Small Business Advice for a Successful Meeting With Your Banker

If there is one thing small business owners have in common, it is the fact that they have a banker. In our day and age, you cannot own a small business without a bank account. Most small business owners have to take out loans now and then also, to keep their business afloat and healthy. But few small business owners are really well-prepared when meeting their banker to go over their finances or when seeking financing for small business maintenance or expansion.

If you have been a small business owner for decades, then you are probably used to your banker knowing you personally, and being aware of all aspects of your small business financing. However, that is often not the case anymore. We live in an often changing world and it is a good possibility the banker you started out with is no longer at the bank you do business with.

Today the Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb would like to offer the following pieces of advice to small business owners to make sure your meeting with your banker is a successful one.

1. Bring your financials. Always make sure you have your most recent financial data with you. This will give your banker a good view of your small business and will demonstrate that you are on top of day-to-day management.
2. Show what you’ve done to control costs. Bring your banker a list of decisions you’ve made in the past year or since your last meeting to control expenses. This, again, shows good management.
3. Talk strategy. Indicate what you’ve done to increase revenue and how that fits with your capital needs for the next year or two. And a strategy is not just good for meeting with your banker, it’s imperative for any small business to know where it’s going.
4. Be Honest and Accurate. Prepare projected revenue and expenses two years out with a clean, easy-to-read balance sheet and income statement. This, with the data in the previous tips, will display a crystal-clear picture of where things stand and where you expect them to go, and show your banker your ability to think critically and analytically. Do not let emotion rule your meeting. Instead be professional, honest and accurate.
5. Ask for advice. Ask for recommendations on how to save money and ensure you are managing your small business in the most efficient manner possible. Your banker wants to ensure you are successful and will likely commend you for seeking additional advice.
6. Offer an Advisory Team. Make a list of trusted advisors such as your CPA, lawyer, financial advisor, and others, then give that list to your banker. This will show your him or her that you have people behind you in professional capacities.

The Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb hopes these tips will help make your meeting with your banker to go over your small business financials or to ask for a loan be successful. Another way to be successful in your small business is to use the best PDF financial file converters on the market. Even though you might not keep your own books, by using MoneyThumb's software, you can stay on top of your finances in a very efficient way.