Women struggle for small-business loans

NEW YORK - Women are a growing force in the business world, but if they own a company, they may still struggle to get a loan from a bank.

Carrie Charlick and Marcia Cubitt have $4 million in sales but have been rejected for $500,000 credit lines since 2012. Their 11-year-old company, Essential Body Wear, sells women's underwear at parties at customers' homes. That's a problem for bankers, Charlick says. Because the business, based in the Detroit suburb of Commerce Township, doesn't have a traditional structure and sells directly to the public rather than retailers, banks keep saying no.

"We don't have receivables and we don't own a building," she says. "We don't have collateral."

Some states required husbands or other male relatives to cosign business loans until the practice was outlawed by the Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988. Today, women's business loan approval rates are between 15 percent and 20 percent below men's, according to the online lending marketplace Biz2Credit.com.

Several factors contribute to the problem. Banks historically have been gun-shy about small businesses, and that caution increased due to stricter government regulations after the 2008 credit crisis. Often, women-owned businesses are young, making them look risky to lenders.

They don't look as creditworthy as men. Their credit scores in 2013 were on average 20 points below men's, an improvement from 40 points in 2012 but still a significant difference, according to Biz2Credit.

But women owners may also hurt their chances for approval.

"Women don't ask, 'what do I need to do to get ready to borrow?"' says Maria Coyne, head of small business banking at KeyBank.

Many women-owned businesses don't have enough revenue and cash flow to convince bankers they have the ability to handle their debts, says Lisa Stevens, head of small business banking at Wells Fargo & Co. More than two-thirds of women-owned businesses have less than $25,000 in revenue, Stevens says.

The problems may come from a lack of confidence that would allow them to be aggressive about their companies, including getting a loan, says Barbara Kasoff, president of Women Impacting Public Policy, an advocacy group. They shy away from approaching a loan like any other business deal.

"You need to let the bank know you're a good bet and they can invest in you and they can get their money back," she says.