Financial Strategies

There were both positive and negative developments for business loans during 2007. These will have an immediate impact on business financing strategies for borrowers.

When reviewing commercial loan developments that occurred during the past 12-18 months, there are mixed results when looking at the best and worst trends. Many of the working capital changes that emerged last year have important ramifications for borrowers refinancing or seeking new financing.

A major commercial property investment trend has been some increasing activity due to the current decline in viable residential investing options. This seems to be particularly true for business opportunity situations which do not have a real estate component, an aspect of increasing importance to investors who want to avoid property ownership at this time.

For business cash advance and credit card processing services, the past 12 months have been characterized by significant changes. There were many providers both entering and exiting these business activities. It is of course good news that some ineffective providers were forced to leave this specialized working capital management service area. But the bad news is that there are still many new and inexperienced companies attempting to operate in this complex field.

A similar trend involving inexperience can be seen in viewing the large number of residential financing brokers now attempting to transition into business financing. Since by some estimates well over 100,000 residential financing employees lost their jobs during 2007, there is a real possibility that thousands of unqualified brokers will be entering the business finance field during 2008 or have already started the process.

A general business loan trend impacting refinancing is the reduction in loan-to-value ratios, especially when borrowers are attempting to get some of their equity out of the business in cash. For purchase situations including special purpose properties such as church financing, slightly larger down payment requirements are increasingly more common.

During 2007 there was also noticeable attrition in SBA loan providers. This is primarily a positive development, since the field has long been overpopulated with inadequate business lenders.

Likewise many local and regional banks visibly reduced or eliminated their business financing activities during the past 12 months. The bad news about this trend is that very few former commercial lenders provided their borrowers with adequate notification of their intent to exit the business. If there is a positive aspect to this development it is probably that many borrowers confronted with the need to suddenly find alternative commercial financing sources have often ended up with much better terms by dealing with a new lender that specializes in commercial real estate financing and working capital management.

Although the general decrease in interest rates during the past year is a positive development, there will probably be some confusion among commercial borrowers who have adjustable rate terms when they do not see their rates reduced. In all likelihood, this will be due to a common clause applied to most commercial loan contracts that stipulate that the minimum rate for such agreements will never be less than the initial rate. With such a floor rate provision, this means that if a borrower starts with an adjustable rate set at 10% and then rates fall, the effective loan rate will remain at the initial rate.

Starting the right way is essential for a small business to eventually make it big. Proper planning at all levels is a necessary obligation for businesses. Impulsive decision-making and wrong strategy can put the business into critical situation in no time. Among all factors, the most important aspect that a start up concern should concentrate on primarily is finance. Every company needs to maintain a proper financial flow to carry on their operations. A business cannot make profit from day one itself. It takes some months and even years to touch the break-even point. Till then the day-to-day expenses has to be taken care of. Thus a business needs an adequate flow of working capital to run its processes smoothly.

Arranging the working capital needs proper analysis of business requirements. The amount of capital needed depends on the size of the business. A rule of thumb is that a businessman should at least arrange for the capital that is equal to the revenue of the first year of business plus the probable expenses that the business can incur. So if the expected revenue is $125000 in the first year with other expenses amounting to another $175000, then the capital to be arranged for should not be less than $300000. Thus the financial experts of the business should analytically work out the amount of working capital needed for the business to operate without hassles.

Once this is done, an entrepreneur should look for funding avenues that can finance the business. Many financial as well as non-financial institutions offer small business loans. The type of loan opted for has a direct effect on the prospects of the business. Loans are of two types, secured and unsecured. Secured loans extend finance to those who can afford to provide a collateral/ security to the financial institution. On the event of non-repayment, the financial institution gains the right to sell off the security to get their money back. On the contrary, an unsecured loan does not need a collateral but may charge a higher rate of interest from the borrowers.

However, monthly repayments are always a major concern for the borrowers. Another primary concern is whether the concerned authorities in the financial institutions will at all sanction their loan applications in the first place without any delay. So, if one is looking for a financial option that offers easy eligibility and easy repayments, a business cash advance is the way to go for. The company should accept credit cards as a form of payment and be in the business for 2 years to be eligible for a business cash advance. In addition to this, the business should be processing a minimum amount of payments per month and should provide the bank statements for the last three months to the financial institutions. The biggest advantage of a business cash advance is the borrowed amount is directly repaid through the future credit card sales of the business. Thus there is no need to bother about month end installments.

So if monthly repayments, eligibility criteria, delay in loan sanction is all that is bothering you to start your own business, opt for a business cash advance for hassle free finance.

Business cash advances have become an increasingly valuable and necessary working capital financing strategy for most small businesses. As with any complex business financing, it is critical to avoid certain common problems that occur when credit card processing is used to obtain needed short-term cash.

It is not necessary for business owners to experience any of the credit card financing problems described in this article. We are identifying ten key difficulties that can be avoided with credit card processing and working capital business cash advances.

Business owners should not overlook the substantial working capital benefits which will accrue to their business by effectively coordinating credit card factoring and processing. These benefits will increase measurably if a number of common business cash advance problems can be successfully avoided.

One of the most important commercial financing needs for any business is ensuring that short-term cash requirements are successfully met. The use of a viable business cash advance strategy has become an increasingly important small business finance tool for many businesses faced with a potential short-term cash shortfall.

Most merchants can document their recent credit card processing activity. Short-term cash can typically be obtained via a business cash advance based on future sales volume.

Before employing this strategy for business cash advances, businesses should realize that there are several significant problems that they need to anticipate. Ten common credit card receivables problems that business owners should avoid when employing this working capital strategy are highlighted below.

First, many lenders for these services charge up-front fees. This is a transaction cost that can and should be avoided, and with the best programs there will not be any up-front fees.

Second, many lenders will attempt to charge closing costs. Business owners should realize that this is also an unnecessary transaction cost for business cash advances when dealing with a truly reputable provider of working capital financing based on credit card factoring.

Third, a number of business cash advance programs require collateral. This is an unnecessary requirement to be avoided by business owners seeking credit card financing.

Fourth, monthly fixed payments to repay merchant cash advances are imposed by some providers. The preferred approach is to avoid such fixed payment requirements.

Fifth, some lenders will require financial statements and tax returns for all business cash advances. Such additional documentation requirements should only be necessary for larger working capital advances.

Sixth, some providers impose a fixed term for repayment. This requirement to pay off the business cash advance over a fixed term should be avoided.

Seventh, most business cash advance providers require credit scores of at least 680. In today’s difficult economic climate, this can be a challenging requirement. It is feasible to obtain this kind of working capital financing with scores around 500.

Eighth, many programs for working capital business cash advances require that a business have at least two years of operating history to qualify. While many business owners can meet such a requirement, a more practical standard for newer businesses is a minimum of one year in business.

Ninth, many providers will require up to 24 months of documented credit card sales of $25,000 or more. A more practical possibility for business owners will involve a transaction history with six months of $5,000 or more.

Tenth, for merchants needing larger business cash advances, it is important to know that many programs are limited to a maximum of $25,000 to $50,000. Providers that are better capitalized for this business finance strategy will be able to accommodate an advance of $300,000 and higher.

Can all ten credit card finance problems discussed above be avoided? There are indeed viable credit card receivables programs which avoid all of the obstacles described.

It is not likely that all ten of the obstacles described above will be pertinent for all small business owners. Business borrowers are likely to experience several of these problems if they are considering a business cash advance that uses credit card factoring and credit card processing. For any business owner considering this approach to working capital financing, please remember that it is not necessary to accept any of the ten problems described in order to obtain business cash advances based on future sales.