Business Loans

The global financial crisis has made it quite difficult for companies, especially small businesses, to get business loans. Ironically, it is also in this situation that smaller companies often need additional capital infusion to boost income. You may need to get small business loans to acquire a better business location, construct a new building, renovate your premises, pay for new equipment, fixtures or furniture or increase inventory and working capital.

Most Small Business Loans Require Collateral

To get business loans, even small business loans, is a major challenge.

First you need to identify which among the many types of small business loans you need. Small business loans ranging from $5,000.00 to $35,000.00 are called micro loans. For larger needs, such as for the acquisition of land, buildings and other major fixed assets, development financing is what you should find. There are also import export loans as well as franchise financing. Do your research to find out if you are qualified for small business loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration or SBA.

Any of these small business loans will require extensive preparations and paperwork. As a small business owner, you will need to prove your credit worthiness through a personal credit history report. Lenders will also require a business plan which includes your credentials as the business owner, your company financial statements, business assets and an analysis of your market. All of these should be packaged in a professional loan proposal which presents how the loaned amount will be used to strengthen the business and how you intend to repay the loan. Most of all, you need to present your loan collateral – the assets you will put up to secure the loan.  

Quick and Easy Small Business Loans with No Collateral

For smaller acquisitions or day to day business needs, there is a way for entrepreneurs to get small business loans easily and quickly with no collateral. This is through merchant services.

Merchant services provide credit card services to businesses. This enables them to accept and process payments through credit cards or debit cards either through face to face purchases, online transactions, or even by phone or fax. Merchant service providers supply terminal equipment for card swiping, as well as the necessary software and high speed IP solutions.

Most businesses need credit card services since consumers routinely pay for goods and services through credit cards and debit cards these days. If your business has not taken this step yet, you may have been missing out on more than half of your income potential.

These same merchant services also provide the solution for your small business loans. Collateral-free loans can be availed of through their cash advances, with the loan amount computation based on the monthly credit card revenue your business generates. Credit card sales requirements may be as low as $3,000.00 a month. You will not be asked for collateral since your future revenue is your collateral.  

The best types of merchant cash advances do not require fixed monthly payments nor do they impose deadlines on loan payment. A certain percentage is instead deducted automatically from your credit card revenue each month to go towards loan payment. This way, you never have to worry about loan amortization.

Once your cash advance has been fully paid, you may apply for another one. It is like having a revolving credit line. Make sure that you compare the terms of several merchant service providers, though, and read the fine print on contracts. There are so many merchant service providers competing for your business that you’ll surely find one that fits your needs.

Writing a business marketing plan is always the first step to achieving your business goals. It’s important to create a well-researched marketing plan because it will surely lead you to a profitable and successful sale.

If you’re planning to put up your own cleaning business, it’s imperative that you have your own marketing plan even if you’re catering to a niche market. This will assist and guide you in your daily decision-making which in turn, will be your key to success.

Let me give you some tips on how to start your business marketing plan to keep your commercial cleaning business thriving despite our sluggish economy:

Tip 1: Planning on how to allocate your capital is one of the factors you need to consider when creating a business plan.

On the one hand, spending on expensive but quality cleaning materials and equipment might lead to slower return on investments. On the other hand, if you scrimp on equipment and cleaning materials, the quality of your service would most likely suffer. You obviously have two choices: cheap equipment but faster ROI or expensive equipment but slower ROI. The key here is to find a balance between cost-optimality and quality service.

Tip 2: Setting a price can make or break your cleaning business. Is your cleaning service priced too high or too low?

Your business marketing plan should also be based on the law of supply and demand. If your business is located in an area wherein there is pretty much non-existent cleaning business, then you could price it accordingly to position yourself into your customers’ mind as the market leader. However, be sure to provide quality service so that your customers’ will get their money’s worth. If your cleaning business is located in a highly competitive neighborhood, then you have to lower your prices accordingly. Always keep this in mind whenever you’re studying the pricing strategy: your markup should be within the reasonable value which leads me to…

Tip 3: Know your competition. Are there are a lot of cleaning services sprouting left and right in your neighborhood? Do you still want to take the risk strong amidst the strong competition? If yes, try to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack. Offer complementary products that your competitors haven’t thought of yet.

Tip 4: Set a deadline. When is your target launch? When do you expect to break even or recoup your investment?

Setting a deadline will drive and motivate you to be consistent. This will also keep track of your progress as well as help you spot your strengths and weaknesses.

More often than not, these factors are often taken for granted. What makes a business marketing plan effective is when you exhaust all possible scenarios. Once you’ve come up with the best AND worst possible scenarios for your cleaning business, then it’s time to put your plan into action!

Jeremy Gray is a successful entrepreneur and a commercial cleaning business owner. He also owns and maintains CleaningBusinessSecrets.com. Head to his site if you want more information on how to write an effective business marketing plan.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/strategic-planning-articles/top-tips-for-creating-a-business-marketing-plan-1366670.html