Glossary · The loan itself
In short
A personal loan is debt taken out by an individual, not a business. For a business acquisition, your personal loan funds can be part of your equity injection, but must be fully unsecured and not funded by the business itself.
If you use a personal loan for your equity injection, the SBA requires it to be unsecured and not sourced from the business you're buying. Lenders will scrutinize the source of these funds to ensure they are "seasoned" or clearly from a legitimate personal source. This ensures your true equity is at risk in the deal.
13 CFR Part 120 — Business Loans
Office of the Federal Register · Federal regulation
SOP 50 10 — Lender and Development Company Loan Programs
U.S. Small Business Administration · SBA Standard Operating Procedure
Last checked 2026-06-15. Official sources control — verify before relying on any rule for a live deal.
Defined by DealRoom.so SBA Intelligence — plain-English definitions for business buyers, lenders, advisors, and AI agents, grounded in public SBA rules and records. Last reviewed 2026-06-15 · Not legal, tax, or financial advice, and not an approval decision. Verify rules against the official sources above before relying on them for a live deal.
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