Business Tips Guides

Credit cards are becoming more and more widely used in the United States, making credit card advances an increasingly relevant method of business financing for small businesses in particular. In 2006, there were over 984 million bank-issued Visa and MasterCard credit card and debit card accounts in the United States, and over 450 million Visa cards in the U.S. Therefore, accepting credit cards not only makes you one step closer to being eligible to receive a business cash advance, but it could also possibly boost your business’s sales.

A merchant must accept credit cards in order to receive a credit card advance because the advance is repaid through customers’ credit card purchases. A merchant who does not accept credit cards is then ineligible to receive credit card advances, and has one less accessible source for business financing. Having access to readily available funds is extremely important for a business owner, and is becoming increasingly important today as acquiring bank business loans is becoming more and more difficult.

There are various reasons why some merchants choose not to accept credit cards. Some feel that the costs of accepting credit cards would cause them to raise their prices, and they don’t want to make their customers pay for their decision to accept credit cards. For many places, “…credit cards represent processing fees, equipment costs and additional time to complete transactions that they just don’t want to take on,” states Credit Cards’ website. But looking at the bigger picture, the benefits that come along with accepting credit cards may be greater than the disadvantages. Some people simply don’t like carrying cash; others want to gain points to earn rewards on their credit cards, and more and more people are using credit cards to survive. A recent study showed that people are more likely to pay their credit card bills before their mortgages.

As of 2005, credit cards accounted for 19 percent of all purchases and debit cards accounted for 33 percent of all purchases. Combined, they accounted for over half of all purchases in the United States. And according to Credit Cards’ website, businesses forfeit up to 80 percent of consumer impulse buys if they don’t accept credit cards.

How many times have you gone into a store and as you attempt to hand your debit or credit card over to the cashier he/she says, “We accept cash only”? Then anger consumes you for a brief second as you realize you’re going to have to pay an extra $2.50 to use the in-store ATM machine to get cash, or leave empty-handed. If you don’t accept credit cards, your customer’s may often feel the same way, and this can result in an abundance of missed sales.

Credit card advances are not only for retail stores. Many service-oriented stores can also receive credit card advances. Hair and nail salons and other services that previously only accepted cash are also beginning to accept credit cards, making the advantages of a credit card advance available to them as well.

If your business accepts credit cards, and you need additional funds, apply for a credit card advance. Once your advance is approved a small percentage from your businesses credit card sales will go towards your credit card advance repayment. The payments adjust to the flow of your businesses sales. It’s that simple! You’ll never have to make a fixed monthly payment.

With the credit card advance, you can get the most out of your customers’ purchases, and you’ll come to appreciate them in a whole new light.

David Castro often writes articles about Credit Card Advance for Merchant Resources International - To Learn more Visit Us at http://www.creditcardadvance.us

For most of us, the holiday season means a chance to create warm memories with friends, family and loved ones. But for years, it has also meant crowded shopping malls and stores, and the emptying of tons of money from consumers’ pockets.

Retailers usually expect to experience their highest sales volumes during this time, investing in extra inventory, extensive marketing and slashing prices to compete with competitors. Black Friday (the Friday following Thanksgiving) has repeatedly been one of the busiest shopping days of the year, signifying the official start of the consumer Christmas season.

Overall, the holiday season is a highly-anticipated and enjoyed time of year. But for merchants, this year may be a little different as the tables turn, and retailers are more likely to feel the pain of the holiday season than consumers.

Deloitte LLP a company offering financial advisory services and TNS Retail Forward Inc., a market research firm, both predict that this year will produce one of the weakest Decembers since 1991. A variety of factors have aided in their coming to this conclusion, including high fuel prices, rising food prices, higher unemployment rate, a tough housing market, and the credit crunch.

So what does all of this mean for small business retailers? These happenings could very likely produce a widespread need for financing. Small business owners may need extra money to finance endeavors that will promote more sales during this tough holiday season. They may also need extra money to carry them through a holiday season that is less prosperous than what they may be used to.

This can be a scary time for retailers, unaware of the burdens the upcoming holiday season may bring. But the availability of the business cash advance should be of some relief to these small retail business owners. Although business cash advances can help boost a business and are useful all year-round, use your business cash advance to promote strength and maintenance within your small business as the days grow shorter and the air grows colder.

How Can a Business Cash Advance be Useful During the Holiday Season?

Employee Training

In an article titled “How Small Stores Can Lure Holiday Shoppers,” Business Week Online writer, John Tozzi advices small business owners to use their ability to develop strong, personal customer relationships and offer excellent customer service to their benefit. Small businesses may not be able to compete with larger ones when it comes to prices, but they do have the upper hand on big businesses when it comes to customer relations. Small businesses have an opportunity to get to know their customers on a personal level. Exploiting this advantage may be the difference in making sales and not making sales.

A business cash advance could finance customer service training for your employees, where they can learn how to give customer service that encourages customers to return again and again.

Increase Marketing

Since price slashing is not viewed as a good idea for small businesses, columnist, Steve McKee poses a different idea. “…thousands of previous purchase decisions have taught me price isn’t merely a reflection of product quality, it’s an indicator of it as well,” writes McKee. “If something is more expensive, it’s usually for good reason.” With this in mind, he encourages small business owners to keep their prices, but focus on creating customer loyalty due to the quality of their products, which is reflected in their prices.

This can be done through marketing. With a business cash advance, you may be able to finance such a marketing plan.

Stay Afloat

If none of the above options are for you, but you notice that your holiday sales are not as high as you’d hoped and/or expected, you may want to use a business cash advance just to keep your business on its feet during this difficult period. The money you receive in your business cash advance can help pay for your business’s daily operating expenses.

David Castro often writes articles about Business Cash Advance for Merchant Resources International - To Learn more Visit Us at http://www.businesscashadvanceloan.com

You have plans to expand your business. You’ve outlined everything that you want to do, and now all you need is the money to take these plans off of the paper and put them into existence. You’ve already gone the bank route before, only to find that your credit score was not high enough, and you did not have sufficient collateral. Plus you would rather not have to deal with making fixed monthly payments.

So this time you decide to seek out a merchant cash advance. After contacting a lender, completing a short application, and submitting the last four months of your business’s credit card statements and a copy of your business’s lease, your information was reviewed and soon after, your bank account was funded. You understand that a small percentage of your business’s future credit card sales will go towards your repayment and you are rejoicing in the fact that you never have to remember to make a payment, and if your business’s sales are low, your business cash advance payments will also be lower. Now, the only thing that is left to do is put your newly acquired funds to use.

Most small business owners are aware that budgeting is one of the most important aspects of business management. A budget is an itemized allotment of funds for a given period. It helps you to decide how much money is needed for specific tasks and to delegate the appropriate amount of money for task completion. Therefore, making a budget for your business cash advance could make a world of difference. Below is a compilation of tips that can help you to create a budget that will allow you to get the most out of your
business cash advance.

Make a Spreadsheet

Investopedia offers “Six Steps to a Better Budget,” one of which is; make a spreadsheet. Making a spreadsheet before attempting to make purchases can be a great help. It allows you to view how much money you have, and what you plan to spend, neatly and on paper. Using a spreadsheet is a way to create an organized budget.

Don’t Let Your Budget Constrain You

In an article titled “8 Ways to Make Your Budget Work” for Microsoft’s small business center website, author Jeff Wuorio advices small business owners to “Use your budget as a form of restraint, not constraint!” A budget should be used as a guideline, to keep you on task. But sometimes things may come up that were not budgeted for, but if purchased, will end up benefiting your business. “It’s often impossible to budget for a valuable last-minute seminar or a trip to a trade show to make valuable contacts,” writes Wuorio. Use your own judgment to determine when it is okay to spend money on things that may not be in your budget.

Overestimate

When it comes to budgeting, it is best to overestimate a cost then to underestimate it. If you end up spending less than you planned, you will have money left over, but if you end up spending more than you planned, you will come up short. Which would you rather do? Usually, budgeting consists of lots of educated guesses, so when doing so, make sure to leave your self a nice cash cushion, to help prevent going over budget.

David Castro often writes articles about Business Loans for Merchant Resources International - To Learn more Visit Us at http://www.cashprior.com

There could be many possible reasons why you have yet to acquire the much needed funds for your business. With such an abundance of various types of financial lenders, you may feel bombarded and overwhelmed with the options. You care for your business and only have your business’ best interest in mind, so you have prolonged business financing because you would rather make no decision than make the wrong decision.

Or maybe you are on the opposite side of the spectrum, and your business is in dire need of financing, but you have no idea where to go for financial help. You have maxed out all of your usual sources (friends, family and savings) and now, you are utterly bewildered when it comes to what to do next in the search for business funding.

Two widely used sources of business financing are; banks which offer business loans, and business cash advance lenders, who utilize credit card factoring.

Why you may want to choose a bank:

Your credit score is 720 or higher

One of the many requirements for bank business loan approval is a high credit score. If your credit score is 720 or higher, you are more likely to be approved for a bank loan. Also the higher your credit score, the more likely you are to receive a loan with a lower interest rate, and lower interest rates save you money.

You have owned your business for three or more years

Applicants who own a business that has been in existence for a good length of time are favored by banks. Many banks are wary of lending to startup businesses because they are unsure if the business will last. A business that has been running for a while has already proven its ability to survive and bring in revenue.

Your business does not process credit card transactions and you have no plans to start

Bank business loans usually make the business owner responsible for repaying the loan on fixed monthly terms. Therefore, you would actually have to remember to make your loan payments every month. If your business does not accept credit cards, you will not be eligible to receive a business cash advance, and choosing a bank loan will be more beneficial for your type of business.

Your money needs are not time sensitive

Banks can provide you with the funds you need for your business, but due to the extensiveness of the application and review processes, it may be an extended period of time before you actually receive your money.

Why you may want to choose a merchant cash advance company:

You own a merchant business

If you own a merchant business that regularly processes credit card transactions, merchant cash advances are devised to work for you. Once you receive your money, a small percentage of your customers’ credit card transactions are used to repay your advance, eliminating the need to make fixed monthly payments, and allowing payment amounts to adjust according to sales volumes.

You’ve tried the bank route with no success

If you have already tried to obtain a business loan through a bank and were denied, a business cash advance should be your next choice. There are few requirements to meet in order to be eligible for a business cash advance, and quite often, business owners who do not qualify to receive a bank loan, do qualify to receive a business cash advance.

Your credit score is 700 or lower

You do not need an excellent credit score to receive a business cash advance. Business cash advance lenders rely on the business to repay the advance rather than the borrower. Therefore, the borrower’s credit score is less important. What is more important is the business’ credit card sales history. For this reason, borrowers are required to submit several months of their businesses’ most recent credit card statements.

You need money quickly

Business cash advances are ideal for business financial emergencies. The application is short, the review process is fast, and most lenders can have your bank account funded in as little as seven days after approval.

David Castro often writes articles about Business Loans for Merchant Resources International - To Learn more Visit Us at http://www.cashprior.com

Remember high school? As soon as you set foot on the campus you were already looking forward to lunch, counting down the minutes and seconds until you would finally be able to eat and enjoy the company of your friends. You sat through Math, English and History but when the bell signifying the end of fourth period and the beginning of lunchtime finally rang, you realized you’d forgotten your lunch money on the kitchen counter at home. So you turned to your best friend, asked if you could borrow a couple of dollars for lunch, and without question she handed over two dollar bills after you promised you’d pay her back tomorrow.

Now, years have gone by, and you need more than just lunch money. You run your own business and you need a couple tens of thousands of dollars for a particular venture. But when you go to the bank you are hit with the reality that you are not in high school anymore and you are going to need more than just your promise to get the money you need for your business.

As borrowers, we rarely look at the other side of lending. All we know is that we need money for something very important and we can be trusted to repay the loan. But in reality, lending is a very risky business, and banks usually require borrowers to have excellent credit scores, collateral to offer, and sound business plans before approving a business loan of any amount.

So what is a business owner with less-than-perfect credit to do? You could give up all hope for your business, throw in the towel and return to working a 9 to 5 job, reporting to a supervisor everyday. Or you could hold on to your dream and get a bad credit business loan.

A business cash advance is a type of bad credit business loan that allows merchant business owners to attain money for their businesses even if their credit is not great. And unlike many other types of bad credit business loans, a borrower does not have to have any collateral to be eligible to receive a business cash advance.

When a business owner receives a business cash advance, he/she is selling his/her business’ future credit card receivables. The business owner receives an upfront sum, and following receipt of the loan, a small percentage of the business’ credit card sales is deducted and put towards the repayment of the business cash advance.

This payment system allows business cash advance payments to be lower when sales are lower and higher when sales are higher, working with the flow of your business rather than requiring you to make a fixed payment every month.

With a business cash advance, your business’ previous credit card sales history is most important, not your credit score, your personal financial statements or your assets. Use a bad credit business loan to finance your merchant business.

David Castro often writes articles about Bad Credit Business Loans for Merchant Resources International - To Learn more Visit Us at http://www.cashprior.com

It is not about regulation and de-regulation, as Washington lawmakers would like you to believe. It is also not about the inability to control derivative transactions, as self-styled experts are claiming on your television sets. In fact, if the facts are closely scrutinized, the alarm bells are all ringing the wrong jagged tune. What we are facing today is the complete lack of comprehension of the very nexus which triggered the most remarkable phase of capital accumulation following the Second World War.

The post-WW II universe was shaped entirely by a capital accumulation process which guaranteed huge surpluses for the United States, Western Europe and Japan, and which was inherently the cause of sustained poverty throughout the developing world. In the late-1990s, however, the capital equilibrium began shifting; production-cost arbitrage and outsourcing began directing cash to countries like China and India. But western economies confronted that equilibrium shift by continuing to create huge debt-based wealth, mainly through fundamentally flawed asset valuations, through unrealistic credit ratings and through rampant speculation.

Today, the capacity of large segments of American corporations and consumers to service debt is almost negligible. Valuations did not lead to cash flows and profits. Credit ratings failed to fully comprehend impairments in business models. And, as if to drive the inevitable final nail in the debt coffin, the risk insurance sector, without which the modern-day capital enterprise is a non-starter, is now destined to walk away from the wealth bubble in a matter of a few short weeks and months.

The nexus of capital, debt and insurance (and militarism, for that matter) is currently in crisis mode. American International Group (AIG), for example, will need more than US$150 billion as cash margin for its credit default swap contracts to offset the downgrades in its own credit ratings; other risk reinsurance entities, including European majors, are expected to emerge from the woodwork with serious counterparty deficits within this month. Banks like Washington Mutual and Wachovia, as other examples, are still not disclosing the foreclosure-to-sale risk inside their property portfolios. Elite Wall Street institutions, like Citibank and Morgan Stanley, are reported to be undertaking, as a matter of top priority, worst-case revaluations of all American and foreign assets appearing on their balance sheets.

The evidence is overwhelming: this crisis is like no other in American history. It is not a question of a loss of confidence but that there are no grounds for confidence at all.

As long as the global economy created genuine capital surpluses in the American capitalist structure, valuations were a non-issue, since ongoing and increasing demand for assets invariably generates its own momentum in terms of perceptions of value and future value. And exceptionally high debt levels are not considered prohibitive in the face of valuations being proven, repeatedly, at points of liquidation. But the unique combination of industrial growth and impoverishment in the emerging markets has rapidly eroded the foundations of the post-WW II capital accumulation process. Cash demand for American assets, as a consequence, has dried up, and debt can no longer underpin over-valuations.

So exactly what credit quality was AIG insuring? Surely, the underlying nexus propping up the global capitalist economy did not lend itself to actuarial mathematics. Nor did the hopelessly inadequate property valuations, often provided by unqualified appraisers on American main streets, support any credible asset definitions. By all accounts, default swap prices were predicated on the mere belief that any potential degradation of American assets was both manageable and, at worst, a cyclical phenomenon.

To offer a simplistic explanation, a credit default swap provider is required to make immediate cash reserve provisions in the event that the credit rating (issued and updated by the established credit rating agencies) of the provider is downgraded; quite clearly, the bigger the downgrade, the bigger the cash reserve requirement.

Therefore, in view of the fact that Standard & Poors, Moodys and Fitch have all lowered AIG credit ratings during the last few hours, the American financial system is due for a significant shake-up this week. Similar credit events will then follow in Europe and Japan. The less said about the impact on the third world, the better.

Rakesh Saxena is a pricing and risk analysis specialist in insurance and derivative products and has extensive deal making in the emerging economies. He can be reached at derivatives@shaw.ca. Home URL: http://www.quoteplatform.com