Business | Bankers Say

Exploring Financial Resources to Finance Your Business

One thing that companies must do in order to stay successful is to be ever changing. With new technology and services available, businesses that don’t adapt will fall by the wayside. This is true for your company’s finances as well. What was not possible before is now obtainable and by exploring what resources are available, you’ll be able to save your company money.

One of the best ways to improve your cash flow is to find a way to get paid more quickly. Many companies wait months or longer to be paid on invoices sent out to clients. There is a way to get paid immediately: invoice factoring. When you hire a factoring company, they manage all of your invoices. As invoices are sent out to clients, copies are sent to the factoring company. The factoring company pays up to 90 percent of the invoice to you immediately and the client pays the factoring company.

Being paid on invoices immediately will enable you to keep up on cash flow and have consistent income. You will be able to rely on what you’ll be paid and when it will arrive rather than having no idea when the next check will come. It will prevent the need to borrow money since you’ll already have the funds to pay your debts. In exploring your options, you may choose to go with invoice factoring from Touch Financial, the company that won the Asset Based Finance Broker of the Year Award for 2011 from Moneyfacts.

Filed Under: Financial Markets Tagged With: Business, Cash flow, Invoice

Smart Financing for a Small Business

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Small businesses have to be savvy when it comes to securing financing and doing budgeting for each fiscal year. Careful planning, considering all options carefully and doing your research can make a big difference in how well your business will run.

When setting your business budget for the year, start with careful consideration of your monthly expenses. This can include items such as: inventory, supplies, traveling expenses and monthly utilities. This lets you know how much you need to set aside for bills, then you know what you have left over. When you set your budget, stick with it.

You should also set up a plan for saving money for future goals such as expansion. This is a smart way to make your company grow. If you have a surplus, set aside a set amount for plans like this. Over time you will generate enough capital to handle an expansion without having to look for business loans. This saves you money on interest payments and keeps you out of debt.

If you do have to use loans, compare banks to get the best rate and terms. You will need to have a solid business plan lined out to show the bank how the money will be used. This plan outlines your budget, projected sales and forms of marketing that you will use to help your business reach customers. It is also a valuable tool for you to set up your goals and plans for expansion in the future. Smart financing is much easier with a little planning, careful comparison of the options and keeping control of your funding.

Filed Under: Financial Markets Tagged With: Business, Finance, Small business

Easy Ways To Keep Track Of Your Small Business Finances

If you have plans to start a small business, it is extremely important to keep a close eye on your finances right from the very beginning. Some people have the mistaken belief that they don’t have to keep tabs on their finances until they make a considerable sum of money, but the reality is that no matter how much money you make, you need to keep track of your expenses as well as your profits.

Luckily, there are several ways to do this that don’t take a lot of time and effort, but are very effective. Your bank can be a great starting point. If you already have an account set up somewhere, you’ll probably want to establish a second account that is only used for the purposes of your small business. Not only will this make things easier when it comes time to do your taxes, but you’ll have an instant snapshot of just how your income compares to your expense level.

It’s also a good idea to think about hiring an accountant. They can help make sure that you are managing your finances correctly and have filled out all necessary paperwork related to your small business. If it is not yet feasible for you to hire an accountant in the early stages of your business, consider purchasing computer software that allows you to track your finances independently in an easy to use format. Most modern accounting software is user-friendly enough to anticipate that the average small business owner wants to spend as little time as possible doing their finances. Whatever method you decide to use, don’t forget to start tracking your finances immediately.

Filed Under: Finance Tagged With: Accounting, Business, Small business

Getting a Startup Loan for Your Small Business

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Many people are looking to start their own small business, but don’t exactly have the cash. Thankfully there are startup loans to help new business owners get their business off the ground.

Before applying for a startup loan there are a few things that need to be done first. There’s a lot more additional paperwork needed for a startup loan. For instance you will need a complete business plan with all your financial information, a complete background on yourself and a letter on why you’re in need of a startup loan. Also needed is the amount you’re looking to borrow and what the money is going to be used for.

Do a little research to see which banks offer small businesses a loan. Never go into a bank and apply for a startup loan without getting all the information you can. Ask for a brochure on their small business loan and compare the information with other banks in your area.

Once you’ve found the lender with the best rates, fill out the loan application. You will more than likely need all that information with you when you’re at the bank filling out the application.

Once you’ve been approved, it’s time to start your business plan. If you were denied than try applying for a SBA loan. The SBA program is only for business owners who were denied their startup loan.

Getting a startup loan isn’t a difficult task as long as you have all the proper paperwork and information ready to go when it’s time to fill out the application. Being fully prepared and organized will help make this process go much smoother for you.

Filed Under: Loans and Mortgages Tagged With: Business, Business plan, Small business

The Small Business Strategy

Heading into unfamiliar territory is the small business owner with the rules and regulations of today’s taxes, the pull and tug of each state and if a business is feasible to run where you live and making enough money to take care of employees, expenses and any possible future expansion.

Some simple rules of practice sometimes spills over to being a copycat if you have to. Look at some of the successful businesses in your area no matter if their business differs from yours. See what they do, how they run and the efficiency of how smoothly it operates under customer demand. You may want to make some pointers and model some of your ideas into what they do correctly. Decide which customers/clients are the best and which ones are burdens on you financially. Get rid of the unwanted “baggage” if this persists while spending more money on things that are used frequently and proficiently. When problems come about, look for the positives out of it and try to build on them while solving some for others that are customers or clients; you’ll never know what that will mean in the future but can be added money or customers to your business.

If your business has a constant inventory, pay close attention of what sells and what doesn’t as since we are still in a slow economy, the more cash you can make, the better off you will be down the road since it remains uncertain where the economy will go. This is a daily learning process and with the way everything is constantly shifting, you have to stay on top of your game and learn what you can and prosper from it.

Filed Under: General Finance Tagged With: Business, Customer, Small business

Simple Management Skills and Tactics

If you’re a veteran business manager or just getting your feet wet, there are some simple steps to keep in mind to keep you ahead of the game and your associates and workers happy, which leads to a lengthy relationship.

Anytime a problem arises, instead of seeking out who is responsible for it, take care of the problem and then worry about if it was human error or a possible glitch elsewhere and handle it maturely. There’s no need to talk down to anyone or start yelling as this tactic will embarrass as well as not keep your employees around very long. This same thinking works for training your employees and associates. Just talk to them how you want things done and take it from there. You’re just helping them along and you will see which ones can do the work and tasks alone while the ones that may need a little guidance will need a positive push without being brash about it and making them feel embarrassed or intimidated.

Another key component is always listen to your workers and associates. Not only do you understand them better, it gives them the clarity that they can come to you easily in comfort and not second-guess or assume what you may do or say. Keep these simple things in mind and things will run smoothly.

One final thing to remember is no matter how smoothly things are running, always think of negative scenarios and plan ahead of how you will react to them and take care of them to keep things running proficiently while staying cool under fire. Your employees will respect you more and know you can handle any crisis.

Filed Under: General Finance Tagged With: Business, Employment, Human resources

Expanding Your Business Universe (Part 2)

While your business is thriving and doing well, the idea of forming a partnership with other businesses similar to yours or something that can go hand-in-hand with your business would also be beneficial. Example: donut shop down street, book store, bakery, a shop that specializes in tea, etc.. Work advertising and coupon ideas out so both would benefit or have limited offers or discounts when either location is used. Everyone can benefit by working together and doing special things annually or on a regular basis. If they are successful, people will remember and will want them to come back the next year.

Once you have a few new locations established, look into the area and what businesses are there and what they offer. Ask yourself is their a service or product I can use in my business other than what I have that I can make even a little more money on the side? I guess an example of this would be if you know how to do taxes, are an accountant, have a notary service or something that you can do but won’t take up a vast majority of your time either so you can keep up with what’s going on in your main business.

Earlier we spoke of working with other businesses. If a business you know has something you like or can use in your store, go ahead and grab it. Sell some of their product in your store. More than likely, the other business will do the same. Exchange marketing ideas with each others’ services and do that with as many businesses as you can. Imploring ideas like these are why many communities are financially strong and small businesses stay in business.

Filed Under: General Finance Tagged With: Business, Business and Economy, Marketing and Advertising

Expanding Your Business Universe (Part 1)

Making it into today’s competitive world of business is no small task. Despite the cliché of there’s a “dime a dozen” of everything, there’s those few out there that have something a bit more original than anyone else that makes their business stand out over the rest. Let’s say you own a coffee shop. What ideas can you put forth to separate it from such places as Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks? Many small businesses have gone to Wi-Fi (even some McDonald’s franchises have gone this route) to keep their busy patrons connected at all times and a place they can come and relax and still get their work done. If this idea or any of your ideas work, make sure every store you own has the ones that work. There may be cases, depending on the areas of your stores that some things may work better than others as well. You need to keep abreast on everything, no matter how small the detail to keep each location successful.

There’s other ways you can expand as well to give others an opportunity within the ranks of your business. Let’s say you have 10 stores and you have two employees that have been there since the start. If you think they have the maturity and smarts to run a business, give them the opportunity to have their own franchise. If you feel the need to train them, that’s totally up to you. Yes, it can be risky but you would be the best candidate to know your employees personally if they are “business material” or not. Maybe you or the employees have good ideas to the point that you can license a certain idea or product. You can garner further success if the idea or product takes off and other businesses like yours consider incorporating it in their business. Communication is the key to take command of ideas.

Filed Under: General Finance Tagged With: Business, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks

Taking Care of Small Business

The backbone of America is still all the small businesses and the “mom and pop” entities that still have stuck it out over the years. Despite the hardships many face in 2011 with different state rules, tax brackets and rules and regulations, many still thrive. In order to preserve your assets and entity, making sure you know the tax laws and regulations in your own state will tell you if it’ll be feasible to carry on an entrepreneurship or start one. Many business people and businesses themselves have moved out of certain states due to the high cost to run a business. New York and California overall aren’t states you would want to start a business in. Between the property taxes, personal income taxes and sales tax, one wouldn’t make enough money to be satisfied on a personal level. You’d get all of your bills paid but in the end, you would hardly have any overhead to provide for the business let alone have anything left to take care of you and your family.

The best states to start a business with all political aspects aside since many websites and media have their own agenda when it comes to “red and blue” states would be Arizona, New Jersey, Delaware, Florida, Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota and Wyoming. The reason is simply because these states either offer no corporate taxes, no personal taxes on income or the state sales tax does not apply. You may have to deal with the local municipalities but overall, they are very helpful in starting a small business. Of course, in the long run, you yourself will know if the business you start will work in your location in which you decide to carry on or to move to another location.

Filed Under: General Finance Tagged With: Business, Small business, United States