Posts Tagged ‘finance’

Small Business Startup Loans – How Does One Acquire Finance For His Or Her Business?

It is inevitable that every business owner will need finance to properly run his business. The question that is always at the mind of every business owner is how will finances be pumped into the business to make it profitable? This is true for every business owner, be it on a large or small scale or on an international or local scale. There will be so many responses to the above question. The responses will depend on the person providing answers to the question as well as it may also depend on the particular period in business at which such as question is being tendered. Despite the varying responses that may be put, all these ideas about getting a business being financed will turn to a single direction. The following lines are meant for those coming into businesses, who want to identify the various options of financing their business and who will want to determine which of these options is the most appropriate for their businesses.

Individual Finances

There are so many business owners who will individually and single-handedly provide the money that is needed by their businesses. The sources of such type of capital may spring from their personal savings and other forms of capital which solely belong to them. However, these sources of finances are really workable if the business owner has substantially built up a good amount of money. If the capital is in the form of assets, it will be easy to dispose these to get some cash for the running of the business. If you intend to make use of capital through the credit card as a means of financing your business, you must take some reasonable precautions. You must be aware that this source of capital is usually best for interim financial provisions.

Angel Financing

This is yet another good way to oil the machinery of your business. When we make reference to this type of financing, we are referring to that type of financing that is often provided to new businesses. This is commonly found in the United States and most upcoming markets. In this type of financing, a group of affiliates belonging to the informal risk sector combine their resources to finance a business. What is usually done is that a business suggestion is proposed to a business owner and if the business owner finds the suggestion interesting, he will be given the option to get the business financed by the group of financiers. This group will also have the option to ether finance the business and take part in running its daily affairs or to stay aloof from the day to day running of the business.

Venture Capital

This is another way of making finances available to a business. In such a case, the business owner will approach a proficient financier and this must be a financier will is willing and capable to venture his or her money into businesses that are not only at the inception, but equally to businesses that have future prospects of expansion. Another form of financing related to this is the corporate venture capital. This is an idea often used by corporations to endow capital in some relatively young but vibrant businesses that may have some relation with these big corporations.

Credit from Banks

This is a source of finance that is commonly sought for. In most cases, either secured or unsecured loans may be provided to business owners. However, lending institutions will warrant that you provide some form of credit worthiness which will have to be carefully scrutinized ahead of making a decision if the loan will be given or not. It is sometimes easier for an unsecured loan to be given to experienced or well established businesses than new ones. But a secured loan will be provided for all types of businesses.

If You Want To Get The Financing You Are Seeking For:

Make sure you find out what the financing is all about, opt for a proficient group, set an objective, make sure your business is properly registered, investigate what type of financing will be suitable for your business and make sure that you have established the necessary connections.

John McGowan Presents Bob Chapman. Mr. Chapman is the publisher, editor and writer of The International Forecaster. This is the program from 8 January 2010. Mr. Chapman is 74 years old. He was born in Boston, MA and attended Northeastern University majoring in business management. He spent three years in the US Army Counterintelligence, mostly in Europe. He speaks German and French and is conversant in Spanish. He lived in Europe for six years, off and on, three years in Africa, a year in Canada and a year in the Bahamas. Mr. Chapman became a stockbroker in 1960 and retired in 1988. For 18 of those years he owned his own brokerage firm. He was probably the largest gold and silver stockbroker in the world during that period. When he retired he had over 6000 clients. Starting in 1967 Mr. Chapman began writing articles on business, finance, economics and politics having been printed and reprinted over the years in over 200 publications. He owned and wrote the Gary Allen Report, which had 30000 subscribers. He currently is owner and editor of The International Forecaster, a compendium of information on business, finance, economics and social and political issues worldwide, which reaches 10000 investors and brokers monthly directly, and parts of his publication are picked up by 60 different websites weekly exposing his ideas to over 10 million investors a week. In June of 1991, at the request of business associates, and due to retirement boredom, he began writing the …

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Soft Play Finance

How to Secure Asset Finance for Soft Play Centres

When setting up your new Soft Play Centre, you are likely to require some form of funding in addition to your own personal investment into your venture. There are several ways to secure such funding and you will need to research each possibility to understand which is right for you and your business.

This document provides an overview of the principles behind Asset Financing, (only one of the funding methods available to soft play centres), so that you can be better informed to decide if this particular type of funding can be useful for you in your new venture.

It has been written by Alex Read, owner of Portman Asset Finance, a specialist finance provider in the soft play market.

Soft Play Finance

The current credit crunch has severely impacted all new start businesses looking for finance. Businesses considered to operate in a niche market such as soft play centres are finding it particularly difficult to source funding. Everyone is acutely aware that traditional high street funding is less and less readily available and thus more difficult to obtain cost effectively for new start businesses.

In this climate it can often be useful to speak to more specialised finance providers who have a thorough understanding of how soft play centres operate and are ideally positioned to help fund these new businesses.

However, asset finance is not suitable for every soft play centre it is important to understand some of the key principles behind it before you decide whether it is the right route for you.

Over Borrowing

One overriding principle is the importance of not over-borrowing to start your business. You must ensure you are not borrowing more than your business can afford. Many new soft play operators get caught up in the excitement of opening their new play centre and lose track of the figures. If you make a significant personal investment into your business and limit your business borrowings you’ll give your business the best possible chance of success.

Type of Finance Available

Soft play equipment finance is most typically arranged in the form of fixed or minimum period lease agreements. Lease payments are fixed i.e. they don’t go up or down and are easy to budget i.e. you know exactly how much is coming out of your account every month. In addition, a percentage of lease payments can be offset against corporation tax to reduce the amount of tax payable by your company.

There are other ways of financing equipment for your soft play business. Finance can be arranged in the form of a Hire Purchase (HP) agreement or a more traditional bank loan. The key difference between leasing and bank loan finance is the security required. A high street bank providing a loan will often require additional security in the form of a charge over a property whilst the equipment is usually the sole security in a lease agreement.

Some lease finance providers are now taking additional security i.e. first or second charges over property in addition to securing their finance against the soft play equipment. This is a direct result of the current economic climate and finance providers are now looking to secure their lending as tightly as possible.

Period of Agreement

Finance can typically be arranged over any period between 2 – 5 years although it is possible to arrange finance over 7 years if required.
It is sensible to take finance over a period that is affordable. Here it is vital that you produce accurate cash flow forecasts that incorporate your finance payments. If your business is under financial pressure from day one, it will be difficult to recover in the longer term. It is often worth reducing your predicted revenues in your business plan by approximately 25% to double check you can afford the repayments and cover every eventuality.

The general consensus is that the length of your finance agreement should mirror the useful life of your equipment. If you think your soft play equipment will last you 5 years, then you should look to finance it over a 5 year period. You do not want to be paying finance payments for equipment you have subsequently replaced!

You must also consider that longer finance periods mean more interest to repay. It is a good idea to choose a period that your business can afford without spreading repayments over too long a term.

Criteria

Tenants i.e. non-home owners will not be able to secure funding unless they can arrange a suitable home-owning guarantor. The best option here is to speak to your finance provider who will advise you of the implications.

Most finance companies credit criteria are based on common sense; no one lends to people with current or recent mortgage arrears even if they have been brought up to date. Providers are also very cautious about unsatisfied Count Court Judgements (CCJS) and Directors who have declared themselves bankrupt in the past.

Generally you should either have experience in the leisure industry or at the very least, fully researched your new soft play centre business. A comprehensive business plan is a good indicator of someone’s personal investment of time into their business.

It is important to be as honest as possible with your finance company as they all carry out rigorous finance checks on the Director(s) of new start businesses. If you have had credit problems in the past, it’s best to explain in detail the circumstances.

You must also have of invested personal money into the business. If you have invested none of your own money, a lender is unlikely to lend you any money. You must commit personally to the business.

Documentation required

Although more difficult in the current economic climate, specialist finance providers are still able to assist new start soft play centre owners. In order to gain a finance approval they will commonly ask for the following information: business plan, financial projections, personal net worth statements for the Directors and personal bank statements for the Directors.

The Directors personal bank statements must not include any unpaid items, as this is a poor indicator of a person’s attitude to finance. You must demonstrate you can manage your personal finances before anyone will lend you money for a business. A business plan must include all the common components i.e. SWOT analysis, Directors CVs, personal investment, analysis of chosen location for the soft play centre etc. Financial projections must cover a period of at least 3 years and be realistic. Lenders providing finance for soft play centres know exactly what is a realistic admission fee and this should be reflected in your planning.

Asset Finance is one of a number of options to consider when trying to obtain funding to start an Indoor Soft Play Centre. The above information should be used as a guideline for general use and for specific information you can contact Portman Asset Finance on 0844 800 88 25.

Get a boost in your Business, Finance, Family, Health & Love Life through Tarot Reading

 

COULD the positioning of the stars and planets cause FAILURE in business, illness, melancholy, straitened financial circumstances, family acrimony and other problems that beset common householders?

Then a single answer for all these problems will be New age therapies and healing through a host of skills by a professional tarot reader, who can provide you tarot reading, One Divine Reading & Rune Reading, astrology and Distant Healing so that you can come out from your problems.

A professional tarot card reader predicts the future of her clients by reading tarot cards and even suggests remedies for their problems. She will also guide you to improve your planets positioning through her expert distant healing process.

The images on tarot cards energize and help identify problems and solutions. Based on the wisdom of Zen, the classic art of Tarot spreads reading answers your queries and helps you better understand your problems and find a viable solution. Tanya has been consistently bringing light into people’s lives from the last 6 years. Her basic mission is to awaken the inner self of people. She does distant healing and helps people to lead a healthy and happy life.

Rune reading is a form of spiritual reading and healing gaining awareness along with Tarot Reading. It is a new concept which has been introduced and is still to gain popularity in India. Rune reading is a form of future reading that helps you to frame an enhanced future and to make better informed choices on what you need to do so that you can get the most out of your life.

There are hardly few readers who can envisage an accurate future forecast with the help of runes. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Rune Reading Tanya provide is beyond the ordinary standards because she does not provide Rune Reading as a standalone service but it is always a combination of Rune reading and Tarot reading which makes her stands apart from the rest of the crowd.

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Keep control of your business finance using accounting software

In the past people hated keeping accounts. It was time consuming, and boring. People would write something in a book, but most of the time it did not mean anything.

Bank accounts were not balanced, because it was not something a lot of people understood. What do you do when you spend money out of the business account and it was for your own use? It was too confusing, that is why you pay your accountant.

That is true, but it also meant that a business person had no idea what the true financial affairs were for their company. Even, if they did have some idea, often it didn’t make sense to them.

They would check their bank balance, and too often the balance showing either told them how much they could spend or how much they owed the bank.

But that has changed now. No longer is accounting a hidden secret, not when you purchase and use accounts software.

You see a product that will enhance your business but can you afford to buy it or not? Now you can know exactly what money is available to spend on that product.

You no longer have pieces of paper around your house and office with notes, pay this supplier by a certain date, or chase up that customer if they do not pay by a certain date.

You now have it all automated, as you check your debtors and creditors on a daily basis. Nothing is left to chance. Having accounting software makes you wonder how you ever managed without it before.

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Maintain Consistent Business Finance Transaction Through Cash Flow Loans

Regular cash flow is the life line of every business. Lack of cash can prove to be fatal for a business firm. Cash flow loans helps businessmen maintain regular cash flow in their business. It is especially very beneficial for businessmen who can’t maintain cash flow due to one reason or other.

Cash flow loans can be used to meet any of your business related needs like expanding business, purchasing equipments, stationary, starting a new venture etc. If you have a valid reason you can apply for a cash flow loan. People having bad credit history like arrears, defaults, CCJ’s, IVA are also eligible to avail cash flow loans, but the interest rate is a bit higher for them compared to good credit borrowers. Lenders charge high interest rate to minimize the risk factor.

Cash flow loans can be divided into two parts namely, secured cash flow loans and unsecured cash flow loans. While secured cash flow loans require collateral to be placed against the loan amount, unsecured cash flow loans can be availed without placing any security. Secured cash flow loans carry lower interest rate and flexible repayment duration compared to unsecured cash flow loans. Unsecured cash flow loans can be beneficial if you don’t want to risk your property in order to avail a loan. Cash flow loans are basically short term loans with short repayment duration. The loan amount that can be availed with cash flow loans ranges form £1,000 to £ 25000. The loan amount depends upon various factors like credit history, repayment ability, income etc of the borrower. The repayment duration of cash flow loans ranges from 1 – 10 years. Being short term in nature, cash flow loans carry slightly higher interest rate compared to other loans.

Cash flow loans get approved in very short time and the loan amount is transferred to your account within few hours of approval of loan. Cash flow loans carry high rate of interest but thanks to the competition prevailing in the market one can easily avail them at reasonable interest rate. Cash flow loans are cheaper than long term loans because you have to pay the interest rate for short period of time. With cash flow loans you can easily avail good amount of money to meet all the requirements of your business.

Islamic Business Finance

The financial crisis, that broke out in August 2007, was considered to be the worst in the post war period. Representing the collapse of trillions of fictitious credit derivatives and the meltdown of uncontrolled credit growth. There is only one solution left is that only islamic banking for to save banking system.

The Quaran prohibits gambling (games of chance involving money). The Hadith, in addition to prohibiting gambling (games of chance), also prohibits bayu al-ghararg (trading in risk, where the Arabic word gharar is taken to mean “risk”).

The Hanafi Madhah (legal school) in Islam defines gharar as “that whose consequences are hidden.” The Shafi legal school defined gharar as “that whose nature and consequences are hidden” or “that which admits two possibilities, with the less desirable one being more likely.” The Hanbali school defined it as “that whose consequences are unknown” or “that which is undeliverable, whether it exists or not.” Ibn Hazn of the Zahini school wrote “Gharar is where the buyer does not know what he bought, or the seller does not know what he sold.’

The modern scholar of Islam, Professor Mustafa Al-Zarqa, wrote that “Gharar is the sale of probable items whose existence or characteristics are not certain, due to the risky nature that makes the trade similar to gambling.” There are a number of Hadith who forbid trading in gharar, often giving specific examples of gharhar transactions (e.g., selling the birds in the sky or the fish in the water, the catch of the diver, an unborn calf in its mother’s womb, the sperm and unfertilized eggs of camels, etc.). Jurists have sought many complete definitions of the term. They also came up with the concept of yasir (minor risk); a financial transaction with a minor risk is deemed to be halal (permissible) while trading in non-minor risk (bayu al-ghasar) is deemed to be Haram.

What gharar is, exactly, was never fully decided upon by the Muslim jurists. This was mainly due to the complication of having to decide what is and is not a minor risk. Derivatives instruments (such as stock options) have only become common relatively recently. Some Islamic banks do provide brokerage services for stock trading and perhaps even for derivatives trading.

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Planning a business??? Finance it with secured business loans…

Business these days are the most widely used source of income for a large number of people. Management of business is highly dependent on the flow of capital. If you want to know about the importance of capital in a business… you can get the best answer from a businessman. Your plans, your ideas, your management all are ineffectual unless you have enough funds for there application. You need funds at every stage of business for its smooth functioning. Secured Business loans cater to your capital or financial requirements in your business.

A Secured business loans can be easily availed, if you are ready to offer your house as a collateral or security. You can also offer any other property or valuable asset of yours as collateral. As the loans amount is secured by the collateral you can easily get the loans approved. These loans carry a low rate of interest.

While going for a secured business loans you have to decide and mention the purpose of taking loan, amount of loan required. You have to consider your ability to repay the loan amount.

The loan amount which you can apply for under secured business loans ranges from ¤50000 to ¤1000000 can also go up to 2 million. The repayment period lies between 3 – 25 years.

The loan amount can be used for various purposes, such as expanding of business or starting a business, purchasing office space, buying stationary, purchasing equipments like computers etc for the office, buying furniture and numerous other requirements.

There are certain advantages attached to these loans which make them popular. The repayment options are quite flexible and the installments are small according to your suitability. Ownership of your company is retained. The interest rate on these loans is tax- free. Can also be used as a tool for consolidation of your existing debts in business.

While you are applying for a secured business loans, you have to carry certain essential documents with you for the approval of the loan. If you are applying for loan for your existing business, then business profile, nature and length of business ownership should be mentioned. In case of a new business you have to discuss your business venture and how the business would be successful enough to repay the loan.

Secured business loans will give you the financial support when you need it. So don’t hesitate to go for these loans as they will prove to be the best deal for your business.

ACC501 Business Finance

Business Finance Expert Series: “the History of Factoring”

The factor then bears the credit risk for the accounts and finally receives the sum from the customers. It is among one of the most effective and efficient form of financing used these days. Factoring has been in existence since the beginning of trade and commerce. It can be traced back to the period of a Mesopotamian king Hammurabi. However, an extensive use of the concept began in American colonies before the revolution started. During those times raw materials like timber, fur and cotton were shipped from the colonies and before they reached the destination merchant bankers in London and other parts of Europe used to advance funds for the raw material. The practice was very beneficial to the colonists, as they didn’t have to wait for the money to begin their harvesting again. Basic work of factors of colonial times is similar to factors of conventional times. They have the same job of making advances against the account receivables ( http://www.hjventures.com/factoring/accounts-receivable-financing .html ) in order to help them in continuing with their job even before they are paid for their sale. With the Industrial Revolution the concept of factoring got narrowed down to credit. In the 60′s and 70′s with an escalation of interest rates there was a surge in private factors. The trend strengthened in 80′s with further increase in interest rates and changes in the banking industry. With various expenses and inflexible rules involved with banking, factoring is a safe and easy method for financial expansion and growth. Working capital arranged through factoring is an easy means to cover purchasing, operating and other pay roll costs and provides the much-needed freedom from varied book keeping functions like credits and collections. All these attributes have made ‘factoring’ a buzzword in the financing market. Learn more about http://www.hjventures.com/factoring/factoring-glossary.html

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Raising Business Finance ? The Modern Trend

With the global business being afflicted to the recession virus, there had been a desperate set back not only in the sectors of IT, Steel, and Foreign Trade, but the banking and finance sector too had had a tremendous blow. Right after the economy came on the right track, the companies started deciding on raising their funds. A private Equity placement, which is also called non-public offering, is actually a funding round of securities that are being sold to a small number of chosen private investors, without an initial public offering. This helped the companies to recoup their shortfalls that had been faced during the period of recession.  PEP actually is private investors that invest in a company thereby increasing the volume of fund for the company. Private equity is a tool to raising a huge sum of money directly from some accredited individual and institutions to invest in a wide range of business schemes. This helps a specific company to reinforce its financial strength by the dint of borrowing fund from people who are not directly related to the company. Loan that are issued against the gold, property and majorly shares, the project loans, term loans etc. are the best practiced way to bring in fund for the business.

Being one of the easiest and fastest ways to raise fund for a business, techniques of PEP has been widely adopted by many countries across the globe – especially in the countries like India. The salient point to make it a transcendentally faster process is that it involves very less formalities, which in turn enables the lenders to make prompt decisions in regards to acceptance and refusal of the proposal.

With the need of raising fund for the companies being felt, companies have been noticed to creating posts and recruiting financial professionals from multiple financial dimensions, including investment banking jobs in India and other parts of the world as well. All the more, choice of a career in the arena of investment banking has been a growing and one of the most popular trends. Many financial advisory firms and financial restructuring consultants have been putting special emphasize on expanding their business by employing people for investment banking. Investment banking is relatively a new concept in financial industry of India, which most companies in the relevant industry have been sparing thoughts over. Although in the western countries investment banking has been into the scene since a long span of time, in India, comparatively the idea has been introduced very recently. Indcap Advisors dedicates a good deal of effort in hiring qualified financial professionals who are seeking opportunities for investment banking jobs in various parts of India, including the metros.

Students, looking for a job like this in a reputed concern in India, would be expected to have a certificate from ‘Institute of Banking and Finance’ or any other institution of equal status. Special preferences would definitely be given to pupil having pursued chartered associate in the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance and additionally having a postgraduate diploma certification in financial management being done from any recognized institution of good repute.

ACC501 Business Finance

Commercial Collections: Business Finance Booster Shot

If you’re in the business-to-business field, or even if you’re a consumer products business that works through third-party distribution channels, you probably know what it’s like to check your mail anxiously each day, sifting through all the bills for that payment that was supposed to have been in months ago.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. If you were a good, honest businessperson who dealt with other good, honest businesspeople, “commercial collections” wasn’t supposed to be part of your vocabulary.

Back in the good old days, an invoice or purchase order that had an established company listed in the “bill to” field was almost as good as a cashier’s check. Nowadays, if you’re in the business of serving other businesses you may find that your cash flow is less reliable than a small-time bookie’s.

Commercial Collections: A Personal Story

This past April I finally got the ,000 a client owed me for work done in December, after spending almost as much money’s worth of my time reminding them to pay.

No, this wasn’t one of those hand-shake deals-we had a 5-page contract specifying net-30 payment terms. Nor was this some guy with a lemonade stand. It was the media division of one of the largest retailers in the United States.

The worst part was, I trusted this client based on my experience working with them a few years before. I actually spent the money on Christmas presents, fully expecting the payment to come in before my credit card statement.

Avoiding Outstanding Invoices

Of course, you can nip this problem in the bud by cultivating strong relationships with clients who pay on time. But those clients are getting few and far between-and, as I found, the good can go pretty bad pretty fast.

Worse, it seems that the larger the business, the less likely they are to pay on time. “Net 10 days” might as well be a foreign language in Fortune 500 land. The long-standing advice given to B2B businesses and self-employed people is that the money is in big corporations. But good luck getting it from them before your rent is due.

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