, acquiring a building, and long-term projects.  Alternative lenders such as cash flow lenders, factoring, and hard money lenders are good for short-term purposes.  The cost of capital may be higher, but the credit decisions are faster.  Financing your business for short-term purposes include; the purchase of inventory, an opportunity to acquire a big client, fulfill a purchase order, hiring people, marketing, and other reasons.  The first thing you need to when determining financing for your business is to determine if you need capital for for short-term or long-term purposes.