Navigating Commercial Building Loan Landscape for Small Business
One of the essential components of business growth and sustainability is securing necessary financial resources. For many, this means turning to commercial loans. We checked in with Steve Canole, Senior Vice President of 1st State Bank, to find out the current commercial financing climate and if there are any changes, insight, or guidance our business owner clients should know to secure financing to fuel their growth.
Ray is the owner of a large corporation with his operation spanning over two locations. When he outgrew his initial office, he got a great deal on a warehouse that was easily adaptable to expand his business. Now, after years of hard work and smart decisions, he’s outgrowing both locations and has decided that it will be more efficient for his operation to all be under one roof. But speculating on the costs involved, Ray is wondering if this is the best decision for his company right now? What Ray may not be considering is economies of scale in construction. With his building being bigger, the duration of the project longer, and the fixed fees being the same, he can benefit from the efficiencies that his Design-Builder will pass through, which will lower the square footage cost.
In the modern world, Economic Development Agencies (EDAs) are playing a critical role in helping cities, states, and even countries reach their economic potential. Economic growth is what makes communities thrive by expanding a tax base and offering a quality of life for residents through employment, commerce, infrastructure, and entertainment. Business owners can benefit from EDA services and incentives to expand or start their business. The EDAs work with private funds, local foundations, schools, and government to name a few to match incentives that will keep or bring economic growth to their region.
This blog is intended for small business owners who are looking to grow their business. Have you had a net worth under $15M and an average net income less than $5M for the past 2 years? Do you own your building or want to own your building? Are you still with me? If so, there’s a less risky way to fund your business growth, and the best part is that it’s meant to keep capital in your business so that you can support economic growth in your community.
Liens Can Wreak Havoc on Funding
By Brian Stadler, Wolgast CEO
If you haven’t built a building in the last couple of years, you may be surprised when your banker tells you that they want to hire a Title Company to handle all of your payments to not only the General Contractor, but also directly to the General Contractor’s second tier Sub-Contractors. On top of that, that they expect you, the owner, to guarantee to the Bank and the Title Company that the project will be lien-free during construction.
A critical element of your business plan is a realistic budget for anticipated expenses, along with possible revenue streams. One of the biggest expenses of a business to factor into the budget is the building cost.
As a business owner or manager, you want to make your working space comfortable, attractive and efficient for your work force. Currently popular in office settings is open daylighting, LED lamps, replaceable carpet squares and work stations with standing options. If you don’t own your building, you may feel restricted to make these changes until your ownership status changes, but it’s more likely that your landlord will be willing to work with you to make updates and keep you as a tenant.
Have you considered commercial investment properties to add to your portfolio? On a surface level, it seems like a long-term, but easy investment that will generate ongoing income and also potentially appreciate in value the longer you own it. For those who have capital to invest, is it the right type of investment for you?
Once you’ve already determined the approximate size of the space you need, your budget, general location desired, and that the investment will fit within your business objectives, it’s time to start shopping for suitable building for your company changes.
