Recently I was visiting with a very good commercial lending officer.\u00a0\u00a0We were discussing the current economic climate and the trends we both have witnessed lately with respect to commercial and Industrial (C&I) lending.<\/p>\n
He made an off-hand comment that I probably did not adequately appreciate at the time, but upon reflection it hit me like a brick!<\/p>\n
He said:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cI wish potential clients would perform a little due diligence, or at least a half hearted attempt to find out if we are a good fit for their company.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He went on:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThe deepest questions I get are:<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much will you lend me?\u2019 and,
\n“What will it cost me?\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon further thought, I had the following considerations:<\/p>\n
A typical bookkeeper, office manager, accountant or controller will usually cost a company between $25,000 and $90,000 annually (plus taxes and benefits).<\/p>\n
When hiring for these positions, business owners\/CEOs and their managers will typically go through many, if not all, of the following steps in search of the \u201cbest fit\u201d for their company:<\/p>\n
The above are pretty routine, common place and acceptable steps that businesses take to ensure they hire the most qualified person and maintain their desired culture.<\/p>\n
What isn\u2019t routine and common place are similar considerations given to what kind of institution they will borrow money from.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Considering that the interest incurred on a term loan or line of credit ranging in size of between $500,000 and $1,500,000 will fall roughly into the above annual expense range and last for several years, isn\u2019t it appropriate for the business owners\/CEOs and their managers to take more steps to determine if they are \u201chiring\u201d the right lending institution?<\/p>\n
It is entirely appropriate for a business owner\/CEO to do some self examination first.\u00a0\u00a0A good start is to ask some or all of the following questions:<\/p>\n
Almost without fail, I find that bankers are comforted to know that a business owner\/CEO has gone through something resembling the above exercise, because it leads to a healthy discussion of the business and the bank\u2019s ability to meet its needs.\u00a0\u00a0Below is good example:<\/p>\n
Recently I was visiting with a very good commercial lending officer.\u00a0\u00a0We were discussing the current economic climate and the trends we both have witnessed lately with respect to commercial and Industrial (C&I) lending. He made an off-hand comment that I probably did not adequately appreciate at the time, but upon reflection it hit me like…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n