The 2022 Games will feature a best-on-best tournament for the first time since 2014. Here’s intel on tournament format, which countries will be in, and much more.
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Traditional lenders are large banks and small community banks. They offer term loans based on your personal credit score. The problem is, if you do not meet their requirements, you can’t get a loan with them. Many small businesses do not meet the minimum credit score requirements to get terms they can afford, or sometimes any funding at all.
This is even true of SBA loans. They are typically processed through traditional lenders. If you cannot get one, you need to find SBA loan alternatives. This is where alternative funding options enter the scene.
There are plenty of alternative business financing options available. There are alternative business lenders that offer term loans and lines of credit similar to what traditional banks offer. However, they determine creditworthiness based factors other than credit score. This can make them a good option for those that do not have good credit.
Some of them even offer alternative types of financing that many business owners have not heard of. Due to this, most business owners can find options that will work for them.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
This is the crux of why many businesses do not qualify for financing at traditional banks. The credit score is the main indicator of creditworthiness. However, with alternative funding, often the lenders understand that a bad credit score does not necessarily mean that a borrower is a bad credit risk. They take other factors into consideration.
Fundbox is one such lender. At Fundbox, 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. When you make your first draw, they will do a one time hard pull that could affect your score, but the minimum is only 550.
There is really no reason for a lender to not use the technology available today to help them make better lending decisions. Some lenders believe they could miss out on some good borrowers if they look only at credit scores. They use technology to help them do better.
Upstart uses a completely innovative platform for loans. They choose to use a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to gather alternative data for use in making credit decisions.
This may include such things as mobile phone bills, rent, deposits, withdrawals, and even other information less directly tied to finances. The software they use learns and improves on its own. You can use their online quote tool to play with different amounts and terms to see the various interest rate possibilities.
A separate business credit profile can help you get more business funding, while at the same time protecting your personal credit from your business debt. However, there are not a lot of creditors that will report payments to you business credit profile. That makes it hard to build a score. Some alternative lenders will report, which is a huge bonus.
Grameen offers microloans to women business owners. The loan amounts range from $2,000 to $15,000, and they also offer financial training and support. In addition, they do report payments are reported to Equifax and Experian, meaning these loans help borrowers build their credit.
If you fall into a specific category as a business owner, you may have some special options available to you. Like Grameen, there are other lenders that focus on helping specific groups.
Streetshares offers a variety of financing and investment products with fast application processes and funds deposited almost immediately. Lending products never have a prepay penalty, and the credit check is a soft one. There is never any impact on your credit score for applying.
They lend to various types of businesses and business owners. Still, their early mission was to help veteran business owners, and they remain true to that mission today.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
Accion is a nonprofit lending network dedicated to helping small businesses. They offer small business loans, some grant opportunities, and other resources designed to help both startups and established small businesses grow and thrive.
They lend to small business owners in general, from all backgrounds and most industries. However, they specialize in underserved populations like minorities.
This is a secret that almost no one knows. It is actually possible to get 0% financing on alternative funding and it is not a scam.
Kiva is an online lender that is a little different. The interest rate is 0%. That means even though you have to pay it back, it is absolutely free money. They do not check credit at all. Here’s the catch. You have to get at least 5 family members or friends to give to the cause.Furthermore, you have to pitch in a $25 loan to another business on the platform.
This is a form of alternative business financing rather than a specific alternative lender. The Credit Line Hybrid is a flexible product that can serve your business needs in many ways. First, you can fund your business without putting up collateral. Then, you only pay back what you use.
Your personal credit score needs to be at least 680. In addition, you can’t have any liens, judgments, bankruptcies or late payments. Also, in the past 6 months you should have less than 6 credit inquiries, and you should have less than a 45% balance on all business and personal credit cards. There are some other requirements as well.
However, If you do not meet all of the requirements you can take on a credit partner that does meet each of these requirements. Many business owners work with a friend or relative to fund their business. If a relative or a friend meets all of these requirements, they can partner with you to allow you to tap into their credit to access funding.
In addition to the Credit Line Hybrid program, here are some other alternative funding options that Credit Suite can help you with.
This Credit Suite program offers a unique and powerful way for a new or existing business to leverage assets that are in a 401(k) plan or IRA.
In as little as 3 weeks you can invest a portion of these funds into your own business. Then, you not only have more control over the performance of your retirement plan assets, but you also have the working capital you need.
It has to be a plan that you are no longer contributing to, and you can no longer work for the employer that it was opened with. Lastly, it has to have at least a $35,000 balance.
If a business has revenue of at least $120,000 per year, it may qualify for this type of funding. Lenders verify revenue using bank statements. There can be no recent bankruptcies, but the minimum credit score to qualify is 500.
The business must also be in operation for a year or more, and it must do over 5 small transactions each month to get business revenue financing.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
Outstanding account receivables can be a source of funding for your business.You can get as much as 80% of receivables advanced. Not only that, but you can have the funds in less than 24 hours. You get the rest of the accounts receivable amount once you collect full payment for the invoice. Closing takes 2 weeks or less.
Receivables should be with the government or another business.
A business that accepts credit card payments and has at least a 500 FICO can get up to $750,000 in a merchant cash advance. There must be $100,000 or more per year in credit card sales, and typical approval equals one month’s credit card financing volume.
Nothing is perfect. That includes financing alternatives for small businesses. Even top alternative lending companies sometimes get a bad rap because of the prevalence of predatory lenders in the industry. Do your research and make sure you are working with a company that is trustworthy.
The best way to do this is to work with a business credit expert like the ones at Credit Suite. This is someone who has a relationship with many reputable lenders and can help not only find the best lender for you, but also the best funding options for your business right now. They specialize in options like the Credit LIne Hybrid, lines of credit, merchant cash advances, accounts receivable Financing and more.
In addition, they can help you analyze your current fundability, and walk you through the process of improving it so that you can qualify for even more funding and better terms in the future.
The post 5 Alternative Funding Secrets Traditional Lenders Don’t Want You to Know appeared first on Credit Suite.
It’s not the decision to leave that’s the problem. It’s that we elected someone who couldn’t preside over the changing of his socks, much less the changing of a government. Fifth graders could beat him in a game of Risk.
Did you recently have an unexpected expense pop up? Are you unsure about how you’re going to pay for it? No matter how well we plan our lives out, sometimes we find ourselves in financial pickles that leave us strapped for cash. Don’t sweat it too much, though. You definitely have a few options available…
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This is a good time to learn about your Experian business credit report.
But first we should start with some definitions and background on business credit.
This is credit in the name of a business. It is not tied to the creditworthiness of its owner or owners. Rather, business credit scores will depend on how well a company can pay its bills. Hence consumer and business credit scores can vary dramatically.
There are no demands for a personal guarantee. You can quickly get business credit regardless of personal credit quality. And there is no personal credit reporting of business accounts. Business credit use won’t affect your consumer FICO score. Plus the business owner won’t be personally liable for the debt the business incurs.
Being accepted for business credit is not automatic. Building business credit requires some work. Some of the steps are intuitive, and some of them are not.
Fundability is the current ability of our business to get funding. Some factors are within your control. Others (like your time in business) are not. Your online presence and data are one area which is at or close to 100% with your control.
The better your business credit and fundability are, the more likely you will get approval for business financing.
Keep your business looking fundable (legit) with:
There are some aspects of fundability where you should pay particular attention to what is online. Such as:
Records consistency matters here. Your website should show who owns your business. And that info must be consistent. So if the owner is named Susan Johnson on your website’s About page, then she should not be listed as Sue Johnson on your Contact page. If your business ownership changes, you need to show that here.
Abbreviations can be your downfall here, as can punctuation like hyphens, commas, and colons. Maybe your Contact page says your main office is on Main Street. Then your About page should not say it is on Main St.
If your business moves, or you add subsidiaries and other locations, then you need to update that info everywhere. This even means whether you use your 5-digit ZIP code, or a ZIP plus 4 code (9 digits).
If your business is over the road trucking, then it needs to be listed that way. Pro tip: when your industry can be called several different names, mention those other phrases on your site.
When your company domain matches your business name, it helps with fundability. Pro tip: try to match what people are searching for online. So if the word ‘brothers’ is in your company name, then determine if ‘brothers’ or ‘bros’ is used by people searching for your company online.
Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.
What distinguishes an Experian business credit report from reports through the two other big credit bureaus? And can you use that data to your advantage?
There are three major credit bureaus for business: Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax. FICO SBSS and CreditSafe are also players.
In the business world Equifax and Experian are up there. But it is Dun & Bradstreet which is the major player.
Dun and Bradstreet has more than 10 times the records of the next closest reporting agency. See dnb.com/about-us/company.html. It makes sense to start with Dun and Bradstreet even when going over your Experian business credit report. This is because you must start the business credit building process with them anyway.
Go to the Dun and Bradstreet website and look for your business, at dnb.com/duns-number. But just what happens if you are unable to find it? Then get a free D-U-N-S number. You will always need a D-U-N-S number to start building business credit. Go here to get a D-U-N-S number: dnb.com/duns-number/get-a-duns.html.
A D-U-N-S number is how Dun and Bradstreet gets your company into their system. And a D-U-N-S number plus 3 payment experiences leads to a PAYDEX score. A payment experience is a record of a purchase from a business which reports to a credit reporting agency. In this case, Dun and Bradstreet. Once your business is in Dun and Bradstreet’s system, search Equifax and Experian’s sites for your business. You can do so at creditsuite.com/reports.
Business credit is in a business’s name. And it depends on how well a company can pay its bills. But Experian uses both consumer and business credit data to gauge risk.
They have found that blended data and reports work a lot better for them. For troubled businesses, blended scores dropped an average of 30% over the four quarters leading up to a bad event. The owner’s consumer scores showed no statistically significant decline during the same period.
53% of the time, the first signs of credit problems were on the business credit reports. 46% of the time, the first signs of credit problems were on the owner’s personal report. Blended scores outperformed consumer or business alone by 10 – 20%.
Per Experian:
“By combining personal and commercial credit information in one report, Experian provides a complete picture of the creditworthiness of small businesses”
Get a BIN (Business Identification Number) from Experian. Experian’s BizSource assigns a BIN.
Per Experian Business, bankruptcies stay for 7 to 10 years. Chapter 13 bankruptcy rolls off your credit report 7 years from the filing date. While Chapter 7 bankruptcy stays for 10 years from the filing date. Trade data stays on for 36 months. Judgments, collections, and tax liens stay on for 6 years and 9 months. UCC filings stay on for 5 years. See experian.com/small-business/how-long-credit-report. There are similar time frames for the two other big business credit bureaus.
Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.
We’ll look at a Typical Experian Business Credit Advantage SM Report. Experian provides a sample report where you can get an idea of what to expect. Experian changes its reports at times. So the best, most accurate and up to date source for this info is the Experian website. Find it online at https://sbcr.experian.com/pdp.aspx?pg=Sample-BCAI&hdr=report.
The first part of a report has:
Business Credit Scores range from 1 to 100. Higher scores mean lower risk. This score predicts the chance of serious credit delinquencies within the next 12 months. This score uses tradeline and collections info, public filings as well as other variables to predict future risk. This part of the report has a graph to show the score.
Key Score Factors:
Financial Stability Risk Ratings range from 1 to 5. Lower ratings indicate lower risk. A Financial Stability Risk Rating of 1 indicates a 0.55% potential risk of severe financial distress. So this is within the next 12 months.
Experian puts all businesses in one of five risk segments. This rating predicts the chance of payment default and/or bankruptcy, in the next 12 months. This rating uses tradeline and collections data. It also uses public filings and other variables to predict future risk.
Key Rating Factors:
This part has several counts of various data points. For the most part, the details are further within the report.
The data outlined shows:
This part also shows:
This part also has:
Company background has info on founding date, and where the company’s headquarters are. Plus there’s a basic background of what the business does.
This part starts with two graphs. They show the company in question versus its industry on Monthly payment trends and Quarterly payment trends.
These are percentages of on-time payments by month and quarter, respectively.
This part then shows tables with recent payment info by month and quarter. Then there are three more graphs:
This next part shows details on payment experiences (financial trades). There is also data on lender consortium experiences (financial exchange trades):
Keep your business protected with our professional business credit monitoring.
The Inquiries part shows the industry making the inquiry and a total made during a given month. The Collection Filings sector has the date, name of the agency, and status (open or closed). If a collection is closed, the Collection Filing sector also shows the closing date. The Collections Summary shows: status, number of collections, dollar amount in dispute, and amount collected (even if $0).
For leasing, this part shows:
This part shows:
This part shows cases where the company in the report is plaintiff or defendant.
This part has:
This part has:
This part shows:
Cautionary UCC Filings have one or more of the following collateral:
Experian offers suggestions on how to improve your reports. Such as:
None of the different business bureaus will change your scores without proof. They are starting to accept more and more online disputes. But include proofs of payment with it. These are documents like receipts and cancelled checks.
Fixing credit report errors also means you specifically spell out any charges you challenge. Make your dispute as crystal clear as possible. If you need to snail mail anything in, use certified mail. This is so that you have proof that you sent in your dispute. With all the different credit bureaus, be specific about the concerns with your report.
You can correct Experian issues at: experian.com/small-business/business-credit-information.
The costs of monitoring at all three big business credit reporting agencies can add up fast. At Experian, your best (least expensive) bet would be a Business Credit Advantage. Subscription Plan. It currently costs $189 per year. See sbcr.experian.com/pdp.aspx?pg=Sample&link.
All of Experian’s reports are expensive! But did you know that you can get business credit monitoring for all 3 of the big business CRAs. And all in one place – for less? Credit Suite offers monitoring through its Business Finance Suite (through Nav). See what credit issuers and lenders see. So you can directly improve your scores and get the business credit and funding you need. See suitelogin.com and creditsuite.com/monitoring.
So Experian has revamped their reports dramatically. They no longer use the term ‘Intelliscore’. This major business credit reporting agency is committed to correct data, and to helping companies improve their reports. To monitor Experian, Equifax, and Dun and Bradstreet for a lot less, monitor through Credit Suite!
The post Get to Know Your Experian Business Credit Report appeared first on Credit Suite.
Pages on the internet don’t last forever.
Some disappear overnight without warning. Other times, servers go down, or maybe you’re simply curious what your website or someone else’s looked like ten years ago.
So how do you re-access this information?
You need a web cache viewer.
It’s a tool that helps you recover backups or snapshots of websites.
In this guide, we’ll go through some of the best web cache viewer tools to help you turn back time to find missing information or even spy on your competitors.
A web cache viewer lets you see the older version or snapshot of any website, called a cache page. A cached page is a snapshot of the raw HTML and content of a page.
For example, when Google indexes your website, it takes a screenshot of what it looks like at the time and indexes it.
There are several tools to view an archived page, such as Google’s cache feature on search results and websites like the Wayback Machine dedicated to saving the internet’s history.
A web cache viewer is a valuable tool to have in your back pocket. Here are a few times you might want to use this handy tool.
Need to get information from a page with a pesky 404 error? A web cache viewer can help you see the last archived version before it went offline.
If a website went through a major makeover, you could use the cached version to revert the site to what it used to look like. This is particularly helpful for doing competitor analysis. For example, if a competitor suddenly overtook your site in the search results, you can look at older versions of their site to see what they changed.
Not seeing the SEO results you want? Did you know page caching can improve your site speed by reducing server load time by up to 80 percent? Viewing the cached version shows you what Google sees when it crawls your page. If your website is not cached, it can increase your page load times and drastically affect your bounce rate.
If the web page is slow or unresponsive, you can use the cached version to see a snapshot of the site the last time Google indexed the page. Although a cached page won’t always have up-to-date information, it can help you save time.
It’s helpful to know when the last time Google bots successfully visited your page, especially if you’re making changes to your site.
By viewing the cached version, you can see if a page is unresponsive, how it is being cached, and if there is anything you need to un-do.
While viewing cached versions sounds like an admin nightmare, several tools make the process easy, simple, and fast.
Not using Chrome extensions? You’re missing out.
Google’s Chrome extensions are programs you can install to your browser to change its functionality.
For example, you can add extensions that:
The Web Cache Viewer Chrome extension makes it easy for you to view a snapshot of the page you’re visiting. This is useful if you come across a 404 error and want to revert to the older version to see the information.
The Web Cache Viewer extension will:
Which option should you use? The Wayback Machine or Google Cache?
It comes down to what result you want from the tool.
For example, if you want to check Google is caching your site, or you need to view the last cached page of a site, Google Cache is the best option for you.
However, if you want to turn back the wheels of time and dig through a website’s past, you’ll want to use the Wayback Machine.
Got five minutes? That’s all you need to set up the extension and start using its caching functionalities.
Here’s what you need to do.
Step 1: Install the Web Cache Viewer onto your Chrome and activate the extension.
Step 2: Go to the target URL of your choice, right-click on the page, and scroll down to “View Cached Version.”
Step 3: Select either the Google Cache or Wayback Machine option.
After choosing, the extension will show you the Wayback Machine URL for the page or show you the last Google cached version.
Each time Google crawls a web page, it creates a backup, which becomes part of Google’s cache.
Step 1: Do a Google search on your computer for the page you want to find.
Step 2: When the search results load, click on the down arrow next to the site’s URL and select “Cached.”
Step 3: The cached version of the page will load. You can view the “Full Version,” “Text-Only Version,” or “View Source.”
Keep in mind that you won’t be able to navigate to other pages on the site. If you do, it will take you to the live version. You can also access the live page by clicking on the “Current Page” link at the top of the page.
Struggling to find the page you want via search results? If you have the Chrome browser, you can use the address bar to get the cached version of any URL.
Step 1: Open the Chrome browser.
Step 2: Type “cache” in the address bar followed by the URL. For example, “cache:https://neilpatel.com”
Step 3: The cached version will load, and you’ll have the same three version formats to choose from with the Google search method.
Wish you could travel back in time? Well, you can with Archive.Today.
The website is a time capsule for the internet. It takes a snapshot of a page and stores it forever, even if the original disappears.
The site saves text and graphics and will give you a link to the unalterable record of the web page.
The only catch?
You need to manually submit web pages and can only view entries that have previously been saved.
Step 1: Go to Archive.Today and scroll down to “I want to search the archive for saved snapshots.”
Step 2: Enter the URL you want to search.
Step 3: A new page will load, and you’ll see snapshots listed from oldest to newest. Click on the one you want to view.
A secure, non-editable version of the page will load. You have the option to download the zip file, share the link, and view the webpage or screenshot.
The Internet Archives runs the Wayback Machine. It’s a non-profit building a digital library of the internet’s history.
You can explore more than 553 billion cached web pages, and the site hosts an archive of text, video, audio, software, and images.
Step 1: Go to Archive.org and enter the URL or keyword you want to view in the Wayback Machine search bar.
Step 2: A search results page will load. Click on the URL of the page you want to view.
Step 3: Use the calendar at the top of the page to see what the website looked like during a specific time period.
For example, if you search neilpatel.com, you can see what my blog was like in 2013!
Don’t want to log onto the Wayback Machine every time you want to view a cached page? Download the Chrome extension.
If your site is not on the Wayback Machine, you can manually submit your URL, and it will automatically create a snapshot for you. This is useful if you want to track how your site evolves through the years.
Cachedpage.co is a website that consolidates a few of the tools I’ve mentioned already.
Once you type the URL of the page you want to view, you have three options to choose from:
Select the one you want to use, and Cached Page will redirect you to those respective sites.
It doesn’t do any caching itself, so this site is only useful if you want to save time hopping between caching tools.
As you can see, a web cache viewer is an important SEO and marketing tool to have in your online arsenal.
It can quickly help you find information removed from the internet, see how your site has changed over the years, and tell you if Google isn’t indexing your site correctly.
While there are many tools available, remember to keep intent in mind. Do you only want to view the last cached version of a page, or do you need to go further back into time?
Your answer will help you find the right solution to your caching problem.
What’s your favorite web cache viewer tool, and how to use it?
If you are thinking about starting a business, there is a lot you need to know. Our business experts can walk you through the entire process to ensure you have the fundability you need to succeed. From how to set up your business as a fundable entity to making sure you have what lenders are … Continue reading From Set Up to Business Start Up Loans: What You Need to Know About Starting a Business
Alternative business lending rose from the ashes of the 2008 crash. This was a time when lenders were giving almost no one money. It was virtually impossible to get a loan of any sort for any reason. Business loans were extremely hard to come by, and when you could get one, rates were terrible.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
As a result, alternative lenders began to pop up. Funding Circle is credited with being the first, but others soon followed. That means this is a fairly new game. It can be hard to figure out if it is one you should play. This should help.
This type of lending is offered through private companies, not traditional financial institutions like banks and credit unions. They can be an option for those who do not qualify or who do not have the time to wait for a bank loan. These lenders explore other ways of verifying creditworthiness and other forms of collateral.
Collateral may include credit card transactions, open invoices, equipment, real estate and more.
This is a question asked by many when they first start considering alternative lending options. The truth is, it depends. That’s the case with any loan. There are fees, and interest is a factor. Typically interest is higher with alternative lending. But if you can’t get anything else, you can’t really compare.
So, why choose alternative lending? Well, if you can’t get a traditional business loan you may need to consider this option. However, there are other reasons as well. For example, alternative lenders typically fund much faster. So, if you need fast cash, this could be the way to go.
Also, the application process is usually faster and easier. Often you can apply online in a matter of minutes. Repayment terms are usually more flexible as well.
As already mentioned, interest rates with alternative loans are usually higher. There is also a breeding ground for scammers in this industry. It’s important to know how to recognize predatory lending practices to avoid being taken advantage of.
If something is blocking you from being approved for a loan through a bank or credit union, then the answer to this question is probably yes. It is highly likely that this is a type of lending that can work well for your business. This is especially true if you have invoices, accept credit card payments, or need to finance equipment. Common types of alternative loans include:
There are other options as well, and they vary between lenders. These are some of the most
common however.
Now you need to figure out which lender and which products from that lender will work best for your specific business needs and goals. The best choice is to work with a business credit expert. This is someone that can help your maneuver through the process in the most effective and efficient way. That will help immediately. Beyond that, into the long-term, an expert in business credit can help you figure out why you are being denied funding, and help you fix the problem.
Where should you start when looking for alternative lenders? Here are some options to consider.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
Fundbox offers a line of credit rather than a loan. Still, it is a great funding option because there is no minimum credit score requirement.
They offer an automated process that is super-fast. Repayments are automatic, meaning they draft them electronically, and they occur on a weekly basis. One thing to remember is that you could have a repayment as high as 5 to 7% of the amount you have drawn currently, as the repayment period is comparatively short. This means you need to be sure you have enough funds in whatever account you connect them to so that it can cover your payment to Fundbox each week.
You will find with most any online lender, they often offer options more similar to invoice factoring and lines of credit. This is because those options present fewer risks than straight term loans. BlueVine is no different.
Upstart is an online lender that uses a completely innovative platform for loans. The company itself questions the ability of financial information and FICO on their own to truly determine the risk of lending to a specific borrower. Instead, they choose to use a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to gather alternative data for use in making credit decisions.
This may include such things as mobile phone bills, rent, deposits, withdrawals, and even other information less directly tied to finances. The software they use learns and improves on its own. You can use their online quote tool to play with different amounts and terms to see the various interest rate possibilities.
Upstart’s innovative platform makes them one to research for sure.
Founded in 2008 by college roommates, online lender Fora Financial now funds more than $1.3 million in working capital around the United States. There is no minimum credit score, and there is an early repayment discount if you qualify.
Obtaining financing from OnDeck is quick and easy. First, you apply the OnDeck website and receive your decision once application processing is complete. If you receive approval, your loan funds will go directly to your bank account. The loan amounts range up to $500,000.
Popular online lender Lending Club offers term loans. You can get a quote in less than 5 minutes. Funds are available in as little as 48 hours if approved. There are no prepayment penalties.
Kiva is an online lender that is a little different. For example, the interest rate is 0%. That means even though you have to pay it back, it is absolutely free money. They don’t even check your credit. However, there is one catch. You have to get at least 5 family members or friends to throw some money in the pot as well. In addition, you have to pitch in a $25 loan to another business on the platform.
Find out why so many companies use our proven methods to get business loans.
If your personal credit is okay, Accion may be a good fit for small business startup loans. It is a microlender, a nonprofit, that offers installment loans to both startups and already existing businesses.
Credibly is also a good option for business loans if you are already generating some revenue. They offer short term loans for both business expansion and working capital. You must be in business for at least 6 months to qualify, and Credibly will approve loans to those with credit scores as low as 500.
I mean, it could be a forever answer, but there is a better way. If you work to build up your fundability, you can get a lot of perks offered by alternative business lending with the interest rates offered by traditional loans. You could have the best of both worlds. It takes time to get there however, and alternative loans are the best option for many in the meantime.
The post 6 Things You Need to Know About Alternative Business Lending appeared first on Credit Suite.
If you are thinking about starting a business, there is a lot you need to know. Our business experts can walk you through the entire process to ensure you have the fundability you need to succeed. From how to set up your business as a fundable entity to making sure you have what lenders are looking for when it comes to approving start up business loans, here is what you need to know.
If your business isn’t fundable, you will not get startup business loans, plain and simple. Of course, if you are a start up you aren’t going to have a ton or revenue or business credit history. So, what can you do to ensure you have a fundable business that can get the money needed to get up and running?
Credit Line Hybrid Financing: Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive.
Fundability starts in the very beginning. How you set your business up can make or break your ability to get business start up loans. Here’s why. Lenders want to see that your business is a stand alone entity, fundable on its own apart from you as the owner. It lends credibility to your business as one that is strong and able to survive on its own merits.
To start this process, you need to make sure your business has its own name and contact information. Do not use your own phone number, address, or email address. You also need to apply for an EIN. It’s free on the IRS website. This is an identifying number for your business that’s similar to an SSN for an individual.
After that, it is vital that you incorporate. Choose whichever options works best for your budget and liability needs, S-corp, LLC, or corporation. But, you must do it. It makes all the difference when applying for business start up loans.
Then, you need to have a separate, dedicated business bank account. It further lends credibility to your business as one that is legit, and there are a number of other benefits that will serve your business well in the future. For now, just know it is preferred by lenders.
If your business is properly set up, you will need a business plan. Most business loan applications have a place where you can just fill in the blanks for this part, but that is not what you want to do. You need a professional, well put together business plan that shows you know what you are doing with the money you are asking for.
You can find templates online, including at SBA.gov. However, it’s even better if you can hire a professional business plan writer. You will also likely have to hire other professionals to help you complete each part of the business plan.
For example, you will need a marketing specialist to help you with the market research and an accountant to help with the forecast and other financial sections. The better your business plan presentation is, the better off you will be.
Ok, so now for the nuts and bolts. You cannot start a business without money. If your business is properly set up and you have a solid, professional business plan, you have given yourself a great start. It’s time to find the money.
Credit Line Hybrid Financing: Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive.
There are a few different options when it comes to business start up loans. Traditional loans are the most common and typically the first on the list with new business owners. It’s just what everyone knows. If you want to start a business you go to the bank and get a loan. That works for a lot of people.
Generally these are all secured loans. That means you put up collateral. However, if you have fabulous personal credit, you might be able to get an unsecured business start up loan. The thing is, you may not want to. You are almost always going to get better rates and terms if you use collateral.
For most, SBA loans are going to be the way to go. These are business loans that have a government guarantee. Because of this, lenders are able to offer them to business owners with lower credit scores than they would otherwise, and the interest rates tend to be better as well.
This is a great option for those needing business start up loans for a number of reasons. First, if security is an issue, this is totally unsecured business financing. You do not put up any collateral, and you can get up to $150,000. It is also no-doc financing, meaning you do not have to provide banks statements or financials of any kind.
All you need is to have a personal credit score of at least 680 and meet a few other requirements. However, if you do not meet those requirements, you can take on a credit partner that does. You can use the credit of a friend or family member to apply for the credit line hybrid, and the payments will still report to your business credit report, thus building your business credit score.
Even though business start up loans are where most new business owners head first for funding, they are far from being the only way. Of course corporate investors are an option. Similar to a business plan, you need a pitch. Angel investors are an option as well. While debt free and effective, neither of these are particularly easy to come by.
Another option when it comes to looking for investors is Crowdfunding. It’s not a huge success rate, but there are some businesses that are able to get all they need from this form of funding. You’ll never know if you don’t try.
The biggest issue when it comes to business start up loans, and really any other part of starting a business, is getting through the weeds. It can be overwhelming to try and figure out what you need to do to qualify for the funding you need, and then figure out what funding will actually work best for you. A business credit expert is vital to this process. While it is possible to do it alone, it is well worth any expense to get things done not only faster, but the right way to ensure nothing is missed.
Credit Line Hybrid Financing: Get up to $150,000 in financing so your business can thrive.
The truth is, fundability matters regardless of the type of start up funding you use. The reason is, you are likely going to need to access funding of some type throughout the life of your business. If your business is not fundable, you will not be able to get it. So, the best option is to work with a business credit expert now, to get you on the path to fundability while helping you find business start up loans and other types of start up funding to get you up and running. Building fundability and business credit takes knowledge and intentionality. Don’t try to do it alone. You don’t have to.
The post From Set Up to Business Start Up Loans: What You Need to Know About Starting a Business appeared first on Credit Suite.
Even during COVID-19, you can still get financing via crowdfunding. But you should know these recession crowdfunding terms.
Crowdfunding can seem to be a bit of a mystery. Why are people willing to part with their cash in this particular manner? There are a lot of recession crowdfunding terms thrown around all the time and they can sometimes get confusing. So consider this your primer on some basic crowdfunding terminology.
Because even if you do not think you will use this method of fundraising, you will probably encounter it all the same.
But before going any further, does crowdfunding ever actually, you know, work?
For some companies which crowdfund, the rewards are great. According to Crowdfunding Blog, the single most successful crowdfunding campaign was for the Pebble Time Smartwatch. And that was as of November of 2018. But before you run out and buy one, note that they are now a part of FitBit.
As in, they went out of business in July of 2018. And this is a business which raised over $20 million in 2015. That is no typo. And in point of fact, Pebble holds three of the top six spots in the biggest crowdfunding successes of all time. Together, these three crowdfunding campaigns took in a staggering $43.39 million. This is about $8 million more than the town of Huntington, New York (population 203,264) budgeted for highways in 2018.
Hence there is one thing that should be clear to all. Runaway crowdfunding success is no guarantee whatsoever of actual success.
But now it is time to get to the recession crowdfunding terms themselves.
A project is what you are asking for money for. Projects can take a few months or even years. The more complex your project, then (usually) the longer it will take. The person starting the project is generally called the project runner or the project creator.
Projects can be for goods or for services.
What frustrates you the most about funding your business in a recession? Tell us in the comments.
The people who donate to the project are called donors. Or sometimes they are referred to as contributors or backers.
On rare occasions, they may even be called investors. However, such a word connotes a far different relationship. Many crowdfunding platforms shy away from such a term. And this is for good reason. It is because investors and investments may come under the purview of the SEC. The Securities and Exchange Commission exists in order to protect investors. This is in ways not current available to donors 0r other contributors to the success of businesses.
Hence, unless the crowdfunding platform is specifically for investing in companies, more like angel investing, you are not too terribly likely to see the investor.
The act of requesting money on a crowdfunding platform is called a campaign. This is the soup to nuts of crowdfunding. So it covers everything from the first pitch to the final collection or perk distribution.
In general, donor levels refer to the amount of rewards which are on offer for a particular size donation. Note: I will get to rewards in a moment. Your donor levels might look something like this:
Donor levels are limited by your imagination and your capacity for handling complexity. After all, five separate donor levels mean you are keeping five separate lists. If you are well-organized, then this is possible. But it is not easy. Five separate donor levels are plenty, particularly for people running their first campaigns.
Truthfully, you will be a far happier person if you cut the number of donor levels to no more than three.
Of course, time and budget should be considerations for anyone. But that is not just the case for crowdfunding.
What frustrates you the most about funding your business in a recession? Tell us in the comments.
One basic about crowdfunding for creative projects is that you will need to provide incentives for your donors to open up their wallet. Crowdfunding to help someone with their medical expenses is a different animal. So let us get back to crowdfunding for business funds.
This is where perks come in.
Your rewards can be nearly anything. But it can quite literally pay to have them relate directly to your project.
For example, if you are crowdfunding to get enough money to back your new smart phone invention, then your rewards probably should not be your grandmother’s blueberry muffin recipe. And this is no matter how wonderful it may be. Instead, you could base your rewards around your invention. So this could be everything from offering a case to an extra battery or charger. Or you might even offer an app which only your donors can download.
Rewards are a very real part of crowdfunding and they can often be a part which project creators do not take into consideration. Sometimes, we think a product will go to market in, say, a year. But circumstances change, and now one year turns into two. So be it – this sort of thing happens all the time.
But it is an issue if your perks are dependent on your product going out the door. So if you need to fulfill perk promises to 10,000 people, you will likely find you need to do one of any of these things:
Reneging is not an option, and it can get you on the wrong end of a lawsuit if you are not careful.
A fourth option is delaying perk fulfillment. Not every donor will go for that.
Sending out so many perks is a major task. It can take months to get everything out the door.
Why does it take so long? Consider the degree of complexity. Let’s go with an easy number: 100. So let’s say you have 10 separate perk levels and they each have 10 slots. Once an eleventh person wants a certain perk level, they just plain can’t have it, as it’s gone. Are you with me so far?
Your ten separate perk styles may be of differing weights. So this means they will have different shipping costs. If any of your 100 donors are outside of the United States, then you will have to pay more to ship to them as well. Plus of course you have to make sure all of the addresses are complete and correct.
It becomes even more complex when your perks do not fit into such neat little buckets. This is where you have, say, eight perks. And you might have anywhere from 12 to 1,000 people who are supposed to be getting them. Plus some people may have donated twice and are waiting for two separate perks. Or maybe even more.
See how ugly and difficult this can get – fast?
What frustrates you the most about funding your business in a recession? Tell us in the comments.
The easiest way to get around these issues is to offer intangible perks. In our smart phone example, the exclusive app would fit the bill nicely. Your best bet is to make the intangible perk good for the largest number of donors possible.
Hence if your lowest level is $10, and you have 100 of those slots, then you could just give 100 people a download code. This is a lot faster than figuring out postage for all of those donors. Plus, with an intangible perk, technically the number of perks is effectively infinite. But scarcity gets people interested, so you might not want to make the downloads never-ending.
For the more tangible perks, leave them for far smaller groups, such as the 25 people who are at your two top donor levels. Mailing to 25 people is far easier than it is to mail to 10,000 people. And this is so even if the mailings are difficult.
No? Then what do you call a coupon sent in email? See, there are ways to offer intangible perks even when the entire business operation is very, very tangible. Coupons have been around, seemingly, forever. People will gladly print them off or carry them in their smartphones for scanning.
Or there can be discount codes, which are virtually the same thing, except with no designing of a coupon to be cut out or scanned. Amazon, for example, gives these out all the time. And the vast majority of backers will know exactly how to use them.
There is, of course, more to recession crowdfunding terms than this. But these should at the very least get you started. And as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments section of this blog post.
In Part 2, we will talk about types of crowdfunding and types of platforms. There’s more to this unique form of financing than just recession crowdfunding terms.
The post Recession Crowdfunding Terms You Should Know, Unveiled appeared first on Credit Suite.