SBA Loans to start a trucking company

given your a female and a vet, you have a lot more options in getting funding for starting or owning a company then a male and a non vet, and you may even got some different clients due to companies also get perks for working with female owned companies. I would go to your local SBA office and see what's out there, you'll be surprised

 

There is stuff out there, whether you can qualify without personal backing I would think not. Myself when I started I relied strictly on personal credit until my DUNS number was active and credit was being established. I hope you the best, it's a tough world.

 

With out clients already procured, I'd advise against borrowing money to semi-blindly start a business. They say the fastest way to lose $1 million is to borrow it,.. easy come,.. easy go.

I know for a fact its easier to borrow larger sums of money because my father was a con artist who would do that and then file bankruptcy, just to start a new business and start the borrowing process all over again. His philosophy was that he could never be over drawn,.. he still had more checks he was able to write. It wasnt earned money. His work ethic left much to be desired. He was a master at his craft,.. living in one house to another, just long enough for the foreclosure to finish. By then he had another house lined up to move into and it would take another year or longer to get him out.

This is why I am against people who start a business this way.

Put money away,.. start small. If you are any good, the heavens will open and the money will come. If not,.. well,.. then its only your money that you lost.

Hurst

 

did your father work on wall street?

 

I wish,.. I might have had a chance at a better education or life.

Hurst

 

Being a Veteran, you deserve special consideration:smt041. You earned it. Good luck and thank you for your service.

 

There is a group called SCORE that will help you with any business knowledge. These are current or former executives, lawyers, business owners that share their wisdom with anyone who asks. They will be a mentor for all who apply. By apply I mean you fill a short questionnaire so they can match your needs with an appropriate expert. Several if needed.
I started my business with money saved. Not much just a few grand. I would never get a SBA loan. I think the Government has its hand in my pockets deep enough already. No reason to get them in more pockets and deeper.
You do have some opportunities as a female veteran, only good if they help. Thanks for your service. Good luck.

 

I sure wouldn't want to start a trucking business with zero money. It's dejecting and depressing enough at times when you have a solid bank roll. I've recently spent about $6,000 on the truck. It was all known that I'd have to do it sooner or later, no surprises. Seldom ever get surprised any more but when I first started I sure did. Many times. How would you handle a $10,000 surprise setback OP? It's not a lot of money in this business but if you have no money it is. Would you just add another loan to the stack, pop another blood pressure med, and keep on trucking? What about when freight is down? None of it lasts forever 7 days a week, 365 days a year no matter what optimistic lies anyone tells you about "year round freight". If you're working on open markets for the best dollar it's there for $3 a mile sometimes and it's there for $1 a mile at others. IMO if you can't afford to shut that unit down for a few weeks at a time here and there when things are down you have no business owning a truck. You're gonna get eaten up alive by the crooks out here eager to take advantage of all the cheap trucks who work really hard, for nothing. Really it's hard enough out here as it is. I know what I'm doing and there's no way I'd borrow 100% of my money to start a trucking business.

 

I'll keep this simple, I have a headache and hate typing today.

First is you need to seriously consider what you are going to be doing, I gather become an Owner/Operator, which isn't hard. BUT do you want to move onto employing people or having more than a couple trucks?

Second it is better to go through getting a loan as a vet with programs that some have outside the SBA or plan on getting a (**cough**) lease from a company which will help with the no money thing (no matter what is claimed out there, it can be a good thing to get you off the ground).

Third as an alternative, if you plan on doing more than just one truck, I would set on being a Minority business owner which has a lot more weight to it than a vet. This is especially true in different types of work, like municipal hauling, where there is a preference to hire minority businesses.

Fourth I would never get an LLC, the purpose of one doesn't fit this work, the liability limitations are not what they are selling people and if you play the shell game, then you will eventually lose so sole purpierter would be alright or a corp which you can do a lot with to reduce your tax liability.

Fifth take advantage of SCORE through the SBA but there is something about using them and not getting the right industry answers because they may not have the right resources for the work you want to do.

and finally, DO NOT ever go into this underfunded. If you get into an accident on your first day you are totally screwed. Have at least three months of operating expensed in the bank. People who do this and survive are lucky but there are maybe three others who have been screwed because of it. One reason why loans shouldn't be handed out is the risk outweighs the payback.