This is a subscriber-only article.

Save 20% on Entrepreneur+ during our Spring Growth Flash Sale

Use code SPRING20 at checkout.

Subscribe Now

Already have an account?

Sign in
Entrepreneur Plus - Short White
For Subscribers

The Advantages of Seller Financing For Startups Seller financing has advantages for both sides of a deal.

By Michelle Goodman

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Trust Funds
image credit: Progressive Arkansas

Bill Short wasn't worried about how he'd finance FiberTech, the Atlanta-area fiber optics company he wanted to purchase. The former banking professional had stellar credit and enough money to make a sizable down payment on the business, which was priced in the "low seven figures."

The rest, he imagined, he'd borrow. But when Short applied for an SBA loan, he was told the government body required at least 10 percent of the deal to be financed by the seller. Although Short hadn't considered taking a loan from the seller, he was happy to comply if the terms were right.