You are looking at a very big project involving millions of dollars and I know that without credit or a less than perfect credit, getting investors as well as loans would be difficult. You can even try it personally by going to your bank and explain your predicament to the loan officer. You can very well expect what the result will be.

With regards to the SBA you can visit the SBA website and learn the Financing Procedure right there http://www.sba.gov/financing/  I suggest that you should read the requirements yourself rather than asking the opinions of others because a lot of people try to impress others that it is easy to get money from the SBA. In reality, the SBA will refer you to the Banks if they find your project viable. And then, you will have to show the banks your credit worthiness, which at this instance may be negative.

On the part of an upfront charge of $15,000. I don't have a comment because that is the consulting firm's own assessment of their service to you. But as you said, it is an upfront charge to put you in touch with investors. You have no assurance that any of the investors that they will refer to you would invest with you and the consulting firm couldn't care less as far as you paid the upfront fee. Hold on to your money for a while and visit your local bank. Talk with a loan officer and tell him sincerely about your project and about your credit standing. From the result of this talk, you can make an assessment of the whole situation.

"One consultant say's you do not need good or any credit to get SBA or private funding is this true?" If this were true, try asking this consultant if he is willing to invest, say a thousand dollars in your project? He knows you have no credit, right? Ask him for some references of people who has acquired SBA funding without credit? Try to go over the SBA website and learn everything from there. Try to avoid relying on other people's advice specially when it comes to big projects like this one.

I hope I am able to help.

Good Luck !

About the PowerHomeBiz.com Guide: 

Nach Maravilla is the Publisher of Power Homebiz Guides. He has over thirty years experience in sales and marketing of various products, which covered as he jokingly describes, "from toothpicks to airplanes"  He also had extensive experience in International trading and he always excelled in special promotional ideas for  retail outlets. 

The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, not of PowerHomeBiz.com. Users should not treat the Guide's response as legal, accounting, or professional advice as all answers are intended to be general in nature. Such advice can only be properly given by qualified professionals who are fully aware of a user's specific geographical areas or circumstances, such as an attorney or accountant.