This checklist explains how to get a business loan in Delaware for businesses operating in Dover and Kent County: define the purpose, put state and city registrations in order, separate business banking, gather records, know your credit, choose a structure and compare offers. Aspenwater Credit, a small-business funding broker in Dover, Delaware, provides it as general information; partners decide.
Who this guide is for
This guide is for businesses that actually operate in Delaware: a shop in Dover, a contractor working out of Felton, a practice in Milford. Many companies are formed in Delaware but run everywhere else; their questions about franchise taxes and registered agents are a different subject, and this guide does not cover them.
Most Delaware businesses that ask about loans are small. In Kent County, 2,964 of 4,971 employer establishments had fewer than five employees in 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023), and 19,146 businesses had no paid employees at all in 2024 (U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024). A partner reviewing a business that size reads the owner as closely as the company.
Step 1: write down the purpose and the number
Before anything else, write one sentence on what the money will pay for and one on how it will come back. 'Replace the reach-in cooler and the two fryers; repaid from normal sales over the equipment's life' is a request a partner can work with. 'Some working capital' is not. Then work out the amount from quotes, invoices or a week-by-week cash plan, not from a round number.
The purpose decides the structure, which decides which partners will look at it. The six funding types compared shows how each one is repaid.
Step 2: put your Delaware registrations in order
Partners check that the business exists, under the name on the application, and that its registrations are current. For a Delaware business that usually means the entity record, the state business license and any city license where the business operates.
- Entity record: the legal name and status of an LLC or corporation.
- State business license: see the Delaware business license and gross receipts tax guide.
- City license and zoning in Dover: see the City of Dover, DE checklist.
Step 3: separate business and personal money
A business bank account in the business's legal name, with all business receipts going into it, is the single most useful thing a small owner can have before applying. Partners read deposits as revenue. Mixed accounts force them to guess, and guessing slows reviews or ends them.
Self-employment is common across the state: an estimated 8.6 percent (±0.4) of Delaware's employed residents were self-employed, and 7.6 percent (±0.8) in Kent County (American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates). Many of those owners run their business through a personal account at first. Moving to a dedicated account a few months before applying gives a partner clean statements to read.
Step 4: gather the records partners read
- Recent business bank statements, usually several months
- Business tax returns, and personal returns for the owners
- Year-to-date profit and loss statement and balance sheet, if you keep them
- A list of existing debts: equipment loans, lines, cards used for business and any advances
- Quotes, invoices or contracts for what the money will buy
- Identification for each owner who will sign or guarantee
Have them as clean, complete files. A missing month of statements is one of the most common reasons a review stalls.
Step 5: know your credit before a partner does
Most small-business funding includes a personal guarantee, so partners look at the owners' personal credit as well as the business's. Check your own reports first and correct errors. If there is something a partner will see, such as a past default, be ready to explain it briefly and factually.
Step 6: choose the structure, then the partner
A term loan for a defined project, a line of credit for recurring gaps, equipment financing for a machine, inventory financing for stock. Loans backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration are made by participating banks and credit unions; Aspenwater Credit does not arrange them, and if one fits your plan you should ask a participating lender directly. Free help preparing a plan is listed in Kent County small business resources.
Step 7: compare offers in dollars
Put every offer on the same footing: the total you will pay back, the payment calendar, every fee, what is pledged and what any guarantee covers. Stretching the term shrinks the payment but can grow the total. How a request moves explains where a broker fits in that comparison, and nobody, broker or lender, can promise approval before a review.
Delaware context worth knowing
Professional, scientific and technical services had the most employer establishments in Kent County in 2023, 815, followed by retail with 670 and health care and social assistance with 525 (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023). Construction had 385. Each sector reads differently to a partner, and the Kent County business profile has the detail. For a story-led look at growth decisions, read funding the next step for a small Kent County business. More guides are on the resources page.
By Aspenwater Credit · Updated