SmartBiz Loans
ConsumerAffairs Accredited BrandFounded in 2009, SmartBiz Loans provides SBA Loans through a quick and easy three step process. The first step is to prequalify using the secure software. Once you are prequalified, you will work with a SmartBiz Relationship Manager to plan the use of your funds and provide financial information. After confirming your business’ financials, funds can be imported into your account in as little as 7 days after your completed application.
The SmartBiz platform was created to reduce high cost APRs for small businesses making it easier for those businesses to receive loans. The SmartBiz team is committed to providing quality customer service.
85 SmartBiz Loans Consumer Reviews and Complaints
The application process claims to provide pre-qualifications and then pre-approval status. You will be spending a significant amount of time providing all of their requested documents, after which you will be assigned a "specialist" that will review all of your financials and other misc documents for a 2nd time (collect more personal data), and advise you whether you are in fact "qualified" or not. This means nothing unless they can find a lender that will fund your loan, which is contingent on another department's recommendation to "move forward" or not.
SmartBiz Loans gathers all of your information while making you do a lot of leg work, including having your insurance broker provide certificates of insurance naming their referred bank as additional insured. They THEN try to solicit the loan to these partnered banks in hopes to make money by way of a "referral" fee. Too much time spent and a false sense of hope given throughout the entire process. NOT RECOMMENDED... Better off going through a local bank.
I applied to SmartBiz for a loan for the first time a long time ago. It was for my wife and it was denied. I have a small business and I was trying to bring in more merchandise to grow my business. I applied for a loan again and this time it was for my company, using my company name, and I was approved. I sent the paperwork including my business documents and all tax returns, bank statement, my lease, and insurance. The whole process shouldn't have taken so long but I had a back and forth because of my landlord and some paperwork has to be signed. The rep, Connor did a great job and after he was done with the process, then Bank of Finance called me. They did the process fast and they did everything. I’ll recommend SmartBiz Loans, definitely. They were great and I’m very satisfied.
I needed financial assistance to grow my company and develop my business product. The SmartBiz Loans website was pretty good in terms of clearly representing the data, conditions, terms and the amount of payments per month. Last year, the first time I applied for a loan, it didn't work for me because my company wasn't meeting their requirements. This year, everything worked out fine, so I was pretty happy.
I got an SBA loan from SmartBiz. Uploading the required documents was easy because most of the stuff were already uploaded for me from last year. I still had to collect a lot of information and spend much of my time but the result was worth it and it was pretty easy. They did great and they also completed it. My adviser, John, was great. Working with SmartBiz gave me the possibility to force addition, employ, and open the way of working with new suppliers. It's highly beneficial for my business and it is a low-cost financing through SBA, which is something that I was looking for. I would recommend this company.
The first time that I tried with SmartBiz Loans, I was rejected because I didn’t meet their standards. I have two companies and I said that in six months, I was going to try to refinance the loan that I had. I did it to switch from short term all the way to long term. I was working with American Quest for seven years and short term loans are very toxic. They don’t help me grow into becoming a company that makes million dollars. I was paying $7,000 monthly on those loans and now, it's going to go back to $4,200. I would also have $600,000 to play around with the cash flow.
My experience with Barrack doing the process was fantastic. He deserves a raise. Plus they have a good platform and they followed up with us. There were some bumpy rides because with this type of loan, they eventually take you everywhere in order to be classified. But we had the numbers and at the end of the day, we pulled it off. It was overwhelming at some point but my organization interacted with SmartBiz Loans and they made it a very smooth ride.
Our interactions with them was also very easy because we had organized all the paperwork that needed to be shown to the banks. If you don't have your papers ready, it's going to be a challenge with any situation. But if you have your financial right and you want to go without wasting time, go with SmartBiz Loans because you're going to get approved. Also, the thing that I liked the most is that they took it seriously by searching us first, and secondly, by giving us the numbers and measuring us to see if we were capable of the responsibility of getting the loan. It's not just getting. It's paying it. They don't just tell you, "Here's the money. Go." Then the next year you're going to be bankrupt with all the fees. They're very smart about all that, checking you out to make sure that you are qualified, and that makes it safer for businesses to keep growing.
I got a letter in the mail enveloped in some kind of marketing piece. I looked at a bunch of these and the material of SmartBiz Loans seemed better than the others. I called the rep and the rep sold me on the potentials. I got the SBA loan. I did a really quick email application which qualified me. The rep called me, asked me some questions and then sent me a list. We went back and forth for about three weeks with all the stuff that he needed, it went through an audit process, then it came back. I gave them some more information, cleared audit, then I went to the bank to get payoffs and the bank approved it. Then they sent us a DocuSign which was really slick. I signed the documents in full at 10:00 in the morning, and the loan was funded at 3:00 in the afternoon. The entire process took about six weeks, but I've had multiple SBA loans to commercial banks and this process was at least twice as fast.
Getting this particular SBA loan in a timely manner freed up a lot of cash flow needs and saved us a tremendous amount of money based upon getting our interest rate in a longer term. It was painful from a paperwork and process perspective, but there was a three-hour time zone difference, and their team was very good at getting back to me quickly. They were excellent and I felt like they were a real advocate for us.
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When we started with SmartBiz Loans, the process was complicated that could have been discouraging if we had to do it on our own. But with SmartBiz driving the process, the complicated process was made easy. There was a lot of back-and-forths throughout and there were repetitive asking for certain documents too, but I understand they're getting it culled down to exactly what the banks are looking for. And at the end of the day though, it was successful. The team that helped me was very good. I had one specific person assigned to me and he was really thorough and ushered us through the process. He was also good about keeping us posted and pinging us for documents.
I went over to a neighbor one day and asked him if he could give me tips as I was thinking about getting a business loan. He told me that I needed to try SmartBiz. I tried to get a loan in the bank and I didn't have any luck. SmartBiz was able to get the deal done for me and even faster and more than I was asking. I applied online then a customer rep reached out to me. They asked me a lot of questions about the reason on what the money was for. I was at a business stage as I did part-time for a couple of years so my revenue was low in the two prior years. But last year, I got it to a good enough number and got me to the point where I grew to where I needed this money to start helping the cash flow for salaries.
SmartBiz had my financials and they looked through my numbers. It happened to be towards the end of last year so I was able to show them what my revenue was for 2017. The rep told me to file my taxes early and they could get me X. That was their suggestion and I would have never known or thought about that. I just had an interview today for somebody. I'm considering expanding the space a little bit. And SmartBiz has given me the freedom to invest. There was a trade show that I was on the fence last weekend and I was able to attend. I got a few good leads and I'm chasing on that right now. So, it had freed up the capital to where I can start to expand the company. I can bring on a salesperson and a few producers so that I can start working on the business and less in the business, which is really where the business needs me to go right now.
I needed an SBA loan. I was reading the reviews and I liked how SmartBiz process everything electronically, so I went with them. During my application, I produced the papers here then I uploaded them online, and they would get them. Then they would tell me what else was needed and I slowly put the package together. I got a bad rep the first time and the second time, the guy was leaving and there was radio silence for 10 days. Then all of a sudden, somebody else picked up the paperwork and things went very quickly. The process took a little bit longer than I expected, but overall, it was a very good experience. I'd tell my friends who'd ask me about it to prepare if they're going with SmartBiz. The SBA would take a while and there's a lot of paperwork involved.
I recently got a small business loan with SmartBiz and the experience has been okay. I want to grow my business, and I get calls all the time from different companies. But the options that SmartBiz had worked better for me and it was interesting. The loan process was tedious. I had to keep going back and forth and they were asking for new and different things when I thought the process was done. But everyone says that when it comes to receiving funding for a business loan. Working with SmartBiz is helping my business.
I had a couple other loans that were high interest. I wanted to refinance and I got debt refinance, working capital and high-risk category loans from SmartBiz. The reps were great and professional. When I had a question, they were always available to me and they knew their jobs. The only thing was the application process was rough. The portal was not getting all their docs, and a lot of the docs are useless. And I never even heard of half of them so I had to search them out. And then, I would load them but I wouldn't see them so I would load them again but I still wouldn’t see them. But then, I would send the docs directly to them, and then I would finally see them. So, it was labor. They're doing something for me, but it's tough when you're a small business and you're trying to do business. It took at least two months to get it done, but I'm happy I got the refinance at the end.
It's a great program and my credit was good. It definitely helped give me more cash flow and let me buy some other couple of pieces of equipment. It certainly took the burden off a couple of things. Even though I have good cash flow and very good sales in the first place, I took the interest bite off of the other couple of loans that I had so I'm glad I did it. I would do it again and I would suggest SmartBiz to people. The only downfall was they had to approve who I am and what I was saying. They wanted the older three years to four years of taxes, too. And my business was totally different from three years ago. But overall, the whole experience wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t horrible either.
We're a new company with a really fast growth. We were going to be short on cash to support people who need 60 to 90 days to pay us. And there are a hundred of companies out there, but a couple of guys from SmartBiz who called me seemed to be more focused on a lower cost of loans. The loan process at SmartBiz was straightforward. However, there were two people involved, Bill and another guy, who didn't communicate very well. A lot of times I'd be getting the same request from both of them and I wasn't sure if I should double the answer, to send it to both, or say that all it got to take is a phone call and I've got to talk.
We had a bunch of Guido loans that were high-interest, but we had to have them to start and we're done with that. When we worked with SmartBiz, we got rid of the Guido loans. Now, we're into an interim versus permanent financing ground with this. I'd recommend SmartBiz but I would also recommend that they improve their communication between their staff.
I got an SBA loan through SmartBiz and it was the best experience I've ever had with a bank. I was looking to grow my business and SmartBiz seemed like they had the best requirements for my situation. The interest rate was lower than others too. The application process went awesome and our rep was honest and worked incredibly hard. We had a few troubles uploading some documents as they weren’t going through at first, but he worked to correct it and I just emailed him directly. Also, he called to give me updates throughout the day. I didn’t have to worry about anything. And so, I've recommended them. One of my associates was searching for some capital, and I told him to check it out and see how easy the process was.
SmartBiz was excellent. Stephanie was very customer-oriented, organized and very professional. I got an SBA loan with them since they sent me a pre-qualified letter. The loan was a lot of help on the cash flow and then we have a new project and it was also much helpful for us.
All businesses have cyclicality to them and the steel business certainly does. We've been in a downturn and it got worse in the middle of Obama's term up through the end of his term. When Trump was elected in November and he became president in January, we started picking up in a big way about March. We were expecting another big slow-down in the Fall like we had been getting the last six years but that did not happen. Instead, I found myself getting offered other contracts again, for the first time in a long time. And the rates were improving. In order to fulfill the volume of work, I had to get equipment and more drivers.
I started to pursue the loan in October of 2017 and it was a long enough time, since March 2017, to prove that we were not going to have that usual slow-down we've had in the last six years, from the Fall through the Winter. So I decided to take the risk, invest money in equipment and drivers, and expand. With SmartBiz, the loan started out at a nice small rate and the term was for 10 years. But somehow I missed the fact that the interest was variable and I'm a little worried about inflation. They're talking about acceleration of three times in 2018 but I think they're getting way ahead of themselves. I think we're going to have some inflation but it would be moderate. So I'm not too worried. I could have gotten financing in other places but the term would have been around four years which would have made the payment substantially higher. And their interest rate wasn't any better than the starting interest rate with SmartBiz.
And the reason I stayed with SmartBiz was their representative, Hunter. I misunderstood an email he gave me and I thought he was telling me this wasn't going to work. So I sent an email back to him. I was going to go with other lenders and I asked him to sort out my personal information that I sent to him. And the way he handled that communication impressed me. He said, "Sure. We will do that exactly as you requested. But may I ask why you decided to go with another lender?" Even in the email, it was written very professionally and not aggressively. I called him and we had the misunderstanding straightened out. You have your ducks in a row offering these SBA loans, but this guy went above and beyond.
I got so frustrated a couple of times but he did things in such a professional and cool way. He told me not to worry about it, that he would contact the insurance people and get the documents. He helped me and he wound up saying that I was looking better than what it seemed at first. He asked if I could use more money and I said yes. We went back up to the original amount, which was two and a quarter.
He put everything together and then he called me asking if I could use any more. I told him what I was really going to ask for and it was 250. I would have to get two tractors and get everything together. I have to train the drivers for six weeks a piece but they're not bringing any income while they're being trained and I got to give them a $1000 a week salary. The plates are going to be $3,000 apiece or even in nine months, the 2290s are going to be at 550. If you add that all together, I could use the extra money. It would also leave me a cushion for inventories.
He told me the banks pushed a little bit and he asked if I could write up a document on why I thought I could use that much. I did that. He gave it to the bank, negotiated well and got it approved. He stuck with me and helped me all the way to the end. He also communicated frequently through email or phone call. He was dedicated and professional. When I got frustrated, he checked with me if I was cool and handled some things for me. He even came in to work one day and he forgot it was a holiday. So I like the guy. He's a pro and I really appreciated him.
Now, I got the two trucks and they're going to be finished by mid-week. I have one driver who's been training for a week and a half and he's going to start right out. So his truck would net at about 2500 a week after payroll benefits. I take that out for the month and I'm well above my mortgage payment for this month. So it would increase the revenue and the guys are really happy about the newer equipment. The driver morale naturally picks up. It also makes me able to afford some better benefits than we have had. I've added a 3% retirement account and I'm going to add medical insurance but I'm trying to see what all my options are. Even in the short time before the truck even start generating revenue, there has been a lot of benefits. Once the two trucks add that additional revenue per week to our net gross, after all the expenses, fuel and taxes. There's going to be a very nice return on the investment.
I had done a SmartBiz loan through One Step Funding a few years ago, and this is my second one. I've done 4 or 5 SBA loans in my life, and we've been in business for about 30 years. The banks are a battle to get them done because they're so time-consuming. I've been qualified at other times, but this loan with SmartBiz took 45 days and we were done. They had some information already on file, and Michael was the processor in San Francisco. My experience was outstanding, and this was the easiest loan application. They were on top of it and Mike was really nice. He called me at 8:00 at night as some nights he was working so late trying to figure things out. SmartBiz did a really nice job for us. We were able to loan, pay off a lot of debts and consolidate the two other loans, so it saved us about $4,000 a month.
I was seeking financing for me to grow my business. I applied with SmartBiz and the process was really simple. They did a great job overall and I was very happy with everything. And from start to finish, SmartBiz was absolutely a great company to work with. I've done other loans throughout the years that have been a pain having to jump through hoops, but SmartBiz was very easy to work with. I'd recommend them.
I wanted to grow my business. SmartBiz was tied in the FDA so I got an SBA loan from them. When I applied, they required a lot of financial data and information about my business. Working with them was fantastic and we closed the loan within two months which was really fast. Their fees are a little high but I got what I paid for because they expedited the loan. Working with them provided funding for my business and I would recommend them highly.
There were enough data and reviews on SmartBiz and since we were seeking some financing for our business, we applied with them. Their process was streamlined, and their rep, Philip, helped me with everything. SmartBiz took away a lot of stress because I was able to consolidate high-interest credit card. I referred my brother to them and he is currently working with Philip.
I looked at another place, and that place wanted to charge me $500 upfront just to do something. I get that I pay a fee, but I'm not going to pay upfront. SmartBiz Loans didn't charge that way. Also, they looked respectful, and they sounded pretty good. I applied for a standard SBA loan from them, and the process started out well. It started out fast, but then it slowed down, and it seemed like every time I send one document, another document would be requested. I talked to my office director and she said, "Why don't you just give him the list of all the documents needed", which I would have thought would have been nice. I started the process in November and I didn't finish until the middle of January. That was the slowest thing I've ever seen in my life.
Also, I had to initiate communication with them, and I had to push them along. They charged me $4,500 and they seemed to have lost interest in getting it done. I had a local bank, which was my own personal bank, and I did an SBA loan, and they didn't seem to want to bother because it would have been too much work. Nonetheless, SmartBiz was fine and they got the job done and I appreciate it. But they have process problems and they need to hire more staff.
I saw that SmartBiz Loans was doing work with SBA loan, which sounded like better terms upfront. As it turned out, the terms were really good. We took out a $100,000, 10-year SBA loan. The process was way easier than I thought it was going to be. Others always say that the process is easy, but it never is. In this case, however, it was. They sent a short email where I filled in a few pieces of information and took me less than 5 minutes.
They then assigned us an agent who worked with us. He asked for materials and helped get those. Moreover, he helped put it all together. He did a great job holding our hand through the process. There was one set of questions where I had to upload documents. I attached my documents, financial statements, and projections. It was relatively simple. Moreover, their guy walked me through the places where I struggled to get them on. So, that worked out okay. We had a thoroughly complicated loan because we were building a new building. We had another SBA loan coming in, so there were subordination clauses. They worked through all that. Although it took a little longer than their normal ones do, it was done really quickly compared to most SBA loans.
The loan was a big help to us. We're expanding dramatically and we live in a small county in Utah. For a manufacturing company, banks don't have many good products here. They're just small local banks, not national, and don't have the wherewithal to really understand our kind of business. I'm from California originally and several big businesses have started down there a lot easier. They have the bigger banks over there and it's hard to get decent financing here. I've recommended SmartBiz Loans to two other people in our area and will continue to do so.
I talked to a guy and he said that one of the best places to get SBA loan was through SmartBiz Loans. And my experience with them was fantastic. Everything was very smooth. During application, they told me they needed several forms so I sent them. Then they said, they needed more forms so I sent them too. It really wasn't paperwork. It was just uploading and sending. It wasn't anything that I had to do because they were already done. It was a matter of getting them and sending them but it was time-consuming. Once I sent everything in, it was fine.
My business is insurance and it's not a problem to show the proof of the income, but I also have a couple of rehab businesses and they don't make a lot of money. As they have seen where the money was going, they required me to send other stuff for them. It would have been a lot quicker if you only have one business. But the people at SmartBiz Loans were really good and they answered all my questions. Every time I called, I didn't get an answering machine or a voicemail and I was impressed with that. They were always there and answered the phone. I highly recommend them.
I got an SBA loan from SmartBiz and working with them helped us expand the way we needed to. I found them online and went with them because they were easy to use. The application process took about six weeks. I gave them all information and I got funded. I had a good experience with SmartBiz. Come and try them for something you need.
We had been working with Fundera and they put us in contact with SmartBiz. We had also applied with SmartBiz a year prior and we qualified but we didn’t end up getting in. This time, they gave us a couple of things that they knew we'd have to hit in order to get there. We had a good year so we reapplied. We had to work with our accountant and our own books and documentation. There were a lot of paperwork and requests to the process but the people were good to deal with. They were friendly and the communication was good. They knew, looking at the breakdown of the loan, that they had a lot of interest in making it happen for us. They got paid to do it.
The order of operations doesn't make sense to a layman or business person in general. There are things that you should overcome first, but they don't necessarily come first. Sometimes, they come way later than you think where it's either redundant or it seems out of order. But I don't know what their perimeters are. They may have rules that they have to cover certain things first to qualify for the SBA. The process was a pain but those things may not have been up to them necessarily. I still had a successful and good experience with them and we ended up receiving an SBA loan.
I sought for a financing service to build my business up and SmartBiz fit my needs. I received the SBA loan and SmartBiz took care of a lot of the work on it. They helped walk me through the process and were professional in the manner of getting the loan.
I've had a very good experience with SmartBiz Loans. Applying was easy. Moreover, they've helped me a lot through the whole process, especially with the paperwork. The rep helped me in filling up the paperwork I needed in order to complete my application. I tried two other companies before and nothing was happening, but I'm very happy with SmartBiz Loans.
The process of applying for and receiving financing from SmartBiz Loans took three weeks and it all went smoothly. They helped me and I had a good experience with them overall. Give them a try.
I was investigating about business loans on the internet and I talked to a few other companies prior to SmartBiz. None of them had to do with small business loans. They just had to do with financing for business and they were in the private market. I found that hard to follow up with because I’d been in the business for about two years and they wanted all kinds of things. It just became too much of a headache and I didn’t receive fair treatment. SmartBiz provided me with a Small Business Express via Express Loan, and they were quite helpful when processing it. The process was pretty seamless. There was a web-based application where I could check my own progress. Also, the reps were there for me so I was extremely satisfied.
Working with SmartBiz is very stress relieving. I’m coming into a loan with my business and it’s going to help get marketing up and running. It's also going to help get people to my door. It's very instrumental and I couldn’t see doing without it. SmartBiz Loans worked out great and I’m very happy with the experience. It is very user-friendly and I’d recommend them to anybody.
SmartBiz Loans was great. I started with sending emails back and forth. The person who attended me was awesome and was really helpful. I took an SBA loan and there was a lot of back and forth collecting documents. My point of contact was really good about answering questions as well as answering his phone, even when he was in the middle of other stuff. It was really good customer service. In addition, I was never in the dark about anything.
We're a new business and we're growing quickly. We're making it big time, but in reality, we're growing so quickly that the cash flow can be really tough because we're trying to keep up. On top of that, we operate in a very seasonal economy as we're in a tourist destination. A large percentage of our revenue is from our cafe line of business, which happens in the summer months. Working with SmartBiz Loans has allowed us to have a little bit of cushion and comfort during this last season.
I was looking for a Small Business Loan and I found SmartBiz Loans via an online search. They were great. Most of the small business lenders are just trying to sell really bad loans. However, with SmartBiz Loans I received a very good loan with very good rate and terms. They were very upfront, honest, and efficient. Moreover, they gave me the cash when I needed it. I very strongly recommend them to anybody.
I was consolidating my debts and it was through Lane Capital at New Orleans where I got my SmartBiz loan. It was a great experience all the way around. It got my monthly payments down quite a bit. It was a 3-month process, mostly gathering a lot of paperwork. The team at SmartBiz was very professional. I'd use them again and would call my friends about SmartBiz and have them apply.
SmartBiz Loans expert review by Barbara Friedberg
SmartBiz is headquartered in San Francisco. The company was founded in 2008 to help businesses secure small business loans.
SBA loans: SmartBiz structures their website and application process to simplify the process of applying for an SBA 7(a) guaranteed loan. The company works with SBA lenders to help small business owners find the best choice for their business. If a business does not qualify for an SBA 7(a) loan guarantee, SmartBiz can help the owner find another financing option.
Quick pre-approval: Interested customers can fill out an online application to be pre-approved for a loan. This process takes less than five minutes and will not impact their credit score. They should note that the pre-approval and application processes are different.
Time to funding: Business owners can receive funds as soon as one week after their application is approved. For many customers, the entire process, from applying to receiving funds, takes about two weeks.
Success stories: SmartBiz’s website features the stories of their successful clients, so interested consumers can see how other business owners benefited from a loan.
Blog: Regular posts on SmartBiz’s blog are useful and informative for all business owners. Topics include understanding a credit score, office decoration and insurance. They also post tips about small business loans, legal matters and hiring practices.
Best for: SmartBiz caters to business owners interested in securing an SBA guaranteed loan between $30,000 and $350,000.
Personal Finance Contributing Editor
Barbara Friedberg, MBA, MS is a former investment portfolio manager with decades of financial experience. Friedberg taught Finance and Investments at several universities. Her work has been featured in U.S. News & World Report, Investopedia, Yahoo!Finance and many more publications.
