On a regular basis business people will ask me where they can get a loan. They may be looking for a few thousand dollars or a few million dollars. I always ask them one question: Why do you want a loan? The answer many times is that their business isn’t doing well. They are not meeting their financial obligations. Because they can’t pay the bills they think borrowing the money is the answer. Some of these people may even have equity that they are able to pledge to get the loan. But that doesn’t change anything. Why do you want the loan? If you’re losing money in your business and you borrow money you will continue to lose money. Instead of solving the problem you just made the problem bigger. If you are going to borrow money for your business or for any reason, know why you are borrowing that money. How will the loan that you are taking out, that may take forever to pay back, going to improve your profit picture? At one time or another, all businesses borrow money. But don’t borrow money to keep your business on life support. If you’re losing money, examine why and have a plan for solving the problem before you take out that loan.