What is a finance line up?

Can you use unsecured personal line of credit to finance a small business?

• I currently have a small online (home based) retail store. Only after a few months of selling, I see there is a lot of potential to be made. I want to make my next move and that is to expand (order more stocks). So, I was thinking about applying for an unsecured line of credit and use that money to finance my small business? Around 7k to 10k loan. Getting SBA loan seems impossible and using home equity line of credit is definitely out of the question since I do not own a house yet.

• Answer:

  Certainly. The two most common forms of financing used by start-ups are home-equity loans and credit cards. If you can get an unsecured line, that's a great way to go. Start with your banks for the best rate, but if you have a solid plan for a business, you can also hit propser.com or lendingclub.com and get really reasonable rates. Also, don't shoot down your idea for a SBA loan. The SBA is desperate to do loan guarantees right now. If you have an operating, modestly profitable business, then you would be surprised how easy it is to get a SBA guarantee on your bank loan.