As the qualifications for small business loans become more difficult to meet, many small business owners are looking for alternatives. Many have found that going with an online lender has advantages over banks and other traditional lenders, although there are some disadvantages as well.
One of the reasons small business owners are looking at online
Business Loans & Lines of Credit
When applying for a loan, most small business owners assume they will be evaluated only on the information they supplied on their application, but that’s not always the case. In fact, when applying for a loan from an online lender, that lender often takes into account things such as the social media profile of the
Many businesses make use of credit cards for daily purchases, and some new small business owners even finance their entire business on credit cards in the beginning. A business can make use of various reward points and other perks to save money and build up its credit score, but there are some downsides to using
According to a survey by the Pepperdine Private Capital Access Index, small businesses are planning to expand this year. The survey found that 83% of respondents said they believe their small business will expand in 2016. Many added that they expect their total annual revenue to increase by an average of nine percent over the
The worldwide economic slowdown has begun to take a toll in yet another arena of worldwide finance: the default rate of corporate debt in emerging markets. Companies from emerging markets are defaulting on their debt at a rate of 3.8% — the highest level since 2009. Through November 2015, that represents an increase of 40%
Peer-to-peer lending, or P2P, has continued to grow in popularity as banks become a less attractive option for smaller businesses or consumers looking for mid-range to lower-level loans.
We discussed two of the best-known alternatives for personal loans (Lending Club and Prosper) in a previous article, but let’s take a look at a few of
In preparing for a financial audit or review, it is important to take a look at your year-end income statement balances as compared to the prior year balances. If there were large fluctuations, be prepared with explanations that are well thought-out.
Pay particular attention to accounts comprising your gross margin. How was this year’s sales
Many small companies have bookkeepers on staff rather than accountants. Bookkeepers are generally great at processing daily transactions. However, an accountant is more versed in analyzing what is left in the financial statements at the end of the day. Let’s take a look at some common items on your balance sheet (a.k.a. statement of financial
With the tightening of the economy and business credit in recent years, more companies are facing the requirement for an annual financial audit or review. Either must be performed by a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who is independent of your organization. CPA billing rates can be astronomical, so the more prepared you are, the more
APR and APY – are they new texting acronyms? IDK, you say – or rather, you text? (For the benefit of the textually-challenged, IDK means “I don’t know.”) If you think they are texting acronyms, or just “DK” what they are, it’s time to learn.
APR and APY are financial acronyms, short for Annual Percentage
A microfinance loan is a loan extended by non-traditional lenders to people who are not served by traditional banks, such as lower-income borrowers, people without collateral, or people with lower credit scores. It does not necessarily refer to the loan amount, although most loans are small – from the $500 range to thousands.
Microfinance loans
As a company owner, CFO or Controller, one of your most important tasks is to select the right business bank. It is easy to think that all banks are the same, but there are important differences in services, fees and culture. So it’s worth taking some of your valuable time to insure that the bank
Lending institutions profit from helping businesses thrive. If you are concerned about your business simply surviving, or if there are indications of fundamental flaws in the business model, there may be too much risk for any outside investor to take on. Before you approach any financial institution for a business loan, there are several key
If you own a small business or intend to buy or start one, you will probably be borrowing money at some point — and possibly more than once. You may need money for startup costs, expansion, cash-flow management, disaster recovery, or any number of uses requiring operating funds and/or capital investment. Unless you have a