For a small business owner -- or anyone desiring to be a small business owner -- the options for getting asmall business loanare worse than ever. Which is why the founders of SBAdirectloans.com are offering a new service to connect small business owners with SBA funding.

According to a recent study from Pepperdine Unversity, banks are denying the majority (60%) of loan applications, and 71% of business owners report not turning to friends and family after being denied a bank loan.

In the old days, bootstrapping meant maxing credit cards, borrowing against home equity, even soliciting extra funds from friends and family.

Now, all those money sources -- from start-up cash to operating capital -- aren't so available anymore.

In fact, personal lines of credit have been slashed, home equity has plummeted, and the local bank is scared of lending to any business with cash-flow troubles.

What's an entrepreneur to do?

**Obama to the rescue**

AnSBA loan-- SBA stands for Small Business Administration, an agency of the Federal government -- is not directly loaned by the government to small businesses, but rather provides guaranteed funding so that bankers and private lenders can lend without fear of default.

According to SBAdirectloans.com, most start-ups and established small businesses qualify for some type ofSBA fundingor guaranteed small business loan.

SBA-guaranteed loans generally come with far more favorable terms and relaxed lending guidelines than traditional bank business loans.

Unfortunately for small business owners -- even ones who KNOW about SBA-guaranteed loans -- bankers are not often the best lenders of SBA-secured loans, according to SBA loan expert Mike Robbins, founder of SBAdirectloans.com.

Banks will often have lending guidelines they overlay on top of the SBA requirements. So an entrepreneur looking for SBA-funding may be denied by a bank even though he would otherwise qualify for anSBA-guaranteed loan.

Does the entrepreneur have a choice? Yes, he or she can contact an SBA-lending specialist who is not limited by a single bank's SBA-lending overlays.

Most banks have their own rules for lending, and they add those extra limitations -- called overlays -- on top of the SBA loan process.

For example, many banks have overlays that restrict lending for opening a 7-11 or convenience store. But SBA guidelines don't restrict lending to open a 7-11 or convenience store.

Being able to borrow an SBA-guaranteed loan without the bank's extra restrictions or overlays can make the difference between success and frustration when it comes to borrowing needed capital.

Convenience stores, gas stations, even hotels and motels lose SBA funding because of bank overlays.

AnSBA lendingexpert can identify SBA-guaranteed funds that are not subject to these additional bank restrictions.

SBA loans may be used for commercial property, for equipment purchase or leasing, or for working capital.

SBA lending expert Mike Robbins says that it's shocking how few small business owners even know this SBA lending program exists, or that options exist other than from traditional banks.

"Small business owners right now are sick with worry over their business," Robbins says. "They simply don't realize that a private lending professional can get them SBA-guaranteed funds in as little as a month. Even if every bank in their town says no, it's still possible to get an SBA loan."

"The Obama administration has set aside billions to help entrepreneurs," Robbins continued. "And the president deserves credit for making these funds available. I only wish more entrepreneurs knew this money is there waiting for them."