Personal Finance, Loans & Insurance

Many entrepreneurs seeking financing for their business don’t realize that without first having excellent business credit scores their business will never obtain significant financing. Business credit scores function exactly like personal credit scores, and so you have to build your credit scores up properly before you can seek large amounts of capital for your business from any lending institution. It is nearly impossible to obtain capital from a lending institution without having first establishing excellent credit scores for your company.

The question that companies face is how do they go about establishing the business credit scores that are a prerequisite for financing them. First, every owner must make sure that all of their business lines of credit or any aspect of financing for their company is reporting to the major business credit bureaus. Unfortunately, less than ten percent (10%) of all corporate lending in the United States gets reported to the major credit agencies. This means that while your business may have existing financing, if that financing is not being reporting then your company will never build business credit scores up to where they need to be.

To properly establish credit scores it often times can take three to six months to get a business credit score that is worthy of large amounts of financing in the eyes of the lender. A lender wants to make sure that their loan has the chance of being repaid, and one of the only ways they can justify that is to see if you have established a business credit history with a solid score. This is the same concept as when you attempt to get a personal loan or a car loan. They will pull your personal credit history, and if you have a poor credit history or no credit history you are either denied, or are forced to pay higher interest rates on the loans.

The secret to building excellent credit scores for your company is a 1-3-5. That is starting with five vendor lines of credit, three business credit cards, and one business bank loan, all of which report to the business credit agencies and none of which are reporting against your personal credit.

There are many firms now that offer to build your credit for you without you having to do a thing. Ask yourself, “could that happen with my personal credit?” And you know the answer is NO! Beware of business credit building services that claim they will build your credit overnight. They charge exorbitant rates for their services, which will do you no good. A good rule of thumb to live by is that if it sounds too good to be true, than it probably is. Business credit building is a process that you must do yourself, just like you built (or destroyed) your own personal credit scores. The best services are those that give you all the tools and guidelines to do it yourself, not those services that make false promises.

Make sure that as you go along the process of obtaining capital that you never submit a loan request to a lender that you are not pre-qualified for. Credit inquiries can kill any business credit scores that you already have. Make sure you avoid the practice of submitting a business loan application to multiple sources.

Another thing to be cautious of are Internet businesses that allow you to store your business loan application information in one place. You may find that your application gets automatically submitted to hundreds of sources at once. This is finance suicide for your corporation, and all you will end up with will be a destroyed business credit scores and no funding.

Financing your business is not simple, and to get approved there are other aspects beyond just having excellent business credit scores. It is highly recommended that you look into a good business finance coach to help guide you along the way.

Equipment finance is one of several options available to businesses seeking start up or growth capital. It is a highly attractive finance option because it can provide exactly what a business needs in order to survive. This could include machinery, software, computers, or even office furniture. Businesses will also find that equipment financing tends to not tie up cash, receivables, or credit cards. Overall it can reduce the amount of cash a business will need, and the best part is that it can be written off at tax time.

One particular form of equipment finance is a general equipment loan. This option can be valuable because the majority of equipment that is acquired is not likely to become obsolete as fast. The technology and medical industries would have to worry about the equipment becoming outdated. In general an equipment loan is a wise choice because there is low obsolescence. Ownership and equity are other reasons why equipment loans are a good choice. You get the same benefits as if you owned the piece of equipment, and it also allows you to use equity to go after more working capital down the road if needed. The main benefit to an equipment loan is that a business can expense up to $25,000 worth of new equipment for the first year it is purchased. This adds up to decrease the final purchase cost. Any amount of equipment loaned over $25,000 would be depreciated over the next several years for an ongoing tax deduction.

Equipment leasing allows a business to get the most tax benefits possible while saving cash at the same time when compared to other forms of equipment finance which are available. The lease of course must be returned at the end, but often times the lessor will give a business the opportunity to buy the item for “Fair Market Value” at the end of the lease. That final total is often determined after the lease has already expired. The monthly rental payments can be tax deductible, but it is advised to speak with your accountant before taking out an equipment lease. With the lease you are simply paying a straight rental payment with no interest on the item. It can be difficult to locate equipment leasing companies, but researching the top search engine results from the phrase “funding directory” will return a valuable, free option for getting in touch with equipment leasing companies.

A relatively new concept for businesses trying to raise quick capital is through an equipment sale and leaseback. With this option a business can obtain up to 70% of the original purchase price against equipment they own. This money earned through the sale can be used for startup funding and business expansion needs with no restrictions. After being sold the item would remain on the seller’s property, and they would lease back the item from the source purchasing the asset. Businesses really like this option because there are no restrictions on how the money is used and of course no collateral is needed. Other lines of credit are also not affected by a business doing an equipment sale and leaseback. The other aspect is that the monthly payments are 100% deductible.

Equipment finance is just one of many methods available for obtaining business financing. There is commercial finance, small business loans, venture capital, equity investments, and more. It is also good to work on establishing your business credit, ensuring that you separate your personal credit from your business credit. With good business credit scores obtaining large loans and other forms of capital is very simple, and you won’t be one of the 97 percent that actually have a loan application denied. One other strategy that is easy to do and beneficial to a businesses quest for business capital is to use a free business capital search engine to locate potential lenders.

When obtaining a business opportunity loan, borrowers will discover that many lenders simply do not provide business loans that do not include real estate as part of the business purchase. There are several other important business financing issues to analyze prior to buying a business without commercial property.

Interest in buying business opportunity investments has improved because of serious problems with residential real estate. However, because there are so many critical differences between financing residential real estate and business financing, it is important for potential business owners to educate themselves before proceeding.

In order to buy a business, a commercial borrower is likely to need business financing. If the business includes commercial real estate, the borrower will need a commercial mortgage. If the business purchase does not involve real estate, a business borrower must use a business opportunity loan.

Unfortunately the availability of business opportunity financing is more restricted than commercial real estate financing. There are also some potential limitations and problems unique to a business opportunity loan, and commercial borrowers should make every effort to avoid these business financing difficulties.

Our goal here is to focus on several financing issues that you should anticipate when commercial real estate is not part of the business purchase. Our suggested approach to business opportunity financing is provided below.

Begin your business opportunity investment financing plans by formulating a realistic assessment of cash available for a down payment and desired maximum business purchase price. A down payment of about 25% is suggested for most business financing situations described here. Usually seller financing is permissible for a portion of the down payment, but a potential buyer generally needs to plan on investing at least 10% of the purchase price from their own funds even if the seller is providing 15% or more.

Because Small Business Administration loans are essential for this kind of financing, you should explore whether you will in fact be able to qualify for these specialized business loans. This step is both important and somewhat complicated, and the involvement of an SBA loan expert is strongly advised. Among the issues to explore are whether collateral is available for SBA financing and how important refinancing is to your overall business opportunity financing process.

It is important to consider the lease terms which are possible. As noted previously, business opportunity financing and investing does not involve the purchase of commercial real estate, so arrangements must be made for a long-term lease. A ten-year maximum loan term is likely, and a shorter financing term will probably be required if the length of the lease is for less than ten years. In other words, with a seven-year lease, the commercial loan is likely to be for seven years, and even with a fifteen-year lease, the commercial financing will probably expire in ten years.

When buying a business, inquire about the possibility of including commercial real estate. With the inclusion of commercial property, you can obtain a longer business loan and the interest rate will be lower. Because the absence of a commercial mortgage can actually be an advantage, the improved terms possible by including real estate should not be looked at in isolation.

Before any offers are made to buy a business investment, borrowers should discuss their financing options with an expert for business opportunity loans. These discussions should include issues such as potential purchase price, down payment possibilities, seller financing, buyer credit scores, tax return requirements and collateral options.

Any particular organization requires an asset to have a smooth running of its business. Without it, production will stop and it will lead to loss. At any point of time the company may have to face a situation where in a new asset is required but it does not want to put pressure on the dwindling finances. It can also be that the asset or equipment is required for short time duration and procuring it is not a viable option. In that case, the companies can opt for asset finance leasing.

Asset Finance Leasing is a way through a company can have access to the assets without procuring it. By resorting to this option the company or organization can utilize the assets without spending any cash from its own resources.

Companies who are looking for this process can have two readily available options. The options are direct lease and sell and lease back. Under the option of direct lease the company identifies the particular asset which can be new or pre owned, as per the requirement of the job. Then in turn the company will ask a leasing company to buy the required equipment from its manufacturer or owner. After the leasing company had bought it, it will lease the equipment as per the terms and conditions.

On the other hand, under sale and lease back option, the company will sell the particular asset to the leasing company and they in turn will lease the equipment back to the company. It is to be remembered that in both the cases, it is the leasing company who owns the asset. However, the company has also the provision of having a hire purchase agreement with the lending authority and can get back the asset by clearing all the payments.

This type of leasing is preferable when the company wants to utilize the asset to enhance the production on a short term basis. Other wise it is better to avail a loan and then purchase. The company opting for asset finance leasing must try to understand the various aspects of the leasing company before opting for it.