Some Keys for Business Success

You have heard of the old adage "A word to the wise is sufficient". Well then I will expand on just "a word" and propose to you seven keys to achieve success in your business. To help you become more prepared and continue to learn and innovate you must recognize, distinguish and manage the big stuff from the small stuff. Here are some areas where you could become more prepared and continue to learn and innovate:

1. Hire correctly and develop your staff
2. Identify your uniqueness and market it
3. Manage your cash and your costs
4. See where the "puck is going"
5. Embrace change and adapt/migrate
6. Get good advice
7. Continuously learn

The big stuff event is one that can challenge a company to its core so, you have to learn something in each case.  To do that try to run a high-performance, low stress organization. This means managing for fewer little dramas and being flexible to manage for the bigger stuff as they occur. Adapting should be faster than we would like. There are so many opportunities to learn and if we don't take advantage of those opportunities, our businesses stagnate.

Need a Commercial Loan? Are You Ready for One?

In order to be considered for a loan for your business there are several things that you can do to prepare yourself and your business to be a prime candidate for a loan.

Get to know your business banker.  Bankers are more likely to advocate for and extend a loan to business owners they know.  Develop a relationship with your banker and take some time to work on the relationship.  Once you have selected a bank or even a credit union for your business, introduce yourself to the branch manager and other key personnel.  Visit the branch periodically to keep in touch.  Even invite the banker to your place of business so that he can see your operation and become familiar with the way you do business.

Since 2008 lending has remained tight.  Banks have developed and tightened their lending criteria.  However, they will pursue business with the right candidates, those with good credit and a history of strong earnings.

What do they review?  They will look at your personal credit history in addition to your business’s financial statements.  So it is important for you to keep it clean.  Check your credit reports for any discrepancies in both your business and personal credit and report them in writing to the appropriate provider.  Be prepared to explain any items on the report.  Credit reports often contain errors that you can correct before applying for a loan.  Sometimes credit reports are out of date, lacking more current information that might make your business look better.  If a credit report notes a problem that has since been rectified, be sure to include an explanation when you apply for a loan.

Often a banking institution will want to see your updated business plan and other relevant information.  Before you make that loan application, get your paperwork in order – two or three years of financial statements, personal and business tax returns and other relevant information.

The business plan should include what you have accomplished since you created the business and what you plan to do in the next five years.  So take the initial business plan you created to start your business, and revise it to include your projected revenue goals and how you plan on getting there.  The plan should reflect growth, contraction or other changes to you business.

In considering your loan application, the lender will determine your capacity to repay the loan in addition to the economy, your competition and other factors that may impact your business.  They will look at your financial statements and cash flow.  Be realistic about how much money you want to borrow and be approved for.  So, if the company has annual revenues of $100,000 and you want to borrow $1,000,000, you may have to reconsider and adjust your expectations.

If you do not qualify for a traditional loan your may be able to get approved for a Small Business Administration loan.  Because the federal government guarantees a major portion of the loan, lenders may be more willing to extend an SBA loan to you if you are just shy of meeting the criteria for a traditional loan. Lenders want to make sure that they will be paid back, so if you don’t have sufficient business assets to post as collateral, you might have to put up your home or other personal assets. 

A Lesson in Factoring

Do you have a lot of money your clients owe you in the form of accounts receivable? Do these invoices take time, like 60 days, to get paid?  Are you in need of cash to finance your next production line?  You are not a good credit and are not able to get a bank loan.  What can you do?

Factoring may be the answer.  Factoring means that you sell your accounts receivable to a factor or third party?. at a discount to provide funding.  It is a short term solution to your working capital problem.

Here is how it works.  You sell your invoices to a factor at a discount and these invoices act as collateral.  You would typically receive 80% of the invoice value upfront.  You will receive the balance remaining less a factor fee once your client pays the factor.  The fee can be paid in any number of ways, but it usually nets out to be about three to five percent of the invoice value.  Factoring is not a loan and does not show up on your balance sheet.  It is the sale of an asset; therefore, you have no liability here. 

To qualify for this factoring, your invoices have to be free and clear of any liens.  This means that no other company has a claim on payments when they come in.  Your customers must also be creditworthy.  Why? -  Because the factor will rely on their good credit and ability to pay the invoice quickly rather than on your credit history.

Learn how the factor deals with your clients during the collection process.  Does he send out dunning notices with an indication that the factor is to be sent the payment?  If the client does not pay your invoice, the factor may ask you to pay back the money he paid you on the invoice plus a fee - - something that is called recourse factoring.

If you decide that you want to seek out a factor, do your comparison shopping by looking at factor fees and the amount of the discount on your total invoices, a deposit or application fee, the advance rate and monthly minimums should also be considered.  Factors will not work with start-ups; you need to have a large amount of accounts receivable for the factor to work with you.  You can find factors in the telephone directory or in industry trade publications. Your banker may be able to refer you to a factor, but decide on a factor that knows your industry, can customize a service package for you, and has the financial resources you need.

How to Get to the Next Level - Purchase Order Financing

You have just received a large sales order for your designs, a great opportunity for you, and you cannot possibly fill it because your small business is low on cash or below water to purchase supplies in order to fill the order.   So what are you going to do?  Consider the hurdles:

• Purchase the goods you will need from your suppliers, with upfront money you don’t have
• Get the money you need from a bank, but without a long track record or history of impressive financial statements
• Accept not receiving payment from your customer until 30 or 60 days after they received shipment, creating a cash flow gap you can’t manage.

If you turn down the order, you may lose your customer to a competitor and you will lose out on your opportunity to grow the business.  You will have to get creative. 

There is a way to remedy this situation and that is through purchase order financing.   Purchase order financing (or funding) looks to the credit worthiness (and good fashion sense) of your customer.  Your creditworthiness or the fact that your business may be underwater is not an issue; your customer’s creditworthiness is.  A purchase order financing company works with your supplier or manufacturer to get your garments produced on time.  It also works with your customers to ensure payment of the invoice.

Here is how it works.  A purchase order loan is a fee-based, short term loan and there is no interest charged.  To see if the loan can be made, the purchase order lender investigates the credit history of your customer.  If the customer has a good, solid track record of paying its bills and has the cash flow to pay for the goods it has ordered, a loan can be made.  But there is some information required on your part.  You must know your costs for the product and the gross margin attributed to that product.  If you have a gross margin of 25% or more, then it is possible to execute a purchase order transaction.  This means that you will have enough room to make a meaningful profit.

If your customer has good credit, the purchase order lender delivers a letter of credit to the manufacturer that guarantees payment for the needed goods.  The factory then makes the products, and a third party verifies that the order is complete.  The factory gets paid and ships the goods off, usually to a third party warehouse.  It is rare that you would take delivery of the goods; they are usually shipped directly to the customer.

When the bill is paid, the funds go to the purchase order lender, which subtracts its fee and sends the remaining profits to you.  This fee may amount to 4%.

There may be a hitch to the receivables portion of the transaction.  If you have given the customer payment terms of 60 or 90 days, another type of specialty lender, a factor lender, comes into play to provide immediate payment to the purchase order lender.  The factor lender buys the outstanding invoice at a discount and then waits and collects the full amount owed later, pocketing a profit in the process.  Meanwhile, the purchase order lender and you get paid immediately.  Thus, with this good news comes the bad, there is another layer of costs involved with factoring but this may be required by the purchaser order lender.

Here is what you do.  You provide a valid purchase order with a credit worthy customer and the expertise to manage the process.  The purchase order lender provides payment to your supplier, allowing your goods to be produced and shipped.  Payment is typically completed through issuing letters of credit and ultimately the payment of the invoice.

Benefits to using a purchase order lender.  While you stand to get 94-97% of the profit (implies a 25% gross margin), you are getting money to help you grow your business. You can use a purchase order lender many times; there is no restriction.  The transaction does not show up on your balance sheet (off balance sheet financing) as a liability, thus working capital is not impaired by this transaction and your total debt to equity ratio is not increased.

Who, other than the fashion industry, use purchase order lending?  Importers, exporters, wholesalers, assemblers, distributors and manufacturers, who are experiencing rapid sales growth, capital constraints, sales volatility, seasonal sales spikes, high development costs, stretched credit, new product launches can take advantage of this type of financing.  Industries that can benefit are electronics, housewares, sporting goods, toys/games, furniture, food products, hardware and industrial goods.

To find a purchase order company you can look at industry information and the yellow pages.  Make sure you check references first.