As a small business owner, working capital is your lifeblood. Cash-flow management is crucial to your success, which sometimes means you need to take out a small business loan to keep the gears of your business whirring. Equipment replacement, new hires, scaling your business or gearing up for a big contract are all good reasons to start looking for a loan.

There are lots of funding options out there—which is both a good and a bad thing for you. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the sudden plethora of emails, phone calls, letters and ads from lenders—how do you plow through the weeds and find the best deal for your business? Is there a clear winner or are they all similar?

We want to help you find the best way to do an apples-to-apples comparison of the loan options out there to help you make the most informed decision when choosing your business loan.

So you’ve scoured the internet for loan options, flipped through offer letters in your mailbox and received dozens of calls from lenders. You’re ready to make a decision on a small business loan—but how do you choose?

We will show you how to use a helpful table—similar to the Schumer Box— that will help you break down your loan options side-by-side so you can make the most well-informed decision for your business.

What is the Schumer Box?

If you receive a consumer lending product—such as a mortgage, auto loan or a credit card—you have probably seen a table that breaks down key metrics like APR and fees. This is a Schumer box. Unfortunately, this table is not common for small business loans, which can make it really hard for you to lay out and compare your loan options. So I’ve created what I call the Grover Box to help you out.

As a small business owner, working capital is your lifeblood. Cash-flow management is crucial to your success, which sometimes means you need to take out a small business loan to keep the gears of your business moving. Equipment replacement, new hires, scaling your business or getting ready for a big contract are all good reasons to start looking for a loan. There are lots of funding options out there—which is both a good and a bad thing for you. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the emails, phone calls, letters and ads from lenders. Each lender promises you the best rate, best amount, best approval rate, and awesome customer reviews!