3 Things You Should Know About Small Business: Oct. 9

On the other hand, loan request approvals by small banks dipped to 47.6% from 47.8% in August. The loan approval rate by credit unions dropped for the fourth consecutive month in September to 52.4% from 52.9% in August. The September figure represented the lowest credit union approval rate since June 2011, Biz2Credit says.

Approval rates by alternative lenders, which includes accounts receivable financers, merchant cash advance lenders, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), micro lenders and others rose slightly to 64.6%, up from 64.5% in August.

"Alternative lenders offer greater flexibility, quicker approvals, and competitive lending rates than they ever have before. This type of financing is very helpful for small and mid-size businesses that encounter short-term cash flow issues," Arora said. "Restaurants and retailers, in particular, find this type of financing attractive as they look to the fourth quarter to be profitable than other parts of the year. Many businesses are seeking short-term working capital to prepare for the upcoming holiday season."

Biz2Credit, started by two Indian immigrants in 2007 to focus on the financial needs of Indian and South Asia immigrant business owners, has become very much a mainstream platform. Through the company, roughly $700 million in financing has reached thousands of businesses, including doctors, lawyers, franchise owners, gas station owners, restaurateurs and others.

3. Why Philly will never be a startup hub. Gene Marks, president of Marks Consulting and a Philadelphia resident, makes his case in The Philly Post for why the city will never be a tech startup hub. For the record, it's not because the city isn't trying, but Marks says that the city just doesn't have the personality to cater to the fanatic entrepreneur.

"Start-ups that change the world and create billions of dollars of wealth are created by young, hyper, edgy, manic geniuses who stay up all night hacking into computers at the Department of Defense, or developing new drugs to make themselves even more hyper and manic. These people want to flock to a city with the same personality and be around others with the same personality. They find them in New York and San Francisco. And then the money finds them. Philadelphia is not a city like that," he writes. "We are a city where people settle to raise their kids, go to soccer games or catch a movie."

-- Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York.

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