Are you a Harry Potter fan?  In the first Harry Potter film, there is the scene where he visits the bank. His somewhat guardian pal Hagrid brings Harry to the bank to access the money Harry has inherited from his deceased parents.

Harry’s initial impression of the bank is similar to that of most of us folks: mild horror and total intimidation. The clerks at the bank, rather ugly looking gnomes, force young Harry to run a gauntlet of questioning, forms, more questioning, and ultimately a bizarre roller coaster ride so he can access HIS OWN MONEY.  Ouch.

The gnome-clerks are the GATEKEEPERS.  And they put Harry through all this brutal rigamarole simply to access money that rightfully belongs to him.

What happens when the GATEKEEPER is protecting the BANK’S MONEY? Please remember: the banker may be substantially better looking than one of the Harry Potter World gnome-clerks, heck, your banker might even be charming and may have, at one point treated you to lunch. But the banker is not your friend and the banker does not work for you.

Your banker “friend” is a GATEKEEPER to protect the bank’s money.

The charm is a clever disguise. When you, the busy, harrowed and exhausted small business owner need access to the bank’s money to finance an aspect of your business, whether that’s a Commercial Mortgage or a business loan or business line of credit, that banker’s charm will mislead you to believe it’s all so easy! Submit this document; sign this form; pay this fee; ask your CPA (at your expense, of course), to prepare this income statement, yes, it’s all so easy and charming.

Smiles all around.

Until you’re not smiling anymore. Until you’re riding that nightmarish roller coaster deep in the dungeon-depths of the bank.  Except, unlike Harry Potter, you never arrive at any destination.  Instead, the banker’s smiling charm evaporates when the bank either declines your loan request or offers you something completely different than what you need, something that doesn’t solve your financing problem to grow your business.

Beware the GATEKEEPER. We’re NOT the Gatekeepers.

We’re Brokers. Our experience and knowledge of this subterranean depths will guide you to the satisfactory conclusion to your financing request: the money you need to grow your business.

Visit our Financing Fodder YouTube Playlist on how you can prepare for your loan request application process.