[quote=bearishgurl]In a way, yes. These small businesses don’t necessarily “fail,” but they run out of capital to replace old and/or broken equipment and thus sometimes have to suspend operations because of that. The SBA has programs available to apply for funds to “grow” a business (or restart one that has temporarily been “suspended.”)
In addition, they have programs to prospective new biz owners who only have an idea and a business plan but little else.
In the smaller loans made by the SBA and participating lender (<$100K), there is almost never any collateral given.
Just like a student loan, the SBA lenders are relying on the "integrity, wherewithal and talent" of the applicant to be paid back on time and in full.[/quote]
Uh, if a business run out of cash to operate, then they did fail. When they fail, the SBA didn't give them more money to keep on operating. This is no different than FHA, etc. If you think these are the same as the bail out of big banks a few years back, then I stand by my statement that WE ALL can be bailed out, so quit complaining.