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Starting a business is not for wimps. And would-be entrepreneurs need to have guts — and creativity — to launch or expand a business in the current tenuous financial climate.

Those were among the messages imparted earlier this week at a business-loan "boot camp" put on by the Pima Community College Small Business Development Center, and they're messages that also are resonating with industry insiders who are working to help small businesses weather the storm.

"There is cash out there. There is loan money out there. The business owner has to be creative about finding it," said Sam Thacker, a finance and credit expert for AllBusiness.com. Thacker also works for Austin, Texas-based Business Finance Solutions and has been in the banking industry since 1994.

Though he's seen several cycles of tightened financial markets, Thacker said, "This is by far the tightest and scariest I've seen."

Even so, there are still a number of non-traditional lenders around who are willing to lend money, he said.

There are reputable private finance companies that have found their niche in loaning money to small businesses at times like this, he said.

"Oftentimes, the interest rates don't have to be higher than a bank lender," Thacker said.

People just need to know where to look, he said. There are specialty lenders that work by type of industry or type of asset.

One place Thacker said people might start their search is with the Commercial Finance Association, which is a trade group of independent lenders across the country.

Thacker's observations mirrored much of what was presented at the three-hour workshop on Tuesday morning, in which a parade of banking professionals gave brief presentations on topics such as understanding your personal credit score and business credit rating, managing your cash flow and how Small Business Administration loans can help your business.

Money is available, but businesses need to have their paperwork in order, several speakers said.

That means having a clear business plan, said Chuck Luhtala, president of Canyon Community Bank.

And it means being able to show a banker that you understand what's happening in the market and can separate your business from things that have happened to others in your industry, said Humberto Stevens, vice president and business banking relationship manager at Commerce Bank of Arizona.

Despite about 30 people being in attendance at the seminar, it seems many small-business owners are waiting out the turmoil before they try to go for any new loans.

Barry Wilber, co-owner of 3-year-old fitness supplier Just Weight, 7475 N. La Cholla Blvd., was at the workshop because his business is looking at ways to offer products and expand certain programs without hurting the current business, he said.

Just Weight has been working already with the Small Business Administration, he said, but the company isn't ready to go looking for money just yet.

"We want to head off some challenges before we run into a wall," Wilber said. "In general, there's a downturn in retail, so you have to look at other opportunities besides just your storefront."

He's mainly in an information-gathering mode to determine the most efficient ways of conducting business in the current climate, he said.

"There are options. You have to take the emotion out of it and look at what the options are," he said.

Ben Icely, 28, said he was at the boot camp to get information because he's thinking of starting a landscaping business and wanted to know what hoops he'll be jumping through.

"I feel more comfortable going to a bank for money," he said. "I wanted to know more about what I needed to present, and I think I got that here."

Michael C. Flowers, a Tucson CPA, said his firm, Flowers-Rieger & Associates hasn't been called on to put together much paperwork lately for clients who are preparing to ask for a loan.

"People just aren't trying, I think," he said.

He's experienced some of the market tightening himself, he said.

On a real estate investment that he owns, the bank required a 10 percent reduction on the loan value before it would extend the loan for him, and even then the bank only extended it for one year instead of two, he said.

Ellen Kirton, who spent 35 years in the banking industry before retiring and starting her own consulting business, said she's not aware of any clients in several months who have looked for loans.

She likened it to the slowdown in the car business. Just as people are electing not to buy cars but instead to fix up and keep what they have, so are business owners choosing not to expand, purchase or start businesses.

"On the commercial side, people are not looking to grow their businesses just now. They're weathering the storm," Kirton said.

Find the latest local small-business news at www.AzStarBiz.com.