Mesaside Advances, a small-business funding broker in Cheyenne, Wyoming, sets out a ten-item prep list for small business loans in Wyoming: the use of funds, Wyoming Secretary of State records, tax accounts, Cheyenne licenses, bank statements and financials, credit, the funding type, the SBA route, reading offers, and free local help. Lending partners decide; Mesaside is not a lender.
| Entity records | Wyoming Secretary of State, Business Division (sos.wyo.gov) |
|---|---|
| Sales tax accounts | Wyoming Department of Revenue, Excise Tax Division (excise-tax-div.wyo.gov) |
| City licenses | City of Cheyenne, City Clerk: Licenses and Permits |
| SBA office | SBA Wyoming District Office, serving all 23 Wyoming counties |
| Laramie County employers | 3,625 in 2023; 62.6 percent with fewer than five employees (Census CBP 2023) |
| Who decides | The lending partner, not Mesaside Advances |
Who this is for
Owners of small Laramie County businesses, which is most of them: 2,270 of the county's 3,625 employer establishments had fewer than five employees in 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023), and another 11,649 businesses had no employees at all in 2024 (U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024). At that size, the owner usually prepares the application alone, and an orderly file makes the difference between a quick review and weeks of follow-up questions.
Item 1: Write down the use of funds and the amount
One sentence for what the money pays for, one number for what it costs, and one for when it turns back into revenue. Partners fund purposes, not totals, and the purpose decides the funding type: a payroll gap, a machine and a remodel each go to different kinds of partner. The six funding types compared helps here.
Item 2: Have the entity's state records ready
If the business is an LLC, corporation or other registered entity, its records are held by the Wyoming Secretary of State, whose Start a Business page (sos.wyo.gov/Business/StartABusiness.aspx) is the state's starting point for new filings. Keep a copy of the formation documents and any later amendments, and know the business's exact legal name as filed; partners compare it with the bank account and tax records. A sole proprietor has no entity filing to show, which puts more weight on the owner's own records.
Item 3: Line up the tax accounts
Have the federal Employer Identification Number letter, if the business has one, and the most recent federal business tax returns. If the business collects Wyoming sales tax, keep its account details from the Wyoming Department of Revenue's Excise Tax Division (excise-tax-div.wyo.gov/registration). The Wyoming sales tax and Cheyenne license guide explains where each account is handled.
Item 4: Check city and activity licenses
The City of Cheyenne's City Clerk lists the license and permit types the city issues, with online applications through cheyennewy.viewpointcloud.com. If your activity is on that list, keep the current license with your file; partners in licensed trades often ask for it.
Item 5: Gather bank statements and financials
- The last three to six months of business bank statements, every page
- Business tax returns for the last two years, if the business has filed them
- A year-to-date profit and loss statement and a balance sheet
- A list of existing business debts: lender, balance, payment and end date
- Any merchant cash advances still being collected, with their remittance amounts
Bank statements carry the most weight with many short-term partners, because they show actual deposits, balances and existing debits.
Item 6: Know where your credit stands
Check your personal credit reports and, if the business has one, its business credit file, before a partner does. Correct errors early; disputes take time. In a small business, partners commonly review the owners' credit alongside the business's and ask for a personal guarantee.
Item 7: Unincorporated? Expect a closer look at you
In Laramie County, more self-employed residents work in businesses that are not incorporated (6.0 percent of employed residents, plus or minus 1.0) than in their own incorporated business (3.5 percent, plus or minus 0.6), according to the American Community Survey 2020-2024 (U.S. Census Bureau). The county's overall self-employment share, 9.5 percent, is below Wyoming's 11.9 percent (same source). For a sole proprietor, the owner and the business are the same in a partner's eyes: personal tax returns, personal credit and personal bank history all count.
Item 8: Choose the funding type, and consider the SBA route
Match the cost to the type: a term loan for a defined project, a line of credit for recurring gaps, equipment financing for a machine. SBA loans are made by participating lenders with a partial SBA guarantee; the SBA's Wyoming District Office describes itself as serving all 23 counties in Wyoming (sba.gov/district/wyoming, accessed 2026-10-15). Mesaside Advances is not an SBA lender.
Item 9: Read every offer in dollars
Write down for each offer the amount you would actually receive after fees, every payment and how often it is taken, the total paid back, and the clauses on default, prepayment, collateral and guarantees. The total cost of funding calculator helps with the arithmetic.
Item 10: Use free local help
The Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and Cheyenne LEADS, the Cheyenne-Laramie County Corporation for Economic Development, are local starting points; the local resources guide lists them with web addresses. Mesaside Advances is not affiliated with either.
Near the Colorado line
Cheyenne is close to Colorado; the nearest Colorado place in our Census check, Nunn, CO, is 29.1 straight-line miles away (U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer). If your business was formed in one state and works in the other, keep both states' records in the file, because partners match the entity's records to where it was formed.
Where Mesaside Advances fits
Once the file is ready, we help match the request to the right funding type and partners. How a request moves explains each step, and county figures are on the Cheyenne, WY page.
By Mesaside Advances · Updated