As a business owner, you would be aware of the challenges when it comes to hiring new employees. Going through a list of potential candidates, screening them, and investing time and effort can all make it difficult to get started. Not to mention, hiring takes up a lot of money that can be well spent if you know how to tap into the right resources. Right from advertising about the job and interviews to onboarding paperwork to training, businesses need to cover a lot of costs to hire the right candidate.
However, the capital needed to hire might be a challenge to raise, especially when you’re a new business owner. To not compromise your recruitment process, a small business loan can help tremendously. But what is a business loan, and how can it help you hire new employees?
Let’s explore this in detail.
A brief overview of small business loans
As the name suggests, a small business loan is for small and medium enterprises that are typically in the growth stage of their business. This can be for a variety of factors, from funding a new business idea or growing existing businesses.
These loans are perfectly apt as they come with just the right amount to meet your needs. For hiring purposes, the amount needed will be more than sufficient as it covers the basic expenses that a hiring process requires.
What are the different types of business loans?
1. Lender loan
One of the most common ways to take loans is through financial institutions. Though popular for individuals, these institutions help businesses too with their needs. A lender, however, has set business loan requirements for processing these loans. Although they may differ from institution to institution, the most common requirements are:
- A good cash flow history
- Business operations for several years
- Good credit score
If these conditions are met, lenders quickly disburse loans without any hesitation. Furthermore, you can enjoy attractive business loan interest rates that help your business cover the costs of hiring new employees without affecting your business finances.
2. Startup loan
This loan is for new startups looking to grow their business. As businesses wouldn’t have a credit score yet, lenders will take into account the credit score of the owners. These business loan interest rates might vary depending on the company’s current financial figures. These loans are perfect for businesses that don’t have a solid history to show their finances but have the potential for high growth.
3. Working capital loan
Similar to a term loan, a working capital loan provides businesses with the capital needed to run the businesses. However, the purpose of this loan is to help run the daily operations and to maintain an optimal cash flow for effective handling. Depending upon your needs and loan eligibility, a working capital loan is a prudent way to fund your hiring process.
How to qualify for a business loan and get approved faster
Most financial institutions carefully select businesses to provide loans. As the amount provided can be high, lenders take into account the integrity of the business to avoid any defaulting. They also have several business loan requirements for the business to meet before providing them with a loan.
1. Cash flow
Almost every lender wants to see their client have a good cash flow. Having a good cash flow ensures that the business can pay back the lender on time. Thus, to qualify for a small business loan, ensure that you have the required financial statements to back it up. This will make your business more reputable and make it easier to avail of a loan.
2. Credit score
To get the best business loan interest rates, it’s important to have good credit scores. This will not only give you benefits such as a higher loan amount, but it will also determine if you will get approved or not. A healthy credit score will dictate how financially sound your business is, proving credibility for your business and ensuring trust for the lender.
3. Debt-to-income ratio
To further assess how healthy your business is, lenders consider your debt-to-income ratio. This shows how much money you make against how much money you owe. Ideally, you would need a lower debt-to-income ratio to be approved for a business loan. In addition, these rates can once again determine your rate of interest, and loan amount, making it crucial to have a healthy score in this aspect.
Costs and benefits of applying for a business loan for hiring
The process of hiring new employees goes beyond their monthly wages and involves several parties. These may be from internal HR teams to employee referrals to even third-party hiring agencies. Managing all these can prove expensive to your business. Hence, it’s always a good idea to know what costs and benefits a business loan can bring to your hiring needs.
Costs associated with hiring come down to the following factors:
A. Wages
The salaries paid to employees for their work are the highest contribution of a business expense.
B. Benefits
Employees today are covered under various insurance schemes that cost businesses a lot. In addition, bonuses paid to employees also cover a portion of business expenses.
C. Marketing costs
This could involve all the expenses incurred by the business to market the jobs and get in touch with the ideal candidates, like planning virtual hiring events, career fairs costs, advertising costs, and more.
D. Hiring costs
While hiring costs may not be direct, the impact it can have on your business can be profound. The lack of a resource means compensating the same work to limited members of your team with extra pay. From interviewing potential candidates to onboarding and providing training to bring the recruit to speed; everything costs money to the business.
Although the costs associated with the hiring process can be high, the benefits that a business loan provides help with such challenges easily.
1. High income over time
Though the time taken for a recruit can be expensive, the potential for the recruit to make money is even higher. This can compensate for the costs associated with a loan and give your business the necessary income it needs.
2. Proper management of the workforce
If a small workforce manages a lot of tasks, it would be overworked. This would result in poor morale and employees quitting, which will only further lead to hiring costs. Hiring new employees helps by taking the load off of the existing workforce, making them more productive and happier at work.
3. Grow your business
Once your hiring needs are all met, you can think of expanding your business into newer areas. The indirect benefit of hiring is that it gives you the potential to maximise your existing work while preparing you for future growth at the same time.
Hiring with business loans
As small business loans become more reachable, the hiring challenges that arise with a growing business become easy to tackle. With Tata Capital, you can apply for an affordable business loan at attractive interest rates and flexible repayment terms to help your business reach the next level.
27 February 2023
6 mins read
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