Five Common Business Loan Terms You Need To Know

11 Oct, 2022 17:38 IST 27 Views
Five Common Business Loan Terms You Need To Know

Entrepreneurs looking to grow their business must have two basic ingredients: capital and labour. While both are critical to run and expand the business, capital is, by far, the more important of the two, as even hiring a workforce would require access to funds.

A business loan comes in various forms but there are certain basic terms one needs to understand while availing a business loan.

Principal:

The amount that is borrowed is the principal of the business loan. The amount is disbursed as per the terms of the loan agreement and has to be returned in full in addition to other charges to close the loan.

Interest:

The lenders do not have their own money and they themselves lend against money saved and deposited by their account holders, in the case of banks, or borrowed from other banks, in the case of non-banking finance companies.

As a result, there is a cost attached to the money and someone availing a business loan needs to pay this in the form of interest. The interest rate charged is a mark-up or a little higher than the cost of capital for the lenders themselves. This interest rate at which a business loan is given is fixed at the beginning of the loan, unlike a floating rate that changes for a personal housing loan. It needs to be repaid along with principal to close the loan account.

Tenure:

This refers to the duration of the loan. In other words, this is the period in which the borrower intends to repay the amount availed as a business loan along with the total interest due and other associated charges. Depending on the type of loan and the needs of the entrepreneur, this can be a short- or a long-duration loan.

Collateral:

Business loans can basically be of two types depending upon whether they involve collateral. Unsecured loans are given without any security as a guarantee and, therefore, come with additional risk and higher interest rates. A secured loan is given against a collateral.

Depending on the asset base, intended use of the loan and other factors such as urgency of the requirement, an entrepreneur can take a business loan against a collateral or without it. A collateral-backed loan can be against the mortgage of one’s office or plant building, machinery and so on.

Charges:

One small but important factor attached with all types of business loans is the associated charges. These cover loan approval and processing charges, as also other fees levied for valuing the collateral and for pre-payments.

Conclusion

Business loans help an entrepreneur scale their operations. Taking a business loan need not be a complex affair.

However, a borrower needs to keep certain basic elements in mind before taking the plunge, like the principal amount borrowed, the interest rate charged, duration of the loan, the option to choose from secured or collateral-free loan, and the processing charges.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. IIFL Finance Limited (including its associates and affiliates) ("the Company") assumes no liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in the contents of this post and under no circumstances shall the Company be liable for any damage, loss, injury or disappointment etc. suffered by any reader. All information in this post is provided "as is", with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results etc. obtained from the use of this information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Given the changing nature of laws, rules and regulations, there may be delays, omissions or inaccuracies in the information contained in this post. The information on this post is provided with the understanding that the Company is not herein engaged in rendering legal, accounting, tax, or other professional advice and services. As such, it should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional accounting, tax, legal or other competent advisers. This post may contain views and opinions which are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency or organization. This post may also contain links to external websites that are not provided or maintained by or in any way affiliated with the Company and the Company does not guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any information on these external websites. Any/ all (Gold/ Personal/ Business) loan product specifications and information that maybe stated in this post are subject to change from time to time, readers are advised to reach out to the Company for current specifications of the said (Gold/ Personal/ Business) loan.

Most Read
100 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025
8 May, 2025 11:37 IST
150298 Views
Check the Difference Between 24k and 22k Gold
18 Jun, 2024 14:56 IST
124727 Views
₹10000 Loan on Aadhar Card
19 Aug, 2024 17:54 IST
3066 Views
How much is 1 Tola Gold to Gram?
15 Sep, 2023 15:16 IST
2943 Views
Get in Touch
By clicking on Apply Now button on the page, you authorize IIFL & its representatives to inform you about various products, offers and services provided by IIFL through any mode including telephone calls, SMS, letters, whatsapp etc.You confirm that laws in relation to unsolicited communication referred in 'National Do Not Call Registry' as laid down by 'Telecom Regulatory Authority of India' will not be applicable for such information/communication.