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How to finance your
business when the bank says No
Do you own a growing business that
needs financing? If you are like most business owners, whenever
your business needs money you head over to the bank.
Unfortunately, as most small business owners soon find out,
most banks do not lend money to businesses unless they have
significant collateral and a history of successful operations.
This presents quite a challenge for business owners.
When banks are not an option, small business owners turn to
what is known as the alternative financing funding market.
Although the financing options discussed in this article fall
under the alternative financing category, they are actually
quite widely used and should be considered mainstream. Most
major companies (including public companies) have used this
alternative financing at one time or another during their
growth history.
Most of the tools described in this article can only be used
by businesses that are already in operation, and whose main
requirement is working capital. Although startups can benefit
from these tools, the companies will need to be in operation
for a little while and have a growing list of clients.
General Invoice Factoring
Invoice factoring (also known as
accounts receivable factoring) is ideal for business owners
who cannot afford to wait 30 to 90 days to get paid by their
clients. It allows a business to sell invoices from commercial
customers to a financing company for immediate payment. The
financing company buys the invoices at a discount and waits for
the customer to pay.
The main advantage of factoring your invoices is
that the financing company makes its decision using the credit
of the payer, rather than yours. That means that if you own a
small company that is doing business with a large credit worthy
company, you are almost certain to have the transaction
approved. Another advantage of factoring is that it does not
have set limits like lines of credit. The level of financing is
limited only by the amount you sell to credit worthy clients.
General factors can work with most industries, although there
are two main industry subspecialties - freight bill factoring
and medical factoring.
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