LendingTree, the nation's leading online loan marketplace, recently conducted a survey on small U.S. business owners who applied for a small business loan within the past year. Data from LendingTree's survey showed 58% of the 170 small U.S. business owners did not comparison shop business loans online during their loan application process. Within that same sample of business owners, 61% stated they referred directly to a bank or credit union to research financing and funding options for their small business, suggesting that small businesses could be missing out on more opportunities and potentially substantial savings. 

Interestingly, despite the fact that many small businesses today are struggling to obtain financing, according to the LendingTree study only about 1 in 4 (24%) small business owners even went online to research financing and funding options for their loans.  

According to The Business Backer CEO, Jim Salters, getting a loan or funding is probably actually the easiest it's ever been, "There is just a tremendous amount of investment and innovation in serving this sort of non-bank or sort of beyond the traditional credit models, and business models, and capital structures that existed in the past. So we're seeing a lot of non-bank companies that are seeing increasing amounts of investment from venture capital, private equity, and lending capital funds. This investment and innovation is increasing available funding supply." 

Business owners may not realize the relative ease of applying for loans online and its availability from new online lenders. Because lenders offer very different loans from one another, shopping online for small business loans aggregates available options without a time-intensive search. Borrowers can quickly and easily compare loan requirements and the lenders' estimated time to fund, creating a more personalized loan shopping experience. 

Additionally, business owners may be simply missing out on potential savings by simply not shopping around for the best interest rate and comparing lenders.

"Many assume that the bank or lender they work with will always give them the best rate, and while that may be the case sometimes, it doesn't hurt to see what options are available. Lenders compete with one another to earn trust and earn market share by offering better rates, terms and service just like any other business," said Doug Lebda, CEO of LendingTree. "The LendingTree loan marketplace offers a way for business owners to compare loans from multiple banks and lenders, including alternative lenders, with only one application, for less time than it would take to go the bank."