US Business Finance Blog

Documenting Your Small Business For Financial Success

Posted on September 12th, 2008 by Author

Alternative Financing and Training For Financial Success

Business owners adapting the franchise business model strengths to improve their company’s financial success find business documentation a challenging task. In US Business Finance Corp’s experience assisting small businesses start on a solid business foundation, from arranging sources of operating capital to finding the best merchant credit card processing services, we evolved a simplified solution to this task. First diagram and document the company culture and second document the money trail from sales to payment.

Training Increases Credit Card Profitability

The foundational training is centered on the company culture, which covers the basics such as dress code, using the time clock, calling when there are changes in schedules, and use of company property. Make sure there are no “unspoken rules” that carry greater weight than the documented rules. Unspoken rules can undermine the success of the best systems.

When training employees, by following the money trail, the employee has a logical structure to frame their new found knowledge. Start with product training, possibly on a graduated basis for more involved products, so they know what the company offers – and what problems the products solve.

The next step in the money trail is sales. Sales training ranges from operational steps such as working the cash register and credit card terminals to the customer service area of handling irate customers, finding the right product for clients to soliciting customer feedback. US Business Finance Corp knows how important it is to protect your merchant status with Visa and MasterCard, so we provide training on all aspects of handling credit card transactions for all our merchant credit card account processing service clients.

Invoicing & Cash Advances Offset Slow Bill Payers

The last steps are usually the back office steps of handling payroll, invoicing and bill collecting. Though maybe somewhat tedious, one place most businesses have room for improvement is timely billing on their outstanding accounts. The sooner invoices are sent, the sooner clients will send their payments and keep the cash flow at the necessary level to meet the business’s own bills. When clients are slow to pay their bills and create cash flow emergencies for business owners, our business cash advance option is a fast safety valve to bring in cash with a pledge against future Visa and MasterCard sales. No personal guarantee or collateral necessary, US Business Finance Corp takes on the risk of the cash advance.

Documentation can be as simple as block diagrams or photographs of steps in the process – as long as the steps are clear. Simplifying steps aids in the ability of employees to remember the processes. An added benefit of simplifying steps is the time to document and maintain the documentation so it remains current to your business’s innovations and improvements is reduced.

US Business Finance Corp realizes the tremendous benefits to consistent training having financial safety valves set up before your business runs into a cash flow emergency. Our team provides training to our merchant credit card account clients and our business cash advance option provides peace of mind for business owners. We believe credit cards and business financing sources should benefit your company with greater income! By helping to minimize “operator error” through training and setting up your business for quickly accessing a cash advance when you need it, we can help improve your business and protect your profit margins.

Keys to Expanding Your Business Markets With Cash Advances

Posted on September 8th, 2008 by Author

Cash Advances For Your Business Expansion

Prepared with business cash advances from US Business Finance Corp, entrepreneurs can quickly respond to opportunities calling for operating capital. As Seneca said, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”. Businesses expand their markets best by having the ability to perceive market expansion opportunities, no matter how they are disguised, and have the capacity to respond. Entrepreneurs by their nature often see opportunities where others see problems.

In business, having a clear business strategy and knowing what service your company provides helps you find the market information that opens the next business opportunity. However “knowing what service your company provides” may mean seeing your company in a different light. For example, transportation companies that only see themselves as people movers, by seeing themselves as an all around transport service may be able to open additional markets in small cargo transportation. Another perspective changing thought is: differentiate what your business does from how your business benefits your customers. Phone answering services take messages, but they also provide the company’s first impression to their customer’s. Knowing this helps you train your employees to include some PR in there interactions, and create an additional marketing differentiation to attract new markets.

Another opportunity expansion exercise is to define all the steps your customer’s take to get and use your product. Then decide what of those steps can you include in your offering to improve your customer’s perception of your products and services. In business consulting terminology, this is sometimes called consumption-chain mapping.

Next is keeping your vision on your local demographic market and its changes in tastes and buying habits while keeping an eye on national trends. National trends are often the best ways to spot the effects of a disruptive technology. Once major changes in technology or national tastes (such as the shift from fast food to nutritious food) occur, being the first to adapt that finding into how you shift your marketing may cause a dramatic increase in market share.

The fourth area to examine for opportunities is to recognize competition in all its forms. Everyone is aware of their direct competitors, but focus should also be put on tangential competitors and potential competitors. Tangential competitors do not so much compete on product offering, but for your customers’ time, attention and, to a varying extents, discretionary income. An example of this would be a mini golf course and a laser tag place. They each offer a distinctly different product or experience, but they both compete for peoples’ relaxation time.

US Business Finance Corp’s business cash advance program was instituted to help small businesses who ran into obstacles securing traditional business loans. Our business capital financing not only has filled the needs of this under-served market, but our cash advance programs have created a strong competition for banks in the small business financing world. Our alternative financing is proving faster to secure, faster to pay off and less burdensome on business owners – no collateral or personal guarantee necessary!

Potential customers are harder to spot since they often appear on the market when people discover a new way to use a product or solution and apply it to another problem. That new way may suddenly be in direct competition with your business. In marketing, many start-up businesses try to create this “disruptive technology” product since it immediately puts them in a position to make inroads into an established market and establish major market share before the industry dinosaurs wake-up to the new competition. Japan took over the small car market when Detroit failed to see how small cars could compete with the popular large autos. Business cash advance alternative financing gained momentum when business owners expanded their use from emergency working capital needs to investing in equipment and advertising to grow their companies.

Paying attention to these four areas will give you a leg up on spotting marketing and sales opportunities for your company and prepare you for ways to re-invent your company if the market makes radical shifts. Contact US Business Finance Corp today to help your business expand its foothold in your markets with a cash advance.

Cash Advances Prove Beneficial Florist Shop Financing

Posted on September 5th, 2008 by Author

Florists Use Cash Advances As Working Capital

Florist shops usually discover the benefits of business cash advances after getting turned down for traditional bank financing. The florist industry is rather cyclical with extremely busy seasons, such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and the year-end holidays. However, this cyclical nature can wreak havoc with the off-season cash flow and scare away bankers who prefer the very predictable over the very profitable and risky.

The florist industry has turned to alternative financing, such as business cash advances, to meet their financial needs during down cycles of cash flow. Business cash advances are a natural fit for florist shops since so many of their sales are by Visa and MasterCard. The higher the average monthly volume of credit card sales, the higher the amount of cash advance your flower shop will qualify for.

US Business Finance Corp offers florist shops our cash advance financing with the following benefits:

Fast approval – 24 hour or less;
No security interest against your accounts receivables;
No personal guarantee by the florist shop’s owner;
No florist shop or personal assets used as collateral;
Available to florist shops that can not qualify for standard bank financing; and
Financing can be used to meet any of your florist shop’s cash flow needs.

Our approval rate for florist shops is very high! Upon approval, we usually can fund florist shops by electronically transfer the cash advance to their company bank account in less than ten business days. Without any checks to send, coupons to mail or financial reports to send, you can better concentrate on creating beautiful arrangements and making your customers’ day. Your cash advance is automatically repaid from a percentage of your clients’ Visa and MasterCard payments. The monthly payment amount varies depending on the amount of your credit card receipts. During busy seasons, your advances are paid off faster.

When cash flow emergencies arise, we know that time is of the essence to meet your bills on time. US Business Finance Corp strives to assist our florist shop clients to get their cash advances approved and funded as fast as possible. Getting a traditional bank loan to fund your florist shop as fast as our business cash advances is just not possible.

Contact us at US Business Finances Corp to see how quickly your florist shop can obtain approval for your business cash advance to keep your florist shop’s financial outlook rosy!

Compare Our Business Cash Advances

Posted on September 4th, 2008 by Author

Cash Advances Compare Favorably Vs. Loans

Getting your business cash advances from US Business Finance Corp provides your enterprise needed operating capital. As an alternative lender, US Business Finance Corp provides business cash advances to small businesses all over America. Our clients have usually compared various cash advance offerings before choosing out program. There are certain areas we encourage potential clients to review so they know we built our business cash advance programs for maximum benefit of our clients.

When comparing cash advances make sure your read all the information in the application or any attendant “terms and conditions” pages. Any hidden charges, like closing fees or processing fees are usually tucked in the fine print.

Our cash advances are repaid with a percentage of future Visa and MasterCard sales transactions, so there is no fixed payment plan either in terms of length of time or amount to be paid in a given month. Cash advances do not introduce the pressure to make large monthly lump sum payments that commercial mortgages or business loans do.

US Business Finance Corp does not require collateral, documentation similar to loan packages, or a review of your company’s financial statement. We base our cash advance approval on a minimal time in business and your average monthly credit card sales.

Contact US Business Finance Corp to see how fast our business cash advance can help your business. We also provide superb merchant credit card processing services to help small businesses start-up and succeed as quickly as possible.

If your business is starting out or is in a field that is considered high risk, such as Internet sales using credit cards, please contact us to see how we can help you succeed. We specialize in helping business owners obtain merchant credit card accounts and help high risk businesses train their workers in the ways to protect their merchant status, handle various customer situations and, of course, the best way to enter sales. Once your new business is up and running with a short track record of sales, we can help you obtain cash advances to help you grow your business faster.

Raising Operating Capital – to Borrow or Sell or Cash Advance?

Posted on August 31st, 2008 by Author

Raising operating capital usually presents two financing options: taking on debt or selling equity – each with its benefits and trade-offs. US Business Finance Corp has worked with business owners with a third option – business cash advances that better prepares businesses for presenting their business plan to investors and for applying and securing business loans. Our financing professionals help you assess the affect of raising capital by debt, investment or cash advances. Your accountant can help you further assess how your choices will affect on your business taxes.

Investment Factors: The investment financing option entails selling partial ownership of the company to one or several investors. The current owners’ equity is diluted by the percentage of shares sold. In order to sell shares, the company’s business plan should include a way and timing for the investors to liquidate their investment. Possible exits would be selling their shares at a public stock sale (IPO) or a private sale of the company. A possible buyer would be another company, either a competitor or a complementary business seeking to expand their markets. For investors that are interested in long-term ownership, such as family members, the return on the investment may be the dividends the company periodically pays.

While raising capital through equity does not incur monthly debt payments it may, in diluting your shares, cause a shift in control of the company. Control may not shift 100%, but it may take more time to build a majority consensus for major business decisions.

Factors involved with Business Debt: Raising capital through loans is usually a simpler route that also provides several choices in itself. Debt may be incurred through a line of credit, a small business loan or a business cash advance. For small businesses, the owner usually has to also add their personal guarantee to loans. Debt financing allows owners repayment variables in the interest and the term of the loan. The following are three basic types of debt:

Traditional loans requiring collateral, an asset pledged as security for the loan, with fixed regular payments. These loans are usually more long term in nature.

Line of credit also requires collateral, however many financial institutions offer credit based on a business’s average monthly level of accounts receivable.

Business cash advances are short-term debts that pledge a portion of future credit card sales to repay the debt. The payments are not fixed in amount or time, but subtracted from each Visa and MasterCard sale. A benefit of a cash advance is the fast application process, the rapidity that funds are made available, and the advance does not show up as a typical liability on your balance sheet.

Debt is usually incurred to fund specific projects that have specific time lines, such as business expansion or business equipment financing. The debt serves as in investment toward greater cash flow and profitability. Revolving accounts with suppliers is also a short-term debt that helps build your company’s credit history.

When reviewing the benefits and costs of the equity and debt avenues of raising working capital be sure to include your attorney and accountant. They can better pin point how each can benefit your company and fulfill your long-term strategy. US Business Finance Corp offers assistance and funding sources to business owners looking for investors or commercial loans. Our business cash advance, the alternative financing option, has provided many entrepreneurs with working capital to meet emergency needs as well as business opportunities that called for an increase in cash flow on short notice. Contact us to review your working capital needs.

Comparing Business Cash Advances To Business Loans

Posted on August 30th, 2008 by Author

Alternative financing has introduced business cash advances as a viable and competitive alternative to traditional business loans. Comparing business cash advances to business loans is like comparing apples to oranges, there are general similarities, but great differences when looking at the specifics of the financing.

A traditional business loan takes time to process and gain approval, adds a liability on the business, and increases the owner’s risk, since both a personal guarantee and collateral are necessary to secure the loan. Banks can loan money at attractive rates only because they have mitigated their risk exposure – often leading new business owners to believe that the only companies that can obtain a business loan are the ones that don’t need one.

Alternative financing looks at the underserved markets of businesses that have an element of risk involved in the loan. Alternative business funding companies such as US Business Finance Corp know that the more profitable a business is, usually the higher its risk in business. That element of risk is what drives the American entrepreneurial spirit! Taking into account the element of risk and the business owner’s proof of ability to repay a cash advance based on their Visa and MasterCard credit card sales history, US Business Finance Corp can quickly offer qualifying companies a business cash advance. Instead of a personal guarantee and collateral, the business owner pays US Business Finance to take on the risk and repays the advance from a portion of Visa and MasterCard sales!

An additional benefit of alternative financing is its short time for approval and speed of funding the approved cash advance. For emergency working capital situations, time is of the essence. For first time businesses, a company cash advance is wired directly to the business account within 7 to 10 working days of approval.

In addition, your cash advance can be used any way you need to meet your company’s needs. Unlike business loan conditions, a cash advance can be used to pay taxes, improve your infrastructure or pay overdue bills. It is entirely under the control of the business owner.

Contact our business financing professionals at US Business Finance Corp today to see how quickly you can tap into our cash advance financing. Our business cash advances are available to help your business any way you see fit!

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