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There are several potential financing options available to cash-strapped businesses that need a healthy dose of working capital. A bank loan or line of credit is often the first option that owners think of – and for businesses that qualify, this may be the best option.

In today’s uncertain business, economic and regulatory environment, qualifying for a bank loan can be difficult – especially for start-up companies and those that have experienced any type of financial difficulty. Sometimes, owners of businesses that don’t qualify for a bank loan decide that seeking venture capital or bringing on equity investors are other viable options.

But are they really? While there are some potential benefits to bringing venture capital and so-called “angel” investors into your business, there are drawbacks as well. Unfortunately, owners sometimes don’t think about these drawbacks until the ink has dried on a contract with a venture capitalist or angel investor – and it’s too late to back out of the deal.

Different Types of Financing

One problem with bringing in equity investors to help provide a working capital boost is that working capital and equity are really two different types of financing.

Working capital – or the money that is used to pay business expenses incurred during the time lag until cash from sales (or accounts receivable) is collected – is short-term in nature, so it should be financed via a short-term financing tool. Equity, however, should generally be used to finance rapid growth, business expansion, acquisitions or the purchase of long-term assets, which are defined as assets that are repaid over more than one 12-month business cycle.

But the biggest drawback to bringing equity investors into your business is a potential loss of control. When you sell equity (or shares) in your business to venture capitalists or angels, you are giving up a percentage of ownership in your business, and you may be doing so at an inopportune time. With this dilution of ownership most often comes a loss of control over some or all of the most important business decisions that must be made.

Sometimes, owners are enticed to sell equity by the fact that there is little (if any) out-of-pocket expense. Unlike debt financing, you don’t usually pay interest with equity financing. The equity investor gains its return via the ownership stake gained in your business. But the long-term “cost” of selling equity is always much higher than the short-term cost of debt, in terms of both actual cash cost as well as soft costs like the loss of control and stewardship of your company and the potential future value of the ownership shares that are sold.

Alternative Financing Solutions

But what if your business needs working capital and you don’t qualify for a bank loan or line of credit? Alternative financing solutions are often appropriate for injecting working capital into businesses in this situation. Three of the most common types of alternative financing used by such businesses are:

1. Full-Service Factoring – Businesses sell outstanding accounts receivable on an ongoing basis to a commercial finance (or factoring) company at a discount. The factoring company then manages the receivable until it is paid. Factoring is a well-established and accepted method of temporary alternative finance that is especially well-suited for rapidly growing companies and those with customer concentrations.

2. Accounts Receivable (A/R) Financing – A/R financing is an ideal solution for companies that are not yet bankable but have a stable financial condition and a more diverse customer base. Here, the business provides details on all accounts receivable and pledges those assets as collateral. The proceeds of those receivables are sent to a lockbox while the finance company calculates a borrowing base to determine the amount the company can borrow. When the borrower needs money, it makes an advance request and the finance company advances money using a percentage of the accounts receivable.

3. Asset-Based Lending (ABL) – This is a credit facility secured by all of a company’s assets, which may include A/R, equipment and inventory. Unlike with factoring, the business continues to manage and collect its own receivables and submits collateral reports on an ongoing basis to the finance company, which will review and periodically audit the reports.

In addition to providing working capital and enabling owners to maintain business control, alternative financing may provide other benefits as well:

It’s easy to determine the exact cost of financing and obtain an increase.
Professional collateral management can be included depending on the facility type and the lender.
Real-time, online interactive reporting is often available.
It may provide the business with access to more capital.
It’s flexible – financing ebbs and flows with the business’ needs.
It’s important to note that there are some circumstances in which equity is a viable and attractive financing solution. This is especially true in cases of business expansion and acquisition and new product launches – these are capital needs that are not generally well suited to debt financing. However, equity is not usually the appropriate financing solution to solve a working capital problem or help plug a cash-flow gap.

A Precious Commodity

Remember that business equity is a precious commodity that should only be considered under the right circumstances and at the right time. When equity financing is sought, ideally this should be done at a time when the company has good growth prospects and a significant cash need for this growth. Ideally, majority ownership (and thus, absolute control) should remain with the company founder(s).

Alternative financing solutions like factoring, A/R financing and ABL can provide the working capital boost many cash-strapped businesses that don’t qualify for bank financing need – without diluting ownership and possibly giving up business control at an inopportune time for the owner. If and when these companies become bankable later, it’s often an easy transition to a traditional bank line of credit. Your banker may be able to refer you to a commercial finance company that can offer the right type of alternative financing solution for your particular situation.

Taking the time to understand all the different financing options available to your business, and the pros and cons of each, is the best way to make sure you choose the best option for your business. The use of alternative financing can help your company grow without diluting your ownership. After all, it’s your business – shouldn’t you keep as much of it as possible?

Say you need transportation – a car, and you do not have any cash to make the down payment. Transportation is essential, and so you need to avail it. Getting a guaranteed car loan with little or no cash, and poor credit ratings as well as low credit scores might make you feel buying your car might be next to impossible. Well, the fact is if your financial conditions are not good, you can still avail your car finance and buy your vehicle. One of the options available is the payday loan. It is not that difficult to get such a loan. You need to prepare for the loan by getting some information as to how the loan works, and what the credit facility is all about. The following tries to provide some information regarding payday loans.What are Payday loans?As the name implies, payday loans are temporary credit facilities, which can be availed against your monthly pay. The process includes three easy steps, before you can get the cash. Individuals having poor credit ratings can also apply for payday loans. The main processes involved are:o First of all, it is required to fill up the online application form. Information like the applicants address, contact number, present employment details, monthly income, and bank details need to be mentioned within the online application. Once the form is filled up, it is important to submit it in the proper way as specified by the company.o Once the form is submitted, the system tries to match your application details with appropriate loan providers and credit lenders, who usually support car loan for bad credit. The system also determines the probability of you getting the loan based upon your current credit ratings and scores, and prepares a list of probable moneylenders.o It is recommended you check out the list for what kind of interest rates lenders offer to the applicants. The rates keep on varying up to a certain extent depending upon the creditor, and the same happens with the terms and conditions associated with the loan. So it is advisable to choose your lender wisely, by working out the net payable interest using the online calculators generally provided by the lenders website. The information specific to the loan, its rate of interest and the clauses included within the terms and conditions can be obtained from the creditors portal. Once you decide upon your creditor, you might be asked to provide some additional information by your creditor for verification purposes. Some lenders call the bank or the employer to verify the authenticity of the application.Loan approval, disbursement, and turnaround timeOnce the loan is approved, the money gets electronically deposited in the bank account specified in the form. The process can take from a couple of hours to 48 hours depending on the creditor. Usually lenders supporting bad credit auto loan also support payday loans as a car buying option and generally deposit the credit within 24 hours. However, it is important to work out the specifics associated with the credit facility provided before giving the final confirmation to the loan provider. On your next payday after the loan disbursement, the actual loan amount and the interest charged will be debited from your bank account – the same account in which the loan credit is deposited. The process occurs in a predefined manner, and so manual activity is required on the part of the borrower to redeem the loan. Upon successful redemption, it is possible to again avail the payday loan from the same lender.Using payday loans to buy your carGetting bad credit car loans can be difficult. Availing a car loan in the form of a payday loan can be a good option. Even though one can buy a new car, it turns out to be more beneficial to avail a used car, since used cars cost less and are easily afforded. Majority of the lenders support payday loans to buying second hand or used cars because the loan amount required is less. The main advantages of payday loans are:o They are easy to avail.o The processing time involved is very less.o The credit ratings and credit scores do not play such an important part in deciding the loan disbursement.o The interest charged is less compared to traditional auto loans since the turnaround time of the loan is very less.o Almost all lenders will provide a free quotation that does need any commitment from the applicant to proceed ahead with the loan once the application is approved. The applicant has the option to reject the application if he or she happens to find a better loan provided. However, the loan application needs to be canceled before the disbursement is carried out.

Consider if you will all the new challenges that the TSA is presenting to travelers at airports. They are causing time delays, airport congestion, and people to miss their connecting flights. Yes, protecting the American People is paramount, and that’s their job but let’s talk about how this effects us business travelers shall we. Why you ask? Because as a business traveler, you can’t afford to miss an appointment, so what you need to do is to have a buffer between connecting flights, and in case there is a flight delay due to extra screening, or some incident caused by TSA personnel, you will not have your travel plans ruined.Yes, many business travelers have merely had enough of this nonsense, but it’s still something that must be dealt with. Indeed, these issues can also play havoc on trying to get to your Rent-A-Car on time, as if you don’t show up when scheduled they may run out of cars to rent, or if you get to the hotel too late they may have already rented the room out, assuming you are a no-show.Business travelers are having a heck of a time on the airlines, due to all these new rules and regulations to prevent holiday underwear bombers or something? There are ways to expedite through security by getting a special pass, along with a background check. Although it is a hassle because business people don’t have time to go get all that done, it will save time during travel, and it’s perfect for the seasoned business traveler who spends more time on airplanes and they do it their children’s soccer games.Additionally, because global warming is such a big deal, the temperatures have been dropping world-wide, and therefore cold weather and the coming Ice Age are causing even more flight delays. And if an airliner is on the runway or ramp longer than three hours waiting for the weather to clear it has to go back to the terminal, as per new FAA laws. This means the flight might be canceled, and then you’ll be stuck in the airport terminal until you can get on another flight, if one is even available.It is for all these reasons that a time buffer is about the only current solution, rather than buying a corporate jet to shuttle yourself around. Therefore having time buffers to ensure connecting flights to get to your destination and accommodations is serious. Please consider all this and think on it.