Small Business Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Finding’

Financing a small business can be most time consuming activity for a business owner. It can be the most important part of growing a business, but one must be careful not to allow it to consume the business.  Finance is the relationship between cash, risk and value.  Manage each well and you will have healthy finance mix for your business.

Develop a business plan and loan package that has a well developed strategic plan, which in turn relates to realistic and believable financials.  Before you can finance a business, a project, an expansion or an acquisition, you must develop precisely what your finance needs are.
Finance your business from a position of strength.  As a business owner you show your confidence in the business by investing up to ten percent of your finance needs from your own coffers.  The remaining twenty to thirty percent of your cash needs can come from private investors or venture capital.  Remember, sweat equity is expected, but it is not a replacement for cash.

Depending on the valuation of your business and the risk involved, the private equity component will want on average a thirty to forty percent equity stake in your company for three to five years.  Giving up this equity position in your company, yet maintaining clear majority ownership, will give you leverage in the remaining sixty percent of your finance needs.               
The remaining finance can come in the form of long term debt, short term working capital, equipment finance and inventory finance.  By having a strong cash position in your company, a variety of lenders will be available to you.  It is advisable to hire an experienced commercial loan broker to do the finance “shopping” for you and present you with a variety of options.  It is important at this juncture that you obtain finance that fits your business needs and structures, instead of trying to force your structure into a financial instrument not ideally suited for your operations.     

Having a strong cash position in your company, the additional debt financing will not put an undue strain on your cash flow.  Sixty percent debt is a healthy. Debt finance can come in the form of unsecured finance, such as short-term debt, line of credit financing and long term debt.  Unsecured debt is typically called cash flow finance and requires credit worthiness.  Debt finance can also come in the form of secured or asset based finance, which can include accounts receivable, inventory, equipment, real estate, personal assets, letter of credit, and government guaranteed finance.  A customized mix of unsecured and secured debt, designed specifically around your company’s financial needs, is the advantage of having a strong cash position.
The cash flow statement is an important financial in tracking the effects of certain types of finance.  It is critical to have a firm handle on your monthly cash flow, along with the control and planning structure of a financial budget, to successfully plan and monitor your company’s finance.

Your finance plan is a result and part of your strategic planning process.  You need to be careful in matching your cash needs with your cash goals.  Using short term capital for long term growth and vice versa is a no-no.  Violating the matching rule can bring about high risk levels in the interest rate, re-finance possibilities and operational independence. Some deviation from this age old rule is permissible. For instance, if you have a long term need for working capital, then a permanent capital need may be warranted.  Another good finance strategy is having contingency capital on hand for freeing up your working capital needs and providing maximum flexibility.  For example, you can use a line of credit to get  into an opportunity that quickly arises and then arrange for cheaper, better suited, long term finance subsequently, planning all of this upfront with a lender.

Unfortunately finance is not typically addressed until a company is in crisis.  Plan ahead with an effective business plan and loan package.  Equity finance does not stress cash flow as debt can and gives lenders confidence to do business with your company.  Good financial structuring reduces the costs of capital and the finance risks. Consider using a business consultant, finance professional or loan broker to help you with your finance plan.

Small business companies can reap great benefits from farming out their payroll services. While it may spell big investment expenses in the beginning, it always turns out to be more beneficial in the long run. Not only will it save the companies significant amounts of time, it will also take away the headaches brought about by compliance with tax rules and other regulations. Turning over the payroll responsibility to payroll providers can do a lot of help to small businesses who need to focus more on income-generating activities.

Companies must put a lot of thought into choosing the payroll service for their business. There are different types of payroll accounts and it is pertinent that the company chooses the terms and conditions that are most advantageous to their business setup.

It is best to choose a payroll system with the right payroll processing software that can meet the specific needs of the industry the small business is involved in. If the system is incompatible with the business structure of the company, the latter may end up spending too much for inefficient service.

The first thing a company must take consideration of is the amount they will be required to pay for the service.  Providers like those for payroll service Boise has must also inquire of the existence of any additional charges that may just spring up in the course of the service.  It is also wise to take note of any potential rate increases which they can expect to pay in the future. Having a rough estimate of the total expenses connected with the payroll service will help the company make a proper decision on which type of account to avail of.

Payroll services small business concerns include keeping the payroll service provider updated of any last-minute changes in the payroll information. Failure to give any relevant information may cause the service provider to subject the company to additional penalties. Thus, it is very important that the company keep track of any significant changes in their employment data.

In order to avail of the best payroll services small business providers, companies must also read the fine print of the contract they will sign with the providers. It is important that the providers will be financially accountable for any errors in the filing of taxes. The company must also be assured of utmost confidentiality as regards the data that they will be submitting to the providers. These precautionary measures must be availed of to insure the efficiency of the service that they will avail of.

The fact is that proposal writing starts well before you even put pen to paper…because the proposal is only part of the business development cycle. Sure, there are the technical things you need to know how to put the proposal together and to write persuasively, but if you know your client and know what you can do to help them, then writing the proposal should be the easy bit…

In order to get to where we have to write a proposal, we have to have a client and a need identified. And either of those could come first.

If you have a product that fills a certain need, then you can target organisations that have that need. Presuming you have a genuine value proposition then it shouldn’t be too hard to sell…and presumably you have the need in mind when the product was developed…if you didn’t then you have a strange way of going about product development.

      

But what if you are more services-oriented and don’t have an off-the shelf solution to sell? How do you find and create opportunities? In many ways the same way…surely you have a marketable solution that you can offer to a target organisation…

You may have a long list of target organisations, but how do you get in the door. Maybe they have an incumbent offering a similar service already. Firstly, get to know them. Get an appointment – if you can get a call to a decision maker then asking for a few minutes of their time shouldn’t be hard – as long as you can demonstrate that you can offer better value to them than a competitor or provide them with something that solves a business need.

Use a SWOT analysis to help you quantify your own value proposition and refine it. Use competitor evaluation tools to help identify your market position.

There are of course occasions when tenders and RFPs are advertised, but by then the organisation has done it’s research and knows what it wants – to get the most out of opportunities, try and get in there first and create your own. What tenders provide you with though are information about the business and especially their procurement cycle. The more professional procurement gets, then the better you have to be ready to handle it. Remember that not all your competitors may not jump through all the hoops as well as you, so use the procurement process to your advantage.

Once you have a target client, then create an account plan for how you will achieve your goals. Start those goals small – a phone call with your target buyer. Then a meeting, then an identified opportunity stating at each step of the way what you need to do to close the next goal that you have identified. Remember that getting any kind of action from the client – agreeing to a phone call or meeting is a close…and if you keep closing you end up writing a proposal (hopefully writing a winning proposal) for your client.

Plan regular meetings and calls with the client and once you get to know them, give yourself a monetary target that you are looking to get from that client.

No-one is handing business out these days – you have to go after it, and create your own leads. So do research on potential organisations where you can make a difference, find out how they buy, what they need and go after them with your value proposition. It’s not going to work every time, but you will end up with more opportunities to write proposals for.

Learn to Write Proposals is the leading Internet business proposal resource center.

At Learn to Write Proposals you will find all the tools that any proposal writer needs to manage, write and review a proposal. This includes training material, templates, tools and resources all designed with one goal in mind – to help our members create better proposals, faster.
http://www.learntowriteproposals.com

Poor financing is the number two reason small businesses fail, falling right behind poor management. Sufficient funding is paramount to the success of small businesses, and small business grants can be the answer to the problem. If business owners have the necessary knowledge about how to find and properly request grants, they have a better shot at creating a successful business that will be open longer and prosper.

There are over 300 different grants and loans available for small businesses that are just starting out. The grants range from $25,000 up to $1,000,000 depending on the size and projected success rate of the business. There are also grants available to help small businesses grow or expand. Grants are not the same as loans because they do not have to be repaid. A grant is considered free money, as well as an investment to promote the success of small businesses and the U.S. economy. Money for grants comes from income taxes. Obtaining a small business grant does not require credit checks or deposits, even if the owners have experienced bankruptcy in the past.

There are a number of helpful websites that send small businesses government grant packages for free, excluding the cost of shipping. These packages include information on how to find grants, how to prepare a grant request, and how to apply for grants pertaining to a specific business. Some of the providers are Government Funding Solutions, Grant Master, and Grant Wizard.

It is important to be familiar with the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) rules for receiving grants before beginning the process of obtaining one. Although the SBA does not provide grants to small businesses, they do provide helpful suggestions and resources on how to find grants.

In order to qualify for a small business grant, individuals must first become familiar with the 13 CFR 143 document that lists all of the requirements to be eligible for a grant. This document includes information on the pre-award and post-award periods and defines all aspects of applying for a grant and states who is eligible. The CFR is the primary source of rules and regulations for small business grants and must be read before starting the grant writing process.

After reviewing the requirements, prospective business owners must write a grant request. There are professionals who will write a grant proposal or the individuals may complete it themselves. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance is a helpful site that links individuals to resources about federal grants for small businesses. Afterschool.gov gives helpful tips on how to write a small business grant and, although it is geared toward grants for after school programs, includes helpful information for grant writing in general.

Additionally, there are many well-established government and private organizations that provide grants to small businesses. The Department of Justice’s Ten Grant document gives access to grant opportunities for those conducting research in support of law enforcement. The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has several grant opportunities for small business owners. They offer about $125 million to businesses that are based in a community setting with special attention to training programs. The Department of Transportation is another organization that offers small business grants. They offer grants to any business willing to help resolve the growing problems with the federal-aid highway program. The Department of Education has a program called e-GRANTS that locates electronic grants online. They have a detailed list of grants available and the necessary applications to fill out. There are a variety of grants available for different groups, all of which have detailed descriptions and contact information. Other organizations that provide small business grants include the EPA, the National Cancer Institute, NOAA, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

You may be interested in finding a legitimate online business opportunity or wanting to learn how to make money advertising online.

A legitimate online business opportunity would be defined as a real business that could be done on a part time or full time basis while over time providing extra income.

Not long ago, I was looking for some way to make extra money from home but I was unsure where to begin. I did not really know anyone successfully working from home and I knew no one who could show me what to do.

What I did know was I was not alone in looking for ways to make money working from home. I knew that millions of North Americans were also looking for some way to make money from home with their own legitimate online business opportunity. The problem for me was:

1. I only knew a few persons, people in my circle of family and friends who were concerned about rising expenses or approaching retirement years without enough money to pay the bills.

2. I did not know how to make money advertising online or how to use the internet to connect me to enough of the people searching for extra income to be able to create a legitimate online business opportunity.

3. I did not know what system to use that would do the work, nor did I know what company to be associated with that had products that people needed and wanted that I could recommend.

For me, I needed a legitimate online business opportunity system being used successfully by others, maybe work at home moms and dads like I was who did not possess high-level internet skills. Was there a system that could help find interested prospects for me, a system that weeded out people just looking for free stuff and not serious about having a real home business?

And there would need to be people to talk to about partnering up with and beginning my business, people who had already learned how to make money advertising online.

Then a friend handed me a movie to watch that explained how to start making money from home. Before watching the movie, I had questions that I wanted answers to:

1. What did I need to do to make money with the movie?

2. How much would I be paid?

What I found that needed to be done was to hand out or mail out the movie. The movie did the presentations for me, describing the legitimate online business opportunity.

For example, obesity is a national problem and there are negative health consequences from repeated exposure to numerous household chemicals and personal products that are typically used at home every day.

I wanted to find an organization that was concerned about health and the environment, a company that would pay me each month for the business I send them.

So is it possible to find a legitimate online business opportunity that is not too complicated that can also provide extra income when working from home?

Yes, I have learned that it is possible to make money working from home. You too may be someone or know someone who is interested in making extra money working from home and supplementing their regular income with a legitimate online business opportunity.

To make money advertising online, be sure you team up with a mentor, someone who can help you learn like they have to help you create the financial independence that you are looking for.

Advertising your business, whether online or offline, can be quite expensive. In order to combat the rising costs of advertising, try seeking out free online advertising. You’ll be surprised that it’s not hard to find!

The goal with all businesses is to secure more business. To do this, whatever product and/or service being sold has to be made public. If you are tired of spending tons of money without getting higher results in return, we feel confident that using free online business advertising methods will help.

Today, internet advertising and marketing has become extremely popular, allowing you to reach well beyond local boundaries. This particular technique actually involves millions of businesses that offer free online business advertising, working in a tag team method. In other words, businesses work together, boosting sales. An option that works very well is free classified advertising.

With free online business advertising in the form of a classified ad allows you to list precise information for people to find. Typically, this option works by letting you sell your products and/or services in a personal way that connects easily with other people. With this, you can highlight what your business offers easily and widespread. While there are some classified ads that cost a little money, many are free.

What happens with this type of free online business advertising is that revenue is shared. These sites draw in a lot of traffic, which consists of individuals and businesses looking for something very specific. The items being advertised are neatly organized, making the process of finding a product and/or service fast, quick, and convenient. Therefore, to receive more visitors to your website online advertising space is bartered between businesses. Obviously, this strategy benefits everyone without costing a dime.

Not only is this type of advertising easy, it brings with it many features and useful tools. For instance, rather than have to go through tons of steps to get your products and/or services listed, the sites are easy to navigate using the tools provided. Of course, the key to any free online business advertising method being successful starts with finding the right service with which to deal.

Some ads, for example, are focused on a specific group, and others are more general and don’t focus on one type of audience. To get even more attention, we highly recommend you consider using several free online business advertising sites and methods. This way, you reach a much broader target, attracting not only more people but also the right people to your business. Online classified advertising is a huge bang for the buck, and brings a lot of value to your business no matter what size or type it is.