Count Me In has to deny many of the loan applications that it receives. Loans are primarily denied for three reasons: limited income to support the debt, very risky businesses that has limited potential to produce revenue for repaying a loan, and very negative credit. Count Me In cannot provide loans in these siituations. Our loan fund is a revolving fund - we need Count Me In loans to be repaid so that we can continue loaning to more women. Therefore, not all women who apply can be given loans.

If your are denied a loan here are some ideas to help:

Click here for further help.

• What to do if denied a loan
• Where to get help
• Risky Businesses
• Bad Credit

Count Me In may have denied your loan. We are sorry that this happened but find that we must deny loans in situations of very poor past credit history, limited income to support repayment, or risky businesses that have little potential of generating enough funds to repay a loan.

Most women are initially mad at Count Me In or very disappointed that they could not get the funds. Some women are in situations that are bordering on a crisis. This is the time to take action and you have several options for improving your chances of starting a business and getting a loan.

If you were denied a loan by Count Me In, there are several options:

• Get help now. Attend a business class or workshop. Contact a local program that can meet with you to figure out what you need and how you might rethink, improve, or change what you are doing.
• Clean up your credit history before applying for a business loan. Set up a budget, pay off your bills, and get help to if you need it. Do not take on any new debt. Click here to find out how to repair your credit history.
• Delay starting a business and consider employment. Maybe you need to find a better paying job and to do this you need to upgrade your skills. Consider going back to school or visiting your local community college to see if there are classes you could take for different kinds of employment.

There are many places that can help. There may be a program in your own community that could help you in this situation.

Business Planning and Assistance

Women Business Centers
There are over 70 women business centers in the US. The programs are funded by the Small Business Administration to provide training and business consulting to women owned businesses. There may be one in your community. Click here to find out if there is one near you.
www.onlinewbc.org/find_local_services.html

Small Business Development Centers
Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) are located in Community Colleges and Universities throughout the US. The programs provide classes, workshops and some business consulting for small business owners. The SBDC's have libraries and provide state and federal information about starting a business. Many have computers and small business planning guides that are available free of charge. Click here to find a program near you.
www.sba.gov/regions/states

Microenterprise Programs
Microenterprise programs work with very small businesses in urban and rural communities throughout the US. Most programs target specific groups such as women, low-income, minorities, refugees, dislocated workers, disabled individuals or other target groups. The programs provide training and workshops for micro businesses. Some provide small loans as part of the program. Click here to find a program near you.
www.microenterpriseworks.org

Bad Credit Assistance

Small Loans Assistance

Microenterprise Programs
Microenterprise programs work with very small businesses in urban and rural communities throughout the US. Most programs target specific groups such as women, low-income, minorities, refugees, dislocated workers, disabled individuals or other target groups. These programs provide small loans for micro businesses. Many of the programs require that you attend training and workshops before you can obtain a loan. Click below to find a program near you.
wsw.microenterpriseworks.org
www.sba.gov

SBA Loans
The Small Business Administration, a federal government program, has several small business loan funds. All of the loans are provided through local accredited lenders - financial institutions that have been preapproved to provide loans. For a list of the loan programs at the SBA, click below.
www.sba.gov

Some applications are to finance businesses that are very risky - the business is unlikely to generate enough profit to support the business and repayment of a loan. In most cases, the loan application is for the startup of one of these businesses, which increases the risk, and the chance of failure.

Some of these business ideas can provide supplemental income to the owner, not enough income to support themselves, but extra income while they are employed full-time or have a partner with full-time employment.

The problem however, is generating enough sales and profit to pay off a business loan with a monthly payment of $150 to $300. Few of these businesses can generate enough sales volume to invest in inventory, pay the costs of being in business and support a loan payment.

Count Me In may deny your loan for this reason. We have found that many pyramid type businesses based on home sales and parties cannot generate the funds to repay a loan. Some of the beauty sales, weight loss, and home products businesses sold through personnel contacts cannot generate enough sales to repay a loan. There are many web based gift product, gift basket, and medically billing businesses that are advertised on cable TV and late night TV that are in the "too good to be true" category. Again, we want to make sure the loan can be repaid and there are businesses out there that may sound good but Count Me In has found cannot generate the sales needed to repay the loan.

Count Me In has the dual goals of helping women start successful small businesses and getting our loans repaid. Our past experience has influenced our decision about what will be successful for a loan and what will not. Be prepared, Count Me In may deny your loan if you fit into one of these categories.

If your loan was denied for this reason, Count Me In suggests:

• Find other women who may have started a similar business. Get the real story of what it takes and how much they really make in the business. Ask how long it took and whether they borrowed money. Find our more before you order the inventory and put yourself in debt.
• Consider starting the business without borrowing money. Can you get the money to start from your savings, from family and friends? Start very small, as small as possible to see what your sales will be like. Avoid borrowing money that you may not be able to repay.
• Think of other business ideas related to your skills and ideas. Take a business planning class to really think through your business concept and see if you can make the money you need to support yourself, pay your business expenses, and repay a loan.
• Seek employment - think about businesses you might work in to get the experience and skills needed to start a different type of business. Some of the most successful business owners have worked for their competitors or in similar businesses to develop the skills and get an inside look at what life might be like working in this industry.
• Research what is needed in your community - what services or products are needed in your community? Are there enough paying customers and what type of sales might be possible? Is it an idea that you can start small - without borrowing any money or with a very small loan to protect your risk?
• Contact a local small business development program and attend as many classes as you can.

Business owners must demonstrate that they can handle credit and loan repayments. What does your credit history say about your habits and patterns of managing your debt?

Bad credit creates a negative credit report. Count Me In uses your credit report as one of several factors in making our loan decisions. If your credit history is very negative, you probably will be denied a loan. You may have a history of not paying your bills on time, a record of judgments and collections, or a recent bankruptcy. Your credit history demonstrates to Count Me In how you pay your bills and what you might do if we gave you a loan. Count Me In does use very different criteria from a bank but we do need to see some track record of paying bills on time.

Most of the loans at Count Me In are denied for bad credit - very bad credit with few bills paid on time, past judgments, and collections on their recent records. Count Me In cannot approve a loan for a woman who has no history of ever repaying a loan or a bill. There must be some history of paying your bills on time. Count Me In hears from many women with personal credit problems who are looking to start a business as a way out of those problems. Unfortunately, that may be the worst time and reason to start a business.

Count Me In has to goal of helping women start successful small businesses and the goal of getting our loans repaid on time. Our past experience has influenced our decisions about loaning money to women with a long history of bad credit. Count Me In may deny your loan if your have a long history of poor personal credit, are overextended with more debt that your capacity to repay or need the loan to pay off past bills. Our goal is get REPAID so that we can keep lending to more women.

If you have bad credit, Count Me In suggests the following:

• Clean up your credit history before applying for a business loan. Click here to find out how to repair your credit history.
• Consider finding employment, setting up a debt plan with a consumer agency, and paying off your past bills. Get yourself out of bad debt before taking on more debt. Business loans are harder to get than personal credit - it is for the business and not paying off your bills.
• Really concentrate on increasing your sales. If you have bills from your business that you are having trouble paying on a regular basis, there is something wrong. Most likely your sales are not high enough to support the business. Focus on sales and the underlying problem before you borrow more money and get deeper into debt.
• Consider closing the business - it may not have the customer base, the sales revenue, the pricing structure, or the volume to support a business. Get out before you have to file bankruptcy or get into some debt that you lose your personal credit.
• Contact a local program and ask for help in reviewing your business.