People who are contemplating to start a franchise business often start by looking at track records of existing ones to gauge which have been around for a while and are thus believed to be operationally sustainable. Although this is a key step in choosing a franchise business, it should not be the first one.

In today’s economic climate, it’s more important to get your financial strategy down first before looking through available franchises. If you’re not sure about how to get funding for such a venture, the following options may be helpful.

Patriot Express Program

The SBA or Small Business Administration is offering this lending program. It is intended to help mostly the following:

- Retiring military personnel

- Veterans

- National Guard personnel

- Those who are married to persons in the military

Under the Patriot Express program, borrowers may borrow up to $500,000. Although the SBA does not provide this loan to applicants, many lender participants are eager to offer this loan because the SBA guarantees 75 to 85 percent of the loan. This means there are considerably fewer risks shouldered by the lending agency and so they are much friendlier to potential borrowers. It is also easier to qualify as the credit score required for it is not set so high.

Interest rates are also friendly as lenders are required by the SBA to impose not more than 2.25 percent for loans of less than seven years, and not more than 2.75 percent for loans exceeding seven years.

A detailed explanation of eligibility criteria set by the SBA can be found on their website but these typically include:

- Business size

- Use of funding

- Type of business

- Alternative sources of funding

The VetFran Initiative

The Veterans Transition Franchise Initiative or VetFran was initiated by the International Franchise Association (IFA) to help military veterans. The IFA partners with more than 350 franchise corporations and encourages veterans to go into franchising by extending financial incentives. The program itself does not offer funding, but the IFA’s franchise partners do provide financing or help applicants choose the right lending program.

Franchise Funding Specialists

Franchise funding specialists can help you devise a financing strategy so that you may narrow down the best lending options available to you. All you have to do is provide them with all the necessary information and they will do the leg work for you.

Consulting franchise funding specialists is advantageous because they are well-versed in the ins and outs of franchising. They have a wide network with which they have cultivated relationships so your applications will go along much more quickly and smoothly.

Another good reason to employ the services of franchise funding specialists is because they don’t charge anything until you get the loan you’re looking for. But before then, they’ll be coming up with several schemes of getting funding, as well as the actual figures that you’re likely to be dealing with.