XBanker

Fast Cash For Your Business!

June 10th, 2008

Do you need fast cash for your business? Want a small business loan with no personal guarantee? Are you looking for immediate business financing? Chances are that you answered “yes” to all three of those questions. We all want cash for our business and we want it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the financing world doesn’t always tell us what we want to hear. If you are properly prepared and have a proven track record (as demonstrated by your revenues and your credit) you can probably get more money - and faster than you think. If you are not prepared … well, you reap what you sow.

Most people don’t start looking for capital for their business until it is too late. “Too late” can mean a lot of things: damaged credit, out-of-line ratios, too short of a time frame, etc. These oversights, plus the procrastinator’s itch for a quick fix, are two of the most common ailments we deal with. I wish every entrepreneur understood this truth: accessing capital is a process.

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by The XBanker | Currently 2 Comments »

What Business Credit Card Is Right For You?

June 9th, 2008

Gerri, our resident business credit eXpert, was quoted today in the Wall Street Journal in a small business financing article: Pick The Right Credit Card For Your Business. Of course I’m biased, but I think Gerri’s insight was the most important in the entire article:

“Business owners should use credit cards that report to business credit agencies, such as Dun & Bradstreet or Experian’s business bureau, instead of the personal-credit bureaus. Reason being, you don’t want the business’s financial woes or big expenses to ding your personal credit rating.”

Rewards are great (personally, I’m a total points addict); however, the most important part of a business credit card is the ghost guarantee that they provide you as a business owner - which can serve to protect your personal credit from being dragged down by your business activities. I gave my two cents on the subject in a previous post regarding the importance of business credit cards.

Every day we help clients find the right business credit card; preferably one that reports to the bureaus and we help them prepare to qualify. The worst mistake you can make is to aimlessly apply to credit cards when you don’t know in advance that you have a strong chance of being approved.

Thanks for a great contribution on the topic, Gerri.

Posted by The XBanker | Currently No Comments »

Business Credit Cards - A Key For Success

April 8th, 2008

One of the most common mistakes that entrepreneurs make is they use their personal credit cards to fund their business. This has a disastrous impact on their personal credit and their financial future - not to mention the problem of co-mingling funds! I highly recommend that you put a business credit card on your short list of start-up needs.

The single most important feature of a good business credit card is that it doesn’t report to the personal credit bureaus (see my post on Ghost Guarantees). This is critical, because it helps you keep your personal credit strong (I’ll talk more about key personal credit ratios in my next post). It also helps you manage your cash flow and track expenses. Business credit cards, just like all bank financing, are going to lean on your personal credit score for approval. You need to have a decent credit score (it doesn’t have to be great) in order to be approved. You also need to make sure that your business is set-up appropriately so that you don’t appear to be a high-risk operation.

Obviously, it is our business to help you qualify and screen out the best available financing for your business. In the event, that you are a “go-it-alone” type, before you apply for any business credit card you need to do some homework. Applying, just to be denied is a fool’s errand. The first thing you need to find out is whether the credit card reports on your personal credit or not. If it reports, you need to move on. If not, you should find out what the bank’s lending requirements are: years in business, industry, personal credit scores, key ratios, etc. You might need to talk to a couple of people, but let me assure you that you can get answers. Don’t get hung up on the initial amount of credit that you are offered. You might need to start small and build up from there. Just make sure that you don’t put it off, make this a priority - you won’t regret it.

Posted by The XBanker | Currently 6 Comments »