• Capital: The Unsecured Business Loan
• Team: Who is on Your Team?

Upcoming Conference Calls for SmallBusinessConsulting.com

Title of Call:Planning for Success
Date: Wednesday 4:00pm PST September 20th
Description: An essential element of leadership is having a vision and plan for the future. In order for us to be successful, we need to step away from the action of the day and to chart the course for success. In this interview we will be asking Ryan Page to elaborate on art and process of strategy making and how small business owners can use strategic thinking to take their business to the next level.

Title of Call:Getting a Loan For Your Business
Date: Wednesday 4:00pm PST September 27th

Members, follow this link to view all conference calls, access codes, and events this month.

To attend these calls, you must be a member of SmallBusinessConsulting.com. To learn about becoming a member, follow this link.

The Unsecured Business Loan

One of the most important areas of any business is sufficient access to capital when you need it. A recent client reminded me of this with a situation they encountered. The client’s company sells products for restaurants. They are less then a year old and have spent the last several months presenting their product line to restaurant chains across the country in hopes they will land a “big fish,” or big account.

My comment to them was: “What happens when you do sign a contract with a large restaurant chain? Will you have enough money to produce the product to fulfill the order from them?” Currently, the largest order they have received was 1,000 of one product. When a large chain restaurant decides to move on something, they will look for up to 40,000 - 100,000 on one order. To produce that much product, they have to have access to funds to produce it, and then wait 60-180 days to get paid from the client. That is very typical of large companies paying the small entrepreneur.

The best possible solution for someone in this client’s position, or one similar, is to get the money BEFORE you need it. Have a line of credit established for the business to use when either a large contract comes in, a great opportunity arises, or potentially a time to buy out a competitor. What ever the reason, make sure you have the cash ready. Our loan department can assist you with a line of credit if you qualify. Minimum qualifications for an unsecured business line of credit are a personal FICO score of 650 or better and at least 6 months in business. Please visit our loan department’s website and learn more about your FICO score here.

Source: David Gass, President & CEO, Business Credit Services, Inc.

Seeking Business Financing?

Find out the number one tool to take you from being declined to hearing those magical words, “You’re Approved!”, follow this link…

Who is on Your Team?

In a small business all internal and external stakeholders should be considered members of your team. Small business owners should consider who represents their company when hiring new employees and even independent contractors, as well as what companies they will associate with from a vendor level.

A few questions you should ask when deciding who to add to your business team are listed below. Rate each with a score between 0 and 10, 10 being the best possible match. Then add the total of each answer to determine the overall score. If the score is below 30 you should seriously consider whether or not you should add the stakeholder to the team.

1. Do they fit with the company's purpose?
2. Do they match the company's values?
3. Do they increase the image of the business?
4. Are they reliable?
5. Do they bring skills or resources lacking in the team right now?

Using these questions as a guide will assist you in building a championship team.

Source: David Gass, President & CEO, Business Credit Services, Inc.

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

-- Charles Darwin

September 19

1926 The Florida real estate boom/bubble of the 1920s ends suddenly when a hurricane destroys the Florida East coast Railway link to the Florida Keys. Prices had been deflating for about a year (numerous building lots that were purchased unseen turned out to be under water), but this was the last straw. It is said that property owners who had bought land during the boom tried to turn away Red Cross workers after the hurricane because the publicity would damage property values.

Source: This Day in Business History, Raymond L. Francis

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