Whether your small business in New Mexico is a startup, a new acquisition, or just needs a cash injection, there are funding options to cover all situations. From traditional loans to online ones, and alternative financial and non-financial support, read on to learn how to get the right financing for your business.
| At a glance —According to the latest federal figures, there are 143,909 small businesses in New Mexico. Small businesses are the lifeblood of New Mexico’s economy and are essential to the well-being of local communities. According to the SBA, small businesses account for around 99% of all businesses in the state. We’re going to look at some of the top New Mexico small business loans and show you how to get a small business loan in New Mexico. |
We selected these lenders as our top five options for New Mexico small business loans because, as a group and individually, they offer great borrowing options.
For SBA 7(a) loans in 2020, these five accounted for 28% of the total amount approved across the state’s 53 lenders.
We’ll wrap up this section with a convenient summary table to help you choose the best option for your business.
Bank of the West is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas and has 23 branches across New Mexico.
According to SBA statistics, in 2020, the bank approved $14,016,300 worth of SBA 7(a) loans in New Mexico – the highest amount of the 53 SBA-approved lenders in the state. Its average term was 10 years, with a 5% average initial interest rate.
For small business loans, Bank of the West offers loans from $10,000 to $1 million. The maximum loan term is 10 years, and there are variable and fixed interest rate options.
This bank only offers secured business loans.
Hana doesn’t have any branches in New Mexico but was still the second-highest SBA lender in the state in 2020, approving $10,955,000 worth of SBA 7(a) loans. They offered an average initial interest rate of 6.2%, and the average repayment term was 25 years.
Unlike the other entries on this list, Hana isn’t a bank, so traditional main street banking services such as checking accounts are not available.
It’s an asset-based lending service that obtained Preferred Lenders Program (PLP) status with the SBA in September 2008. Due to Hana’s business model, all business loans are secured, with a maximum loan amount of $15 million over 25 years.
U.S. Bank’s SBA terms in 2020 weren’t as favorable as our two previous institutions, but they still ranked eighth for the total value of loans approved out of 53 SBA lenders across the state.
Their average initial interest rate was above the state average at 7.1%, and the average repayment term offered was just nine years.
The U.S. Bank offers several types of business loans, with the possibility to borrow up to $1 million over 25 years, depending on the product. According to which loan you take, interest rates can be fixed or variable.
Wells Fargo is perhaps one of the best-known names on our list and has 65 branches across New Mexico, so they’re among the most accessible of our top five.
Their average initial rate for SBA 7(a) loans was substantially above that of the state average in 2020, at 8.5%. The average repayment term of 12 years was roughly in line with the average across all New Mexico SBA lenders.
This lender is possibly better suited to newer businesses because they offer unsecured loans of up to $100,000, with repayment periods of up to 6 years. Interest rates are fixed, so it’s easier to manage your repayments.
People’s Bank doesn’t have any branches in New Mexico. This lack of presence may be one reason why they only approved one SBA 7(a) loan in 2020, for $1.5 million over 25 years. The initial interest rate was well below the state average, at 5.3%.
People’s Bank offers secured business loans of up to $1.5 million over a maximum of 10 years, so they sit at the mid-point among our five picks. They offer variable or fixed interest rates, depending on the agreement reached.
Lender | Minimum Loan Amount | Maximum Loan Amount | Maximum Repayment Period | Features |
Bank of the West | $10,000 | $1m | 10 years | Secured. fixed/variable interest |
Hana Financial | $150,000 | $15m | 25 years | Asset-based loans(secured) |
U.S. Bank | Not specified | $1m | 25 years | Secured. fixed interest |
Wells Fargo | $10,000 | $100,000 | 6 years | Unsecured. fixed interest |
People’s Bank | Not specified | $1.5m | 10 years | Secured. fixed/variable interest |
New Mexico small business loans from traditional lenders offer the advantages of having competitive interest rates and repayment flexibility. However, sometimes it can be difficult to qualify for a loan with a traditional lender, as their criteria are usually extremely rigorous.
Thus, a traditional lender may not suit all small businesses – especially new ones – for a few reasons. You may not have been in business long enough to build an adequate credit score, and you may not have the requisite accounting history to satisfy the lender.
Also, small businesses usually need to be agile, and funding may be needed quickly - to plug a cash flow gap, for example. With mainstream lenders, it can take several weeks before the lender reaches a decision.
It’s worth considering online lenders. They generally have far more flexible borrowing criteria and usually transfer funds to your company astonishingly quickly once approved. However, you usually pay for this accessibility and convenience with higher interest rates and potentially higher charges.
Here are some of our recommended online lenders who may have what your business needs.
Fundbox’s term loan solution is currently in beta, so it’s not currently available to everyone. However, when you can access it, it’s an excellent one-time gap-filler that could help your business out of a short-term tight spot. Following approval, funds can sometimes be transferred within one business day.
If you’re waiting on some unpaid invoices, a Fundbox loan could help you maintain your regular cash flow so you can continue running your business and paying your staff as usual.
Fundbox will accept a credit score as low as 500, which is considerably lower than some other online lenders. Another advantage is that there’s no origination fee and no early repayment penalty.
Bear in mind, though, that this is a short-term solution. The maximum amount you can borrow is $100,000, and the maximum repayment period is 52 weeks.
Loans are secured through a personal guarantee and a general lien on your business.
Fundera has a higher maximum loan amount of $500,000 with a maximum repayment term of 5 years. This could make it an excellent option to help you get your business off the ground or expand it.
Like Fundbox, there’s no penalty for paying the loan off early.
Although Fundera is an online lender, you get a dedicated loan advisor to help you find the best solution and ease you through the application process.
Fundera works in partnership with a nonprofit organization called Opportunity Fund. It focuses on lending to small businesses from impoverished communities or firms with owners from sectors of society that are disproportionately refused loans from mainstream lenders.
If you find yourself in difficulties with your repayments, Opportunity Fund will help you find a solution so you can work through it instead of an aggressive approach.
Lending Club also cooperates with Opportunity Fund to secure small business funding. Again, the emphasis is on small business owners who tend to find it difficult to get the funding they need to launch or grow their business.
Like Fundera, the maximum loan amount is $500,000, repaid up to 5 years. They also provide a dedicated advisor to make the process as painless as possible and resolve any queries you may have along the way.
Interest rates are fixed, and there are no early repayment penalties.
Once approved, funds are usually transferred within a few days.
At the time of writing, the New Mexico state government’s Economic Development Department (EDD) is entirely focused on mitigating the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, New Mexico small business grants have effectively been suspended in favor of this concerted effort to support businesses through the current difficulties.
The state is operating a wide range of economic support programs for businesses. The main ways that it is helping New Mexico businesses are:
This works in a similar way to the federal SBA program. The state of New Mexico is guaranteeing up to 80% (maximum amount per loan $50,000) of loan amounts taken out with participating lenders.
The state has issued a list of lenders that haven’t joined the Business Loan Guarantee Program but have their own special assistance programs for existing customers.
The $400 million Recovery Loan Fund is being used to provide loans directly to small businesses and nonprofits throughout the state.
Aside from the assistance programs being run or coordinated by the New Mexico government, external organizations are continuing to support budding existing new businesses throughout the state, including New Mexico small business loans.
Here, we’ll look at three of those organizations.
DreamSpring is a state-registered small loan company that has a variety of financial programs for small businesses, with the emphasis on those that generally find it extremely difficult, or impossible, to obtain funding from traditional sources.
Small business loans range from $20,000 to $250,000, with repayment terms up to 5 years.
LiftFund is a private, nonprofit organization that is firmly community-focused. It provides a range of services to small business owners, and its activities include consultation, training, and workshops.
It also guides business owners toward federal and state resources as appropriate.
The Loan Fund offers several different loan options to small businesses, as well as business consultation. Loan amounts usually max out at $500,000 with repayment periods up to 10 years for non-real estate loans.
While each lender has its own lending criteria, there’s certain information that is required as standard, whoever you’re applying to for a loan.
Here are some of the small business loan requirements in New Mexico that you’ll need to have ready before applying.
If you have a new business, it probably won’t have built up much of a credit score yet, so there’s likely to be more emphasis on your personal credit history. If you have any outstanding issues that could adversely affect your loan application, resolve them, and obtain proof of the fact.
If your business is already up and running, it can be an excellent strategy to take a relatively small loan and pay it off promptly to start building a positive credit score.
Even though they’re not obliged to, some online lenders will report your positive record with them to various credit bureaus, which help you build a positive score.
Have your business plan ready. You’ll need to prove to a potential lender that you’ve planned well and that you’ll be running your business in an organized manner. The lender needs to be confident that you’ll be able to make your loan repayments.
Have information, including profit and loss reports, credit reports, balance sheets, and IRS returns, ready for inspection by the lender.
Be prepared to discuss with the lender what company assets could be used as collateral if necessary.
If you’re able to secure the small business funding you need from a mainstream lender, you can usually benefit from their competitive interest rates and repayment arrangements.
However, because of your personal or community background or the industry that your business operates in, it may not be possible to borrow from that kind of lender. They tend to be acutely risk-averse, so criteria are high, and processes can be lengthy.
By contrast, online lenders are usually willing to take on more risk, and they can get the funds to you exceptionally quickly. They tend to be more expensive in the long run, but if it means you can launch or expand your business as you need to, that route can be a superb option.
