Many small businesses become a part of franchise systems and a recent survey of franchisors confirmed that their greatest single concern is Financing/Access to Credit. Consequently, small business job growth is closely tied to the ability of franchisees to obtain financing, typically through small business loans including SBA loans. Franchise Times assembled several of the leading figures in franchise finance to share their views on ways to increase franchisee financing success -- increasing small business lending. The group included: Mike Rozman of BoeFly, Kevin Boylen of Dunkin' Brands, Darrell Johnson of FRANdata, Scott Haner of KFC Corporation, Lex Lane of Main Street Bank, Scott Perry of Sports Clips, Keith Pillow of SunTrust, and Laura Witmer, Wells Fargo.

What are borrowers doing that sends up red flags and what are the common mistakes banks see when reviewing a small business or SBA loan application? Laura Witmer of Wells Fargo SBA noted that criticality of having some direct industry experience. Keith Pillow of SunTrust noted a main red flag of incomplete information or discrepancies in the information present in a loan application. Scott Haner of KFC added that franchisors need to help franchisees understand the entire process, both the process to get approved by a franchisor, and then what their responsibilities are. He further added KFC's success in using financing facilitators who represent a number of banks or lending institutions, and they help franchise -- new franchisees that might not be used to what it takes to get a loan, to organize their information and to put it in a format that helps them sort of put their case in front of the lenders.

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