Self-employed people do not get a loan from banks easily anyway, but if they do, they pay relatively high interest rates for it. There are three ways to improve terms: Prospects should conduct a rigorous comparison of providers, offer collateral, and ideally provide a guarantor. These options can also be combined.
Basic requirements for a loan for self-employed persons
Some basic requirements must be met so that the bank is at all willing to approve the loan:
- The prospective customer should have been operating their business for some time – ideally as long as possible. But two to three years are a minimum requirement for many banks. Founders to whom this does not apply are best advised to apply for a development loan, for which special conditions apply.
- The development of the last years must have led provably to a sufficient profit.
- There must be no negative Schufa entry.
- All documents required by the bank must be absolutely complete and correct.
Once these conditions are met, it is necessary to look for the best conditions. Let us now check the above possibilities.



