There's no question that the credit crunch has hobbled many entrepreneurs when it comes to securing traditional bank loans. The simple fact is that no matter how good your business plan is, banks just aren't lending like they used to. That is unless you're talking about community banks. Yesterday's Wall Street Journal made a compelling case for the argument that while big banks (think WaMu, US Bank) aren't handing out small business loans, small community banks are. That's because many of these smaller institutions didn't make the sorts of investments that caused the big guys to tank. The result is that they're not guarding their coffers like Pit Bulls and that they have more flexibility when it comes to determining who they'll loan money to. To wit: many of these local institutions aren't just basing their decisions on credit scores. Sandy Baruah, the acting administrator of the Small Business Administration explains:

"Often times the larger institutions will rely more heavily on the credit score, whereas sometimes community banks will take a much closer look at the business plan. And especially if they are based in the region or the community, they will make a decision based on their overall comfort with the business plan and presentation."

Of course, credit still does matter, and if you score hovers somewhere around Paris Hilton's IQ, your chances for getting a loan aren't good. But if you've got good to average credit, it appears that your business plan may hold some serious weight when it comes to securing a loan with a local bank or credit union.

As far as developing the kind of business plan that will inspire a banker to fund your start-up, you should remember two things: 1) they're risk averse and 2) they want something just short of your signature in blood guaranteeing that you will repay the loan. What that means in terms of your business plan then is that you should present realistic financial forecasts. Give them best- and worst-case scenarios in terms of sales and loan repayment. And present them with data that demonstrates that your start-up is not only viable (so you can repay that loan), but that it has the chance to be seriously profitable (so you can definitely repay that loan). If you're seeking a loan for an existing business, cash flow is key. As the WSJ notes, cash flow is "a key indicator of a borrower's ability to pay back the loan." And (in case you haven't caught it yet) that's what counts. If you manage all that, you may well end up in a situation like Amy Loera, who secured a small business loan from her local credit union after nine banks turned her down. She tells the WSJ:

"They were local [so] they were able to see that because we are a family-owned restaurant and because we had a very good formula to keep our overhead [costs] low and prices reasonable, we are picking up the slack from [fancier restaurants] around us and are not feeling a big hit from the current economic situation."