SBA loan consultants and brokers
An SBA Loan Consultant or Broker, and What One Is Actually For
Most SBA deals do not fall apart on the numbers. They fall apart because the file went to a lender who was never going to fund it, or because the structure was wrong before anyone opened a spreadsheet. That is the part we handle, and for borrowers it is free.
Tell us about your deal →The four things that decide whether your deal closes
None of them are the interest rate, which is the thing most borrowers shop first.
Pick the lender before you apply
The single decision that decides your timeline. We know which lenders are funding your industry and your loan size this quarter, which is not what their marketing says and is not on any published list.
Structure the deal so it can be approved
Seller note on full standby, injection sourcing, what counts toward the ten percent and what does not. Structure gets decided early and is expensive to change once a lender has the file.
Build the package the underwriter wants
Financial spread, the use of proceeds, the business plan and projections, the personal financial statements. A file that arrives complete gets read. A file that arrives in pieces sits.
Run the process to close
Chasing the document requests, keeping the seller and their broker informed, and telling you early when something is going wrong instead of at the eleventh hour.
How we get paid, since you are going to ask
We are free to borrowers. We are paid by the lender when the loan funds, which is a normal and disclosed arrangement in SBA lending, not a loophole.
The obvious objection is that this makes us want you to take any loan. It does not, for a boring reason: we are paid when a deal FUNDS. A file sent to the wrong lender does not fund. It burns six weeks and then dies, and we have been paid nothing for those six weeks. Our incentive and yours point the same direction, which is at the lender most likely to actually close.
If you talk to someone who charges you directly, that is legitimate too, but know the rules. The SBA caps what an agent may charge a borrower for packaging: $2,500 flat is the safe harbour with no documentation required, and anything above that has to be disclosed on SBA Form 159 and stay within the lesser of the agent's own published rate or 5 percent on loans of $150,000 or less and 3 percent above that, up to a hard ceiling of $30,000. Ask for the Form 159 before you sign anything.
When you do not need us
If you already bank with an SBA Preferred Lender who is active in your industry, you have closed an acquisition before, and your financials are clean, go straight to them. You will not get a better outcome by adding a person to the chain.
Where it changes is when the deal is your first, when the structure is unusual (a partner buyout, a carve-out, a seller who wants to stay on), or when you genuinely do not know which lenders want a business like the one you are buying. That last one is the most common, and it is the most expensive to get wrong, because you only find out after the decline.
Consultant, broker, advisor, packager: what the words mean
None of these are licensed titles in SBA lending, so anyone can use any of them. Here is what each one tends to mean, and the question that actually separates them.
Consultant
The broadest of the four, and the one that says least about what the person does. It usually means someone who advises on the deal and the lender choice, and who may or may not build the credit package. Ask which.
Broker
In most industries a broker introduces two parties and takes a fee for the introduction. In SBA lending the word gets used for the same work a consultant does, because there is no licensing body drawing the line. What separates them is not the title, it is whether they package the file or just make the introduction.
Advisor
Usually a consultant who wants to sound less transactional. Treat it as the same role and ask the same questions.
Packager
The narrowest and the most specific. A packager assembles the credit file: the spread, the use of proceeds, the projections, the personal financial statements. They often do not pick the lender, which is the decision that matters most.
The question that sorts all four: who pays you, and will you be packaging the file or making an introduction. Ask it of anyone you are considering, us included. We are free to borrowers, we build the package rather than hand off an introduction, and we will tell you why we picked the lender we picked.
Common questions
What does an SBA loan consultant do?
Three things that decide whether a deal closes: choosing the lender whose current appetite matches your deal, structuring the transaction so it meets SBA rules before it is submitted, and assembling the credit package so the underwriter can approve it without a dozen follow-up requests. A consultant does not lend and does not approve anything. They make the file good and they point it at the right bank.
How much does an SBA loan consultant cost?
It depends entirely on who you work with. We are free to borrowers. Others charge a packaging fee, which the SBA caps: a lender or agent may charge up to $2,500 flat with no documentation, and above that the fee must be disclosed on SBA Form 159 and stay within the lesser of their own published rate or 5 percent on loans of $150,000 or less, 3 percent above that, with a hard cap of $30,000. If anyone quotes you a fee, ask to see the Form 159.
Is a consultant the same thing as a broker?
In SBA lending the words get used interchangeably. What matters is who pays them and what they actually do. Ask two questions: are you paid by me or by the lender, and will you be packaging the file or just making an introduction.
Do I need a consultant to get an SBA loan?
No. If you already have a banking relationship with an SBA Preferred Lender who works your industry, you have bought a business before, and your financials are clean, you can go straight to them. A consultant earns their place when the deal is your first, when the structure is unusual, or when you do not know which lenders want it.
Can a consultant get me approved if a bank already declined me?
Sometimes, and not by arguing with the bank that declined. A decline is usually about fit, not about you: the wrong industry for that lender's credit box, a loan size outside their range, or a structure they will not do. The same file often gets approved elsewhere. What a consultant cannot do is fix a real credit problem or a business that does not cover its debt service.
What kinds of deals do you work on?
Business acquisitions are over 95 percent of what we do, including partner buyouts and partial changes of ownership. We also work commercial real estate purchases and working capital for existing businesses.
Tell us the deal
What you are buying, roughly what it costs, and what you have to put in. We will tell you whether it works and who would fund it. Free to borrowers.
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