Tag Archives: accounts receivable
Business Startup Loan – Negotiations, Thieves, and a Pot of Gold
Small business startup loan, lets keep this simple. If you are trying to get a larger loan (one over $100,000), then you will probably need collateral. You probably already knew that. But what you may not know is that for some smaller loans, you may be able to get by with several other alternativeshome equity and unsecured loans. You may even be able to negotiate your accounts receivable as a form of collateral if none of the other options work. The government provides several programs to help you as well.
USE THE MONEY IN YOUR BACKYARD
If you have no collateral and your lenders require it, you may be able to convince them to use your home equity as collateral. This should be exciting news for all of you homeowners that are starting businesses with less than sterling personal credit. However, this tactic will not work if you have already borrowed significantly against your home equity.
TAKE THE THIEF APPROACH (LIKE BANKS DO)
You may not understand why you need collateral for smaller small business startup loan amounts when you are already paying interest for borrowing the money. This is a perfectly good question. And the answer is simple: for small amounts, they dont. So either find a lender that provides unsecured small business startup loans or convince traditional lenders to give you money without requiring collateral. If you are looking for $15,000 or less and your preferred lender will not do the deal without collateral, make like a thief and run (to the next lender.) Just dont do anything illegal on your way out.
TAKE THE MONEY FROM YOUR CUSTOMERS POCKETS
Instead of trying to use assets you dont have, try using the cash that customers already owe you. Some banks let businesses use accounts receivable as a form of collateral instead of real estate or other assets, so if your banks primary objection is your lack of collateral, negotiate to see if they will accept accounts receivable. This may reduce the amount a lender feels comfortable providing, but any number is better than zero when you are desperate.
CALL YOUR UNCLE SAM
If all else fails, ask lenders if they can distribute SBA funding. The 7(a) Guaranty program can help allay their doubts for larger small business startup loans, and the Microloan program can help for start up loans. You must qualify for these programs, so do some research about the SBA loans to make sure you are eligible. Be aware that even if you qualify and are approved for an SBA loan, banks can still choose not to loan money to you.
Some states have grant programs to foster business growth. Consult your local chamber of commerce for information about those or use the internet for additional information.
DONT GIVE UP
If you are completely out of options, keep a positive attitude. Learn from your mistakes and do everything in your power to correct them as soon as possible. If you do this, the small business startup loan check will appear in your bank someday. In the meantime, maybe one of your family or friends will decide your business is great and provide some funding. You never where a pot of gold may be hidden!
Invoice Factoring Can Save Your Business
Invoice factoring is the basic practice of selling invoices to financial factoring companies for the purpose of receiving money right away. Smaller companies often fall into the financial trap of not having available resources and therefore sell their invoices to financial agencies in order to gain working capital. This practice does not require the business to swallow more debt and in fact operates in an opposite manner. Small businesses that don’t utilize the financial tool of accounts receivable factoring acquire more debt by waiting for the accounts receivables to be paid.
Invoice factoring is typically used as a measure to avoid falling further into debt. Without this effective financial management tool many businesses have to adopt more loans or alternatively, put up more collateral for existing loans. Invoice factoring is available at a minimal fee, which makes it an attractive substitute to assuming more debt. In fact, accounts receivable factoring fees are usually set up by way of discount and these rates differ from individual company to company. The great advantage to this type of liquidation is that there are no interest fees to pay and the result is most often better profit margins.
There are many financial companies that offer invoice factoring services. The individual agencies will set up a company with the right set of accounts receivable factoring parameters. After the professionals from the invoice factoring agency assess the individual situation, they will set up the receivables to be factored and proceed accordingly.
Financial agencies that offer accounts receivable factoring are located worldwide and support every industry under the sun. Even truck drivers can sell their invoices to an invoice factoring financial service to free up capital fast. One of the most attractive aspects to an accounts receivable factoring agency is that they customize the service to each business’s individual requirements.
There are as many different types of invoice factoring agencies, as they are rates for factoring invoices. Some purchase the invoices no matter what the receivable total is and some accounts receivable factoring agencies will only liquidate invoices that accumulate more than $100, 000. Generally the higher the invoice factoring total is, the lower the rates will be to take advantage of this financial escape. In cases where the total is in excess of a hundred thousand, a solid accounts receivable factoring agency will offer rates that can be as low as two per cent!
There are many different types of invoice factoring agencies. For example, some agencies will only serve those businesses in the medical profession while others only serve purchase order factoring. There are some accounts receivable factoring agencies that are specifically designed to cater to small business and offer many great advantages that a larger agency wouldn’t necessarily offer. Despite the type of invoice factoring agency that is required for every individual business need, accounts receivable factoring typically happens within a 24 hour time period.