To successfully fund your start up business, we recommend that you employ one of the following alternatives:
- A business loan. This kind of loan is often considered the most traditional form of business financing. With it, you can look forward to receiving sufficient funds to finance a business requirement. In return, you will be asked to submit payments to your lender, on a monthly basis, until you can completely pay back the funds you borrowed, plus a reasonable interest charge.
However, you should remember that applications for traditional business loans often take as much as four months to receive approval. And so this might not be the best financing option for you, especially if you need a huge sum of cash to finance an urgent business need.
- A small business credit card. Did you know that there are credit cards especially designed to meet the needs and special requirements of business owners? They're called business credit cards. You can apply for one and use it for covering the bills and expenses you will incur, especially if you don't have enough cash to settle them, right away.
There are two basic types of business credit cards - secured and unsecured. To get a secured business credit card, you need to make a substantial deposit to your target card issuer. This initial cash-out serves two important purposes. First, it guarantees the repayment of your credit card charges, in case of default. Second, it determines the spending limit that will be imposed on your business card account.
An unsecured business credit card, on the other hand, does not come with a security deposit requirement. Instead, it carries strict credit score requirements and steep interest rates. Still, it is worth mentioning that such lines of credit come with much higher spending limits or caps as compared to their secured counterparts.
- An equipment lease. If your business has limited financial resources and you need expensive equipment, such as heavy machinery, vehicles or office furniture then, we encourage you to lease, instead of purchasing, them. Look for an equipment supplier nearby and arrange for a true lease. After all, with this option, you can receive the equipment you need without shelling out a significant percentage of your working capital. Moreover, you can use your business finances for covering more urgent startup costs you will soon incur.
- Invoice factoring. If you're in dire need of cash to settle your financial obligations and to keep up with your loan payments then, we suggest you sign up for invoice, or accounts receivable factoring. In this arrangement, you will submit some of your unpaid invoices to a factoring company, for cash. This will provide you with at most 80% of the sum of cash tied-up with your accounts receivable. The remaining 20% will be given to you by the factoring agency as soon as it receives complete payment from your customers.
Now, to avoid problems, we suggest you carefully select the invoices you will submit for factoring. Look for the receipts from your most reliable customers and file them with your chosen factoring agency. By doing so, your enterprise can avoid getting penalized for payment delinquency or default.
Copyright (c) 2013 Irish Taylor
Showing posts with label Alternatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alternatives. Show all posts
Monday, October 22, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Business Financing - Alternatives To The Government Enterprise Finance Guarantee
Earlier this year the UK government introduced the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme (EFG). The EFG replaced the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme (SFLG) with the commitment to helping small businesses raise the funds they require to trade through the current economic downturn. The EFG is based on the government guaranteeing up to 75% of the value of a commercial loan offered by a company's bank. The company's directors will normally be required to personally guarantee the remaining 25% of the loan.
Companies are still finding it extremely difficult to raise vital finance despite the government claims for the EFG scheme. According to a recent report published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, in the year up until the 3rd April 2009 a total of 2,369 loan guarantees to the value of GBP 178m had been issued, under both the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme and the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme. This figure is significantly less than the GBP 205m guaranteed in the previous year. It is also far below the scheme's GBP 360m budget set by the Government in March 2008.
For this financial year the outlook now is just as worrying. The latest Bank of England figures show that new lending to companies continued to contract in May 2009, following a fall in April. Clearly, despite the government's assurances and backing, UK banks remain extremely reluctant to provide new loan facilities for businesses. I have recently had a number of discussions with small business owners which back up this analysis. It seems common place that new loan and commercial mortgage applications with the backing of solid business plans are being consistently declined (often at the last minute) with little or no rational explanation from the lender.
Based on the current evidence it seems very much that the banking system is reluctant to back any business opportunity unless it has almost a cast iron prospect of success. This situation is certainly stifling entrepreneurial activity and thus undermining the driving force required to kick start the economy and move it out of recession.
Given this situation, business owners are well advised to consider alternative options for raising finance. Business refinancing can help in this area. Business refinancing generally involves raising cash secured against tangible business assets thus giving the bank real security and the comfort required to release funds. Examples of business refinancing include:
Asset refinancing
The process of borrowing against the value of any fixed assets which are owned by the business.
Invoice financing
The process of raising money based on a company's outstanding invoices. Invoice financing could allow a company to draw down up to 90% of the invoice value immediately on the issue of a valid invoice.
Trade financing
Enabling a business to receive up to 80% of the confirmed order value up front to pay the suppliers required to fulfil the order.
Until lending eases businesses will struggle to trade out of the current economic situation. However it seems that they are unable to rely on Government initiatives such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme to allow them to access the funds they need for expansion and growth. Unfortunately Business Refinancing will not be suitable for all. However it is certainly an option that should be reviewed by all in the current climate.
Companies are still finding it extremely difficult to raise vital finance despite the government claims for the EFG scheme. According to a recent report published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, in the year up until the 3rd April 2009 a total of 2,369 loan guarantees to the value of GBP 178m had been issued, under both the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme and the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme. This figure is significantly less than the GBP 205m guaranteed in the previous year. It is also far below the scheme's GBP 360m budget set by the Government in March 2008.
For this financial year the outlook now is just as worrying. The latest Bank of England figures show that new lending to companies continued to contract in May 2009, following a fall in April. Clearly, despite the government's assurances and backing, UK banks remain extremely reluctant to provide new loan facilities for businesses. I have recently had a number of discussions with small business owners which back up this analysis. It seems common place that new loan and commercial mortgage applications with the backing of solid business plans are being consistently declined (often at the last minute) with little or no rational explanation from the lender.
Based on the current evidence it seems very much that the banking system is reluctant to back any business opportunity unless it has almost a cast iron prospect of success. This situation is certainly stifling entrepreneurial activity and thus undermining the driving force required to kick start the economy and move it out of recession.
Given this situation, business owners are well advised to consider alternative options for raising finance. Business refinancing can help in this area. Business refinancing generally involves raising cash secured against tangible business assets thus giving the bank real security and the comfort required to release funds. Examples of business refinancing include:
Asset refinancing
The process of borrowing against the value of any fixed assets which are owned by the business.
Invoice financing
The process of raising money based on a company's outstanding invoices. Invoice financing could allow a company to draw down up to 90% of the invoice value immediately on the issue of a valid invoice.
Trade financing
Enabling a business to receive up to 80% of the confirmed order value up front to pay the suppliers required to fulfil the order.
Until lending eases businesses will struggle to trade out of the current economic situation. However it seems that they are unable to rely on Government initiatives such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme to allow them to access the funds they need for expansion and growth. Unfortunately Business Refinancing will not be suitable for all. However it is certainly an option that should be reviewed by all in the current climate.
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