Tag: Deal

10 Preventable SMB Lending Deal Killers

What is SMB Lending?

SMB lending is small and midsize business lending. This can be through banks, credit unions, online alternative lenders, private lenders, and others. But like every other form of business financing, SMB lending it’s far from a sure thing.

Your business needs money (all businesses do). And you’re ready to sign on the dotted line and take out a loan. But then the verdict comes back – denial! What do you do? And, more importantly, how do you prevent such an issue from cropping up again?

Basic Issues with Loan Denials

Your lender wants to be assured that you can and will pay them back. Essentially, if you don’t have business credit, they are looking for one or more of these three characteristics of you and/or your business:

  • Collateral
  • Personal Credit (yours or a guarantor’s)
  • Cash Flow

It all comes down to fundability

Fundability

Fundability is your business’s ability to get funding. You can make it harder or easier for your business to get money. A lot of the power is in your hands. So choose wisely.

Build for Fundability

A business starts with no credit profile. Therefore, what’s on an application is all that’s reviewed for approvals, so your application must be very strong. Half of all companies fail in their first 5 years, and 2/3 in the first 10. As a result, new businesses don’t seem fundable to lenders. You can change that.

SMB Lending Deal Killer #1: Your Business Seems to be Too Risky

Many entrepreneurs put the name of their industry in their business name. But this is a mistake that can lead to denials. Keep the name of a high-risk or restricted industry out of your business name. There is nothing underhanded about this – it is above board and honest.

Some restricted industries include:

  • oil trading or energy
  • finance companies and pawn shops
  • ammunition or weapons manufacturing
  • bail bonds, check cashing agencies
  • political campaigns
  • X-rated products or entertainment

If your business name shows you’re in one of these industries you may get a denial.

Fix #1: Keep the Name of a High Risk Industry Out of Your Business Name

Many lenders automatically decline if a business name indicates a high risk industry. But your business doesn’t have to be called Jennifer’s Check Cashing. It can be called simply Jennifer’s. While this won’t guarantee success, at least it will get your business past an initial denial based on your business name containing a red flag.

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

SMB Lending Deal Killer #2: Records Inconsistency

One of the most common reasons for loan and credit card application denials is the lender can’t easily locate a business online. The business name, address, etc. on your application should be the exact same as what’s listed online and with your Secretary of State. This even means hyphens and abbreviations. Inconsistencies spell fraud to lenders, no matter what your ethics and intentions are.

Fix #2: Keep Your Records Consistent Everywhere

Make sure your business information is exactly the same on corporation papers, licenses, utility statements, and bank statements. Also make sure the business name and all other information is the same on as many online listings you can find. And keep in mind that a full business name should include any recorded DBA filing in use. But consider a DBA a short stop on the way to incorporating.

SMB Lending Deal Killer #3: Issues with Your EIN, SIC and NAICS Codes, Corporate Entity, and Licenses

To get financing or credit for your business you must have a business entity. A corporation or LLC gives you more credibility in many cases. It also helps you reduce your liability. And it separates you from your business. It makes the business a separate legal entity. Make sure your entity is set up in the same state as your business address. Choose your entity at the IRS website.

Fix #3: Settle Your EIN, SIC and NAICS Codes, Corporate Entities, and Licenses

Your corporation must have a Federal Tax ID number (EIN). Just like you have a Social Security Number, your business has an EIN. You use your Tax ID number to open a bank account and to build a business credit profile. Take the time to verify all agencies, banks, and trade credit vendors have your business listed with the same Tax ID number.  Also make sure your address with the IRS is the same as listed everywhere else.

The IRS website is where you choose SIC and NAICS codes. Industries are categorized by 2 kinds of codes. SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) and NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) – you chose these codes. Be honest when you choose yours. But there’s no reason to choose the riskiest code if a less risky one might apply.

Fix #3: Get Your Licenses

Make sure you have the proper licensing for your corporation. Make sure the address on your licenses is the same as all other documents. Contact State, County, and City Government offices, see if there are any required licenses and permits to operate your type of business. Being licensed also builds credibility in your business, and that can help you get more customers.

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

SMB Lending Deal Killer #4: Business Address Issues

Your business address has to be a real brick and mortar building. It must be deliverable physical address. For a retail establishment, this should not be a residential address or a PO Box. Don’t use UPS mailing addresses. Some lenders will not approve and fund unless you meet this criterion.

Fix #4: Take Care of Your Business Address Issues

Lenders check with USPS and places like Google Maps to see if you’re using a residential address. If you are, and yours is a retail business, you could get an immediate decline. For a retail business, do NOT use a residential address on your application! Not even if your company is just you. But you can often use a virtual address. We like Regus, Davinci, and Alliance. But keep in mind, not every vendor will accept a virtual address.

SMB Lending Deal Killer #5: Not Paying Attention to Business Phone Numbers, and a 411 Listing

Lenders can see an 800 Number or toll-free phone number as a sign of business credibility. Even if you’re a single owner with a residence-based business, a toll-free number provides the perception that you are an even bigger company. It’s incredibly easy and inexpensive to set up a virtual local phone number or a toll free 800 number.

Fix #5: Pay Attention to Business Phone Numbers, and a 411 Listing

A cell or residential phone number as your main business line could get you flagged as un-established – but VOIP is okay. Do not give a personal cell phone or residential phone as the business phone number. Your phone number must be listed with 411 for most credit issuers and lenders to approve you. Check your record to see if you have a listing. Make sure your information is accurate. No record? Then use ListYourself.net to get a listing. Business phone number should be toll-free (800 exchange or comparable).

SMB Lending Deal Killer #6: Non-Professional Website and Email

Lenders will research your corporation on the internet. It is best if they learned everything directly from your corporate website. Not having a company website can severely hurt any chances of getting loans. Use places like TemplateMonster.com and Upwork.com and get a site up cheap and fast.

Fix #6: Set Up a Professional Website and Email

You need a professional website, more than a listing on Yelp. Buy a domain from a place like GoDaddy. Your domain should be your business name, if possible.

You need a company email address for your business. This email must be on the same domain as your website. Use a professional email address like yourname@yoursite.com. This usually comes with a website domain provider like GoDaddy. It is not just professional it also greatly helps your chances of getting approval from a lender. Do not use AOL, Gmail, or similar kinds of email.

SMB Lending Deal Killer #7: Business Bank Account Carelessness

When first opening up and working with your business bank account, you always need to be looking to the future. That future is bank loans. Set your business up for bank loan approval success. Being careful with your business bank account is the key.

Fix #7: Take Care of Your Business Bank Account

Your business banking history is vital! It lead directly to your success, or failure is securing larger business loans. The longer your business banking history, the better your borrowing potential is.

You must have a bank account devoted strictly to your business. This helps at tax time. The IRS does not want you commingling funds. Make accounting easier and reduce the risk of audit. Keep personal and business funds separate. The simplest and best way to do this is with a separate account.

Open Your Business Bank Account ASAP

The date you open your business bank account, is the day that lenders consider your business to have started. So if you incorporated your business 10 years ago, but just opened the business bank account yesterday, then your business started yesterday.

Keep a Great Bank Ratings with Your Business Bank Account

Your bank rates you on your balances and more. Higher rated businesses get loans, lower rated businesses do not. When applying for a bank loan, maintain $10,000 on average in your bank account for at least 3 months.

A $10,000 average balance for 3 or more months gives you what’s called a Low-5 rating. With a Low 5 rating, most conventional banks see your corporation as fundable. If you don’t have a Low-5, you can still get corporate credit and alternative loans, but you would not be able to get a conventional loan. Bank ratings measure how responsible the account owner is with funds.

You can also help your business’s bank rating with:

  • Using more bank products (like certificates of deposit)
  • Consistent deposits
  • Rising balances

Demolish your funding problems with 27 killer ways to get cash for your business.

SMB Lending Deal Killer #8: Not Getting Your Personal Financial House in Order

Personal credit quality is often helpful for getting funding. So if personal credit is not in order, get it straightened out and improve it. Don’t neglect this piece.

Fix #8: Get Your Personal Financial House in Order

For a business loan at a conventional bank you need good personal, business, and bank credit. While you want to build good business credit, having good personal credit can get you started. Good personal credit will open doors, and it will open them earlier.

Personal credit scores are based on:

  • Payment history – so pay your bills on time and pay down your balances
  • Utilization/Amounts Owed – so don’t max out your cards
  • Credit Mix – so carry more than one type of credit card
  • Length of Credit History/New Credit – so don’t close older accounts, and don’t constantly shop for new cards

SMB Lending Deal Killer #9: No Business Credit

Your business has its own credit, just like you do. It’s a measure of how well your business can pay its bills. But without building that credit, your scores will be low/nonexistent. This will kill any business loan deal.

Fix #9: Set Up for Business Credit and Get Your Business Identification Numbers

Go to D&B’s website and look for your business. Can’t find it? Then get a free D-U-N-S number. Your D-U-N-S plus 3 payment experiences gets you a PAYDEX score. Once you are in D&B’s system, search Equifax and Experian’s sites for your business. You can do so via Credit Suite.

Another ID number is the BIN (Business Identification Number) number. Experian’s BizSource assigns a BIN. A business must be listed with CRAs to establish business credit. You can also be denied funding if you don’t have a credit score or a low credit score with D&B, Experian, or Equifax.

SMB Lending Deal Killer #10: Poor Business Credit

It’s not enough to just get your ID numbers. You need to actively build business credit – it doesn’t just happen. But you can’t start off with Visa and Mastercard. Instead, you can get started at vendors like Uline.

Fix #10: Build Business Credit

Get the most favorable funding by paying all bills on time. This gets you:

  • A PAYDEX score of 80
  • Equifax Credit Risk Score of 90 or better
  • And a good FICO SBSS score – it is driven (in part) by on-time payments and business credit history
  • For Experian, historical behavior (payment history) = 5-10% of total score

Your business’s payment performance matters more than anything else.

Fix #10: Start Business Credit Monitoring

Keep your business credit scores high and your reports accurate with credit monitoring. We offer it for less. Check all listings with the business CRAs for accuracy and completeness. You want to be sure any info they have is accurate. See creditsuite.com/reports.

Preventable Lending Deal Killers: Takeaways

You can help avert these lending deal killers in 10 separate ways. Setting up your business properly, with a good name and professional address, phone, etc. will help. So will getting a proper EIN, SIC and NAICS codes, and all required licensing. Responsibly handle your bank account and business and personal credit, too. Monitoring helps you keep your business credit scores high, and we offer it for less.

The post 10 Preventable SMB Lending Deal Killers appeared first on Credit Suite.

An Updated In-Depth Fundbox Review: Are They Still a Good Deal?

Fundbox is one of several lending companies online. They offer Invoice Financing.  Surprisingly, this is not the same as Invoice Factoring. Our Fundbox review can help you decide if their financing options are a good fit for your business.

Fundbox Works for Some, Not So Much for Others

Here’s the thing.  They make it easier to get approval for financing.  There is a credit check. However, for the application it is only a soft pull.  The key is, the minimum credit score is 500. Comparatively, this is much lower than with other lenders.  There is a one-time hard credit pull on the first draw, so keep that in mind.

What They Offer: Invoice Financing and Lines of Credit

They do not offer invoice factoring.  In contrast, instead of purchasing your accounts receivables for a percentage of the money owed to you, they will finance up to the full amount in the form of a loan.  Then, you pay it back as your customers pay their invoices. Also, they do not communicate directly with your customers. 

In addition, they offer Business Lines of Credit. In fact, you can get a line of credit up to $60,000 within about 3 minutes on average.  Furthermore, this amount goes up to $100,000 with financials. The 500 personal credit score minimum holds for lines of credit the same as invoice financing.  Basically, they just want to connect to your business bank account. They can provide up to $100,000 in credit.

Check out how our reliable process will help your business get the best business credit cards. 

Fundbox: Fees

Fees start at 4.66% of the amount drawn.  If you pay early, then the remaining draw amount plus one weekly fee is debited from your account on the upcoming payment date. However, if you miss a payment, they will continue to debit your account as scheduled.  In addition, there will be an ACH for an additional average fee plus a $6 NSF charge. 

Fundbox: Funding Requirements

Honestly, they look for healthy businesses. This means with accounting software, they want to see a lot of receivables, invoices going out, and healthy revenue. If you’re showing your bank account, they want to see strong transactions. Generally, they are looking for around $50,000 or more in a bank account. Typically, they want to see a minimum of three years in business. They also want to see a variety of customers. 

For companies with a minimum of one year in business, they want at least three months’ worth of transactions.  

Remember: 

  • They consider business merit as opposed to personal credit.  For application purposes, they will do a soft pull on your personal credit. This will not affect your credit score.  They want to see a minimum personal score of 500. When you make your first draw, they will do a one time hard pull that could affect your score, so keep that in mind. 
  • Timing matters. Take into consideration when you will need the funds. How much time are you willing to spend filling out an application?
  • Do your own research on fees.  Educate yourself on how much they are and what they cover.
  • Consider how much credit you really need? You don’t want to be paying for money that you do not need.
  • You control your information.   

Fundbox: Reputation and ReviewsGet Money from Online Lending Credit Suite

The first place I go to check up on a company’s reputation is the Better Business Bureau.  Things look pretty good. They have an A+ rating, and they have been accredited since 2014.  There are 5 reviews, and 4 of them are negative. However, considering how long they have been around, you have to figure there are a ton of happy customers out there, too.  Also, it seems that most of the reviews are centered around recent growing pains that will likely work themselves out given their success thus far.

There are also 7 complaints.  The details of the complaints are not public, but it seems that each one was at least answered by Fundbox.  This shows the company pays attention to what customers are saying. 

The Benefits

The benefits of Fundbox funding include flexibility in connecting to your business bank account, and fast approval. Another advantage is that they stay out of your relationship with your clients. Your clients need never know that you are working with them.

The Cost

Oddly enough, one of the benefits is also a drawback.  Many people are uncomfortable with giving them bank account access, even if it does streamline processes. Of course, this is the very thing that makes it possible for them to not run a credit check.  As a result, business owners with bad credit can turn here. This is important for some. Another disadvantage is the high fee if you miss a payment.

What’s the Final Word?

Fundbox works best for those businesses that can pay back their debts on time. Of course, that’s the case for any lender.   You’ll have to decide if the benefits of using Fundbox outweigh the costs for your business. Certainly, they are a legit business.  Just do your research and know what you are getting into on the front end.

The post An Updated In-Depth Fundbox Review: Are They Still a Good Deal? appeared first on Credit Suite.

5 delegated gamers that can show deal purchases for Premier …

ESPN FC’s Gab Marcotti claims the attraction of Champions League football could be sufficient to have Paul Pogba taking a look at various other clubs to bet following period.

ESPN FC'’s Steve Nicol provides his take on possible Liverpool summer season transfer relocations, seeing Neil Etheridge as a qualified back-up for Alisson.
While Man United, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea as well as to a lower level Spurs, are generally costly buyers, this period all 6 would certainly invite a deal buy or 2. The Premier League transfer area is an excellent area to begin, as among the garbage, Nick Miller composes there is actual prize to be located.

The post 5 delegated gamers that can show deal purchases for Premier … appeared first on Buy It At A Bargain – Deals And Reviews.

Realty Agent Guide-Best Real Estate Agent Makes Best Deal

Realty Agent Guide-Best Real Estate Agent Makes Best Deal

An actual estate representative discovers vendors for customers as well as customers for the vendors of actual estate. Genuine estate representative can be an individual as well as a company that assists you in selling/buying actual estate.
Genuine estate broker informs you the existing worth of genuine estate. Genuine estate broker offers with commercial, domestic as well as industrial actual estate. Representative can supply assistance for any kind of kind of genuine estate.
Occasionally genuine estate representatives function without having any type of kind of genuine estate broker agent. You must be mindful of such points at the assigning a genuine estate representative.
Call 2 or even more representatives for meeting and after that ask some concerns regarding the companies where they benefited time, managing which sort of clients, for how long they’re in sell/purchase company as well as additionally inquire about energetic variety of customers. After obtaining called for info regarding them choose 1 or 2 finalists from them. Later on make a solitary phone call to picked property representatives and also choose just one that is the most effective.
Typically genuine estate representatives do not function as legal representatives for the celebrations however they offer the ideal solutions for the vendors as well as purchasers. For purchasers, genuine estate representative locates the much better actual estate as per purchasers’ demands.
Obtain your realty representative immediately!

An actual estate representative discovers vendors for purchasers and also purchasers for the vendors of genuine estate. Genuine estate representative can be an individual as well as a company that assists you in selling/buying actual estate.
Often actual estate representatives function without having any type of kind of actual estate brokerage firm. For purchasers, actual estate representative discovers the much better actual estate as per purchasers’ demands.

The post Realty Agent Guide-Best Real Estate Agent Makes Best Deal appeared first on Buy It At A Bargain – Deals And Reviews.

Deal with to Focus on Results in 2006– Website Results, That Is!

Fix to Focus on Results in 2006– Website Results, That Is! One resolution you might not have actually thought about is boosting your site results in the coming year. If your internet site isn’t giving outcomes, it’s time for an adjustment. Straighten your website with your company goals If you’re preparing a website redesign, significant … Continue reading Deal with to Focus on Results in 2006– Website Results, That Is!