photo credit: Vincent Boiteau
For years I have read the popular business magazines, all having so called experts write articles for entrepreneurs on how to finance their business. “The top 10 strategies for financing your start-up”, “How the SBA can help your small business”, “Personal credit is the key for entrepreneurs” and so on. In most cases I’m willing to bet those writing these articles are journalists that have never had a successful start-up. How can I come to that conclusion you may ask? Because of the bad advice they give.
Going to the SBA for a loan, using your retirement funds, tapping all your personal credit cards or giving up 75% of your idea to an investor are all ideas I have read from the popular magazines. The thing is, in every one of these cases you are using your personal credit and not separating you from your business. You are putting 100% of your credit and assets at risk. Read the rest of this entry »
photo credit: Barnaby
Before we go any further, let’s make sure we’re working from the same definition of hard money business loans.
For the purposes of this discussion, hard money business loans and hard money loans in general, are typically secured by real estate.
Because the lender is not usually concerned with the application of the funds acquired, I’m further defining a hard money business loan as a source of funds invested into a business operation.
The lending criteria for issuing a hard money loan is primarily focused on the equity held in real estate.
Typical characteristics: 1) private lending sources, 2) short interest terms from one to three years, 3) up front fees on closing, 4) short in duration, 5) use of funds not a focus, 6) limited number of debt covenants if any, 7) interest only payments is quite common, 8 failure to pay results in sale assets to retire the debt. Read the rest of this entry »
photo credit: Photo Mojo
Do you own a growing business that needs financing? If you are like most business owners, whenever your business needs money you head over to the bank. Unfortunately, as most small business owners soon find out, most banks do not lend money to businesses unless they have significant collateral and a history of successful operations. This presents quite a challenge for business owners.
When banks are not an option, small business owners turn to what is known as the alternative financing funding market. Although the financing options discussed in this article fall under the alternative financing category, they are actually quite widely used and should be considered mainstream. Most major companies (including public companies) have used this alternative financing at one time or another during their growth history.
Most of the tools described in this article can only be used by businesses that are already in operation, and whose main requirement is working capital. Although startups can benefit from these tools, the companies will need to be in operation for a little while and have a growing list of clients.
General Invoice Factoring
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photo credit: gurms
What are you going to use for money to keep your business operating when your bank says “NO” to your loan request? You say “Oh my bank won’t say NO to me. I have been a customer of theirs for twenty years”.
Ask thousands of small and medium sized businesses people that said the same thing. One day they left their bank stunned from what their banker said, “NO” to their loan request. They no longer had a line of credit, purchase order loan or any bank financial assistance that had once provided the funds to keep their businesses operating.
Do you think the recent decisions of Congress are going to fix this problem for you? I don’t think so, certainly not in time to save your cash starved business. Those recent financial decisions by Congress are to bail out some of the world’s largest financial institution to hopefully save America’s entire economic system. Until that is fixed, money for the small business owner is likely to dry up completely. Read the rest of this entry »
photo credit: Dennis Wong
Qualifying for a small business acquisition loan can be quite an ordeal to say the least.
If the business being sold is very profitable, the selling price will likely reflect a significant amount of goodwill which can be very difficult to finance.
If the business being sold is not making money, lenders can be difficult to find even if the underlying assets being acquired are worth substantially more than the purchase price. Read the rest of this entry »
photo credit: mockney_piers
But as companies confront a tight credit market coupled with lower than expected results, many CFOs are viewing asset based lending as a viable option in the financing tool kit. Even successful companies with strong banking relationships can quickly fall out of favor with lenders and lose access to unsecured financing, especially if they’ve shown recent losses. A few bad quarterly results doesn’t necessarily mean that a company is in bad shape, but stringent bank underwriting parameters can cause existing loans to be called and prevent the firm from qualifying for new financing. A company facing such a scenario can use asset based lending (ABL) arrangements as bridge loans to pay off banks and provide liquidity until bank financing is achievable.
What is asset based lending?
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photo credit: box of lettuce
Small business loans are sought after by many small companies for a variety of reasons, but many do not know which type of financing they need, or where to start. There are many reasons why company would want a small business loan. These reasons could include:
- Working capital
- Purchasing real estate
- Renovating, or construction on, an existing building
- Purchasing inventory
- Taking advantage of business opportunities
- Purchasing equipment or furniture
When most business owners think of business loans, they immediately look to commercial banks to meet their business financing needs. There is nothing wrong with this since banks do provide some of best and least expensive types of financing to small businesses. The only problem is that many do not realize how difficult it is to get approved for a bank loan or line of credit. Small business bank loans have much more strict approval criteria than other forms of business financing. Expect to be able to show good revenue, great personal/business credit scores, significant time in business, assets to secure the loan amount (in some cases), and the most important part is convincing the banker they can trust you with their money. Some call this the 5 C’s: Read the rest of this entry »
