Bill and his guests – John Brennan, Kara Swisher, David Corn, Saru Jayaraman, and Rick Wilson answer viewer questions after the show. (Originally aired 08/24/18)
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You may think applying for a business loan is simply a matter of filling out the application. In truth, it’s more involved than that. In fact, there are many factors in the process that can affect your chances of approval. Some of these factors you cannot control, some you can. Knowing how to handle what you can control will help lead to easy business loan approval.
Before you apply, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
Now, don’t just ask and answer these questions passively in your head. In contrast, be intentional. The answers will help you apply for the right loan for your business. Truly, this is a huge part of increasing the chances of easy business loan approval.
Once you know the answers to these questions, use these tips to ensure you have the best approval chances possible.
Really, everything from your business name and contact information to your business website plays a role. Surprisingly, even small details that seem inconsequential can cause a loan application to be delayed or denied altogether.
For example, your business needs its own phone number, and toll free is best. Then, list it in the 411 directory. Also, make sure your business address is a physical address where you can receive mail. Don’t use a P.O. Box or UPS box. Virtual addresses are okay, but some lenders will not accept them. If you run your business from home, you can use your home address.
You also need an EIN, and your business needs to be incorporated. A dedicated business bank account is a must as well. Furthermore, make sure you have all the necessary licenses to operate legally at all levels-federal, state, and local.
If you already have a business website, it needs to be professional. Even more important, make sure it is user friendly and well put together. If a lender sees a poorly put together website, it will not look good. Also, your business email address should have the same URL as your business website. Do not use free hosting services or free email services.
Of course, sufficient collateral is one of the best ways to get easy business loan approval. It reduces lender risk, which is one of a lender’s main objectives. Lack of collateral doesn’t necessarily mean denial, but having collateral definitely increases approval chances.
If you have good personal credit, a personal guarantee will for sure improve approval chances. Most traditional lenders will require it anyway. Still, you can sometimes reduce lender reliance on a personal guarantee if you have good business credit.
If you have set up your business to be fundable, you already have a head start on this. To begin building business credit, you need accounts in your business name reporting to the business credit reporting agencies.
Before you can start, you need to get a D-U-N-S number from Dun & Bradstreet. Then, start working with starter vendors to get accounts reporting. This process takes time, so if you do not already have established business credit, and you need a loan now, you may have to rely on collateral and a personal guarantee to get you there.
Still, building business credit is wise, and it’s never too late to start.
There are many types of loans and lenders. You need to know which ones will work best for you and your situation. The truth is, applying for the right product for your business, from the right lender, at the right time, will go a long way toward easy business loan approval.
With a traditional lender term loan, you are almost always going to have to give a personal guarantee. If your personal credit score isn’t good, approval is unlikely. Of course, strong collateral can help with that.
So, what kind of personal credit score do you need to have in order to qualify for a traditional term loan? For most, a FICO of 750 is good. Sometimes, you can get approval with a score of 700+. Yet, the terms will not be as favorable.
If you have really great business credit, your lender might be more inclined to be a little more flexible. However, your personal credit score will still weigh heavily on the terms and interest rate.
These are traditional bank loans, but they have a guarantee from the federal government. The Small Business Administration, or SBA, works with lenders to offer small businesses funding solutions that borrowers may not be able to get based on their own credit history.
Because of the government guarantee, lenders can be more flexible with credit score requirements. It is possible to get an SBA microloan with a personal credit score between 620 and 640. The trade-off is that the SBA loan application process is lengthy.
This is revolving credit, like a credit card. Rates are typically much better than a credit card however. For these, the application and approval process is similar to that of a traditional term loan.
These are lenders other than traditional banks and credit unions that offer term loans and lines of credit. Generally, they offer more flexible approval requirements and a much faster application process. Typically, you can apply online and get approval in as little as 24 hours. Better yet, funds may be in your account within 24 to 48 hours after approval.
These can work well if your personal credit isn’t terrible and you need funding quickly. Additionally. they may be a good option if your NAICS code is high risk.
Knowing the different options, and what is required by each for approval, will help you choose the options that will work best for your needs and that you are most likely to be approved for.
For easy approval, you have to convince lenders that your business will be a good investment. It’s best to hire professional writers and researchers to help you write your business plan. If you can’t, there are plenty of free resources online to help with a business plan, including templates.
A well put together business plan should include the following:
The simplest way to ensure you can easily get the funding you need for your business is to build strong business fundability. To do that, you need to set up your business with a fundable foundation and begin building business credit, among other things.
A business credit specialist can help you assess your current fundability, and guide you through the steps needed to improve it, if necessary. They can also help you find the best financing options for your business based on your current fundability. Get a free consultation today.
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Are you ready for X reality? It’s coming, too, along with a host of exciting business and marketing opportunities.
Here is what it is, why it matters, and how to use it to grow your business.
X reality is short for extended reality. Sometimes called cross reality, it’s a convergence of the real, physical world around us and a digital world or space.
One way to think about it is combining a digital or virtual experience with a physical one. There are many different ways this plays out, but as the technology develops, the opportunities explode.
To get a better picture of what we’re talking about, let’s take a moment to imagine. Have you ever taken a tour through a museum with a set of headphones that give an audible experience as you walk along? Suddenly, it sounds like you are walking through the Wild West or wherever this experience is taking place.
Now add visuals and other physically interactive elements. Maybe you can actually touch the doors of the saloon or watch the scenes change as you walk down the dusty road. You can draw your pistol for a duel.
Imagine having these experiences, even when you aren’t at the museum. Maybe it’s in your own backyard. Or your hometown main street. Your reality has merged with the virtual. Your reality is extended.
The technology that allows for these immersive reality experiences is constantly evolving, bringing our reality closer to the virtual experience.
To get the full X reality experience, certain hardware may be required. Again, think about enhancing the physical with the digital. You may need tools to provide that combined experience. Typical hardware may include a tablet, such as an iPad, a smartphone, a headset, earphones, or other body wear, including gloves, etc.
The specifics reflect the specific experience, and what you are trying to achieve for the user. Some extended reality experiences are simpler, while others are more involved and more immersive.
In so many ways, it is the future of marketing. Whatever marketing campaign you’re developing, the goal is to get your brand out there and help your target market see how they can’t live without your brand. Extended reality opens a world of opportunities to interact with products, services, and brands.
It’s not just in the sales funnel at an introductory level where X reality can support your brand growth. It can help you build brand awareness, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, word of mouth, and referrals, and more.
Here are a few ways it can be used in your business:
As X reality continues to expand, the entire marketing ecosystem will evolve as well, calling us to respond. Everything from brick-and-mortar experiences to SEO will be impacted by X reality.
X reality is an overarching term that can refer to each of these: augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). While these are sometimes used interchangeably, the specifics can vary, and they do have exact definitions. Let’s dive in.
Augmented reality is about overlaying the real world and the experiences of the physical world around us with virtual or digital enhancements. Augmenting means to make something bigger or better, so augmented reality is about making the things you see around you somehow better, depending on your definition of better.
It’s a way of interacting with the people and things around you and a digital space simultaneously, often using the camera of a smartphone or mobile device to interact.
Virtual reality refers to interactive, immersive experiences that are computer-generated. Virtual reality experiences are about full digital worlds that are a sort of escape or separation from the real world, rather than an overlay. Virtual reality requires hardware to help the user jump into the virtual world. These tools may include a headset, viewers, glasses or goggles, as well as other items like gloves. With these, the user is able to simulate experiences in their virtual world, incorporating their own bodies and movement.
Mixed reality is exactly as it sounds. It’s a mix of the virtual world with the physical. According to Microsoft, when it comes to the spectrum of physical and virtual worlds, mixed reality sits in the middle. It’s also in the middle of virtual reality and augmented reality. It takes place with one foot, or one digital foot, in each space.
Mixed reality is where a lot of technology evolution is pushing right now. While it’s easy to come up with examples of AR or VR, mixed reality is more about pressing those concepts together, using all the tools and technologies we have to create even more exciting experiences.
While these three concepts differ slightly in their starting points, and the tools needed to make them work, they do have one thing in common: They are about extending a digital world into our everyday lives with greater ease and more seamless connections.
These three types of X reality are ripe with the ability to bring better user experiences to your customers throughout the sales process, to help you ultimately reach your own brand goals.
As much as there are fun and entertaining ways to use X reality, there are also powerful and exciting ways to integrate the technology into your business to support your sales goals. Using extended reality keeps you on the cutting edge, setting you apart from your competition who may be slow to adopt it.
It also equips your customers and your team with opportunities. Here are just a few ideas to get you thinking.
When it comes to staying organized with everything you are creating and selling, your product content management system is the heartbeat of it all. Whether it’s a spreadsheet or integrated software, it’s the place where you keep all the details, facts, and data behind each product.
Here’s where X reality can take your product management system to the next level. Imagine being able to react to your customers’ needs and product demands in virtual 3D space. This interactive design is growing in popularity, allowing teams to make tweaks or try new designs, simulating a real-world without the cost or ability to actually create items.
This is particularly useful for products at scale that are too large or expensive to create prototypes of. It also gives the whole team an opportunity to actually interact with a product, so you don’t have to slow down, collect questions, run the numbers, and make necessary edits. It’s a time-saver and brings proof of concept faster.
There is an added benefit of these digitally connected X reality systems. They can connect with your product content management system and share data. You can keep track of all the specs of your current products, as well as all the information about products in development, in real-time.
Remote teams benefit from a host of technologies that allow them to communicate and stay in touch, including video meetings and instant messaging.
Yet nothing beats speaking in person, interacting with the rest of the team and the actual products. PromoLeaf did a survey and found that 72 percent of respondents preferred an in-person conference in their industry, rather than one online. In the youngest crowd they surveyed, ages 16-24, 84 percent preferred to be in-person.
X reality can help merge those opposing options by making it seem like remote employees are in the same location working together on projects.
We’ve all experienced the itch to “try before you buy” when it comes to new products. It’s just not apparel, tools, or the latest smartphone. How about furniture, automobiles, homes, and more? Does that seem too far out of reach?
Not with X reality. Using up-and-coming technologies, brands can create apps that allow you to view and interact with a product for yourself. Now you can test our furniture in your own home before buying. You can drive your ideal car through the streets of your morning commute before it’s even created. You can walk through your dream home, while still on the other side of the country or the world. Just imagine all the possibilities.
From in-app devices to headset-enabled simulators, you can “be there” without being there and trying it, even before it exists.
X reality has so many fun benefits to get people talking. Sometimes those features alone can be the reason to adopt them.
Using X reality in your advertising can allow the public to interact in different ways and help you seem more authentic than other ads. It can also get people talking and give your ad extra exposure.
Brands have tried all kinds of things, including bringing a printed item to life through an app. Suddenly your magazine or brochure is interactive or other videos. Other brands have used augmented reality and large screens to welcome passersby and onlookers to interact with virtual characters. Others use social media filters and other features to showcase their brands.
Business is full of training. From safety and regulatory training to sales conversion and customer service training, arming your team with the most relevant information possible is critical.
With X reality, your team can do more than just talk about situations. They can walk through them together, interacting with people and products. You can even simulate potentially dangerous situations without putting one in harm’s way, and still gain the experience and confidence they need to be ready for real life.
Have you experienced reality for yourself yet? Here are a few examples of some of the most talked about.
Pokémon Go put augmented reality on the radar for all of us. Through the lens of a mobile device, the world could suddenly be full of Pokémon characters. This game showcased how entertainment and X reality can boost small local businesses, with real-world locations signing up as Pokéstops and Gyms.
IKEA Place allows customers to “place” IKEA furniture in their own space, and see how it will look and fit. It sets the bar for other furniture makers by offering a service that others may not have incorporated yet. Plus, it’s kind of fun to use, so even when people aren’t ready to buy, they may still play around on the app just to see what it’s all about.
Warby Parker has also cashed in on the opportunity to let customers try on before they buy. Using an app, customers can view themselves in any number of Warby Parker glasses.
It’s not just a snapshot with the frames overlaid, but an interactive, real-time experience where customers can move their head, look from all angles, and then throw on another pair.
X reality is a fun idea that seems primed for gaming and entertainment, but it’s tailor-made for business and online marketing. From product development to customer service, extended reality can change the way we interact with our brands, our customers, our team, and our world.
As the world of business continues to evolve, there are many reasons to believe extended reality will be part of that equation.
How will you incorporate X reality into your brand?
Are you ready for X reality? It’s coming, too, along with a host of exciting business and marketing opportunities. Here is what it is, why it matters, and how to use it to grow your business. What Is X Reality? X reality is short for extended reality. Sometimes called cross reality, it’s a convergence of …
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