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Every lender, be it a traditional bank or a financial institution, scrutinizes a business’ assets to evaluate the business’ current standing and its future potential in order to estimate the repayment value of the loan borrowed. The major aspects that lenders look at are the business’ history, revenue generation, credit score, balance sheet, business credit, and equity contributions. While a business that fulfills the primary requirements of a lender would be eligible for the loan, other businesses that fall short of certain criteria may be required to provide a collateral, additional tangible or intangible assets, in order to acquire the desired loan. Usually, small businesses may be required to provide a collateral in most scenarios because of their slow growth rate in the market. In this way, lenders acquire security on the loan they give.

Here is a list of tips that can help you understand the effective use of assets as a collateral for acquiring business loans:

• Keep track of the value of each asset on your balance sheets. Valued assets reflected in a business’ balance sheet shows that the business is managing their assets for the long run. Getting an independent appraiser to value a business’ assets can help reflect their value appropriately in the balance sheet.
• Most businesses have expendable assets that can be used as collateral and assets that are already part of a collateral agreement. Any asset that bears the title of ownership that is transferable can be regarded as a viable asset. However, a business should know that each form of asset, be it property, transport ownership, cash deposits, etc., bear their own pointers to be considered when used as a collateral.
• A business will lose their asset kept as a collateral in the case it fails to repay the loan to the bank. Hence, the potential of the loan versus the risk of using an asset as a collateral should be considered well before deciding on acquiring the loan.
• Using the potential of your business rather than relying on a collateral will be highly beneficial for a business as it will not have any risk factors attached to it if there are any financial crises in the long run.