Business Local Listings asked:


In the midst of the global economic crisis, many small businesses are on the brink of closing down if not enough capital infusion is found. It is now even more difficult to get small business loans from banks, though. Ironically, the exact reasons why small businesses need such small business loans – the fact that business has slowed down and profitability has plummeted – are the same reasons why banks turn them down for loans.

Small businesses now have to be more resourceful in finding alternatives to small business loans.

Government Grants and Contracts Instead of Small Business Loans

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed by President Obama in February 2009 caused the pumping of billions of dollars for the revitalization of the economy. Because of it, there are plenty of government grants and contracts available to small businesses. These can be alternatives to small business loans.

But how can small businesses avail of the stimulus program?

The Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) has the responsibility for helping small businesses obtain and perform federal, state and local government contracts. It has Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTAC) throughout the country, ready to help small business owners to get registered and find opportunities in the area of government grants and contracts. Counselors assist small businesses in filling out bids, proposals and quotations.

The PTAC holds seminars teaching small business owners all the ins and outs of government legalese, including acronyms and registries. A one-day seminar with PTAC covers what small business owners may take months to learn on their own.

The PTAC then helps small businesses with Central Contractor Registration (CCR), a requirement for doing business with the federal government. This registration can be so complicated that some companies take two days to do it when the PTAC counselor can help them get through it in 15 minutes.

Local PTACs will be of help in acquiring state and municipal contracts.

Other resources that small business owners should consult include the Small Business Administration (SBA) which also coordinates with the APTAC; the General Services Administration (GSA) which acts as the government’s purchasing department and provides information on becoming an approved vendor; the Federal Business Opportunities website (fbo.gov) where federal contract opportunities currently available are posted; and the Small Business Innovation Research website (sbir.gov) where grant and funded research opportunities for small businesses are listed.

Cash Advances from Credit Card Services Instead of Small Business Loans

Another alternative to small business loans are cash advances from credit card services. This option is much easier than winning government grants and contracts.

Most small businesses are already availing of credit card services that enable them to accept payments by credit cards or debit cards. This is practically a requirement to doing business these days, with people hardly paying cash for goods and services. Many small business owners do not know that they could avail of cash advances from these credit card services, though, and that such advances can actually equal small business loans.

The amount that a small business can borrow is based on its average monthly income from credit card sales. This is so because the cash advance does not require collateral and future sales receivables from credit cards stand as the collateral. Payment will also be done through automatic deductions from those future credit card sales. There will be no set monthly amortizations. Instead, a certain percentage of the sales will be allotted as payment. The small business owner, therefore, need not worry over where to find cash for loan payments.

Cash advances from credit card services are the best bet of small business owners as alternatives to small business loans.

Business Local Listings asked:


It is not easy for small businesses to get small business loans. Banks and other lenders require them to go through strict and complicated financial procedures with stringent requirements for qualification. After everything, credit approval is not even guaranteed.

Even the financing for loans supported by the Small Business Administration (SBA) cannot meet the needs of the majority of small businesses. Although the amount of credit available for small businesses has reportedly been increased by 25% since March this year, it is not that easy to avail of the said small business loans.

Small businesses seeking small business loans should know how to prepare the right kind of business plans that banks are looking for. To justify the loan, they should be able to show the banks in detail how they intend to use the money in business and how viable their plan is. Experts say lenders have specific points which they scrutinize applications for and applicants should know these points and tailor their submitted business plans accordingly.

It is also said that loan applicants should first establish a strong relationship with the lending bank in order to increase the possibility of having a loan approved. Banks supposedly give more small business loans to businesses they have already known and trusted long term. Since small businesses are usually new businesses, this is quite difficult to do and it cannot be done in a hurry. How can a new small business with financial needs establish a good long term relationship with a bank in time to meet its current needs?

Another requirement of lending institutions from small businesses applying for small business loans is a good credit history score.  A small business should first be deemed credit worthy by the bank before it can even be considered for loan approval. Again, small businesses that are stll young are at an immediate disadvantage here. How can they establish credit worthiness in time?

The US Congress has also placed Congressional restrictions on eligibility for the Small Business Administration loans. Small businesses first have to prove that they are at least two years old and are both struggling and viable at the same time. They should present proof that they have had a positive cash flow in one of those previous two years in business. They should, however, be currently struggling with “immediate financial hardship” with a decrease in income that should not be less than 20 percent. At the same time, they should submit their projections for cash flow for the next two years, proving that they will be able to meet loan payments.

A faster way to get small business loans would be through credit card services.

Any small business should have credit card services. Credit card services enable a company to accept customer payments for goods and services via credit cards or debit cards, whether over the counter in brick and mortar settings, through the phone or online. Credit card services provide the hardware and software for this.

Being able to accept payments through credit cards or debit cards can greatly enhance a small business’ income earning potentials. In addition to that, credit card services can provide the equivalent of small business loans with no need for any collateral. The amount of the small business loans are computed based on the average monthly income of the small business from credit card payments. The small business loans are then amortized through automatic monthly deductions of a certain percentage from the small business’ future credit card revenue. This means small businesses can almost automatically qualify for small business loans through credit card services, and will surely be able to pay such small business loans. Is there a faster way than this?

Business Local Listings asked:


Since June 15, 2009, the United States Small Business Administration has been processing deferred payment small business loans of as much as $35,000 to be given out to 10,000 small businesses. This is covered by the SBA’s America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) Loan Program.

To qualify, companies should be private enterprises that are for-profit. They should have up to five hundred employees only and should be at least two years old. Furthermore, they should be able to prove financial need with a twenty percent decrease in sales, revenue or working capital. On the other hand, they should be able to prove that one of their two years in business has been profitable, and that with the infusion of cash they will be able to meet their existing and future debt obligations. This means positive cash flow projections. The ARC small business loans are intended to be used to pay outstanding debt such as payables to vendors.

For this batch of small business loans, there are no fees or costs involved, except if the borrower defaults on the loan later. In that case the SBA-approved lender can charge costs for securing and liquidating collateral.

The ARC small business loans also do not charge interest. Actually, the SBA pays the interest for the borrowers. Disbursement of the loan can take as much as six months but payment of the principal is also deferred for the next 12 months. After that, the borrower has five years to repay the loan principal.

Each small business can only avail of one ARC loan. SBA-approved lenders will offer the loans until September 30, 2010 or until available funds run out, whichever comes first.

There are, however, an estimated 30 million small businesses in the United States and only 10,000 of them can avail of the government’s small business loans. What if you do not happen to be among the 10,000 lucky recipients? How will your small business survive?

There are even doubts being raised on whether as much as 10,000 businesses can indeed avail of the ARC loans. There are fears that there may not be enough lenders willing or able to participate in the program. Lenders will have to advance the full amount of the loan, will not receive payment on principal for a full year, and will not be able to charge any fees, thereby absorbing all administrative costs. This may be too steep for many lenders. They may not be able to afford to participate at all.

This is where you as a small business owner can and should maximize your credit card services. We are not talking about your personal credit card services here. Instead, we are referring to the merchant services that enable your small business to receive credit card  and debit card payments. Surely, any business these days avails of these types of credit card services. After all, more people pay by credit card or debit card rather than cash.

Most credit card services offer small business cash advances that can be as substantial as small business loans. These small business loans do not require any collateral because they are secured by your company’s future credit card receivables. This is even more convenient for your business because repayment is also built into those receivables. Credit card services automatically deduct a percentage from your income to go toward loan repayment. For as long as you have incoming sales, you can support your loan. Interest rates are often quite affordable considering how the loan can help your business.

Small businesses should therefore look into maximizing these credit card services for small business loans. The survival of your business could hinge on this.

Christy Myers asked:


The dictionary meaning of advisor means “an expert who gives advice”. It means the people who are expert in their field should gives advice or says guidelines to give best possible ways to make the task easy.

The advisor is also called consultants in the present time. There are many types of advisor or consultants in the service as well as in the industrial sector. They are usually called as professionals.

1.With the upcoming financial market the importance of the advisor gets increases. The Financial Advisor is necessary because normally the customer are busy with another tasks and they have no time to see where to invest or how to save taxes on their income.

2. The Financial Advisor take consulting fees for giving advises to the customers. There are different types of financial advisors some are specializes in stock market and mutual funds while some are specialize in other derivatives like banks and government investment tools. You must be clear about where to divert your funds to get the benefits at a lesser risk. Accordingly you need to select the financial advisor.

3. You must take the financial advisor in good faith because on the bases of the expertise of finance advisor you are able to make an investment. However some time the financial advisor self-righteously suggest something odd that your mind can’t accept it. It is better to select the honest and frank advisor. As a customer you must have to smart enough to take the decision.

4. It is financial advisors duty to make their customer satisfied by giving them proper advise. You can see that honest and frank advisors can make their business grow easily than the financial advisor who misguide and lead the customer into debt.

5. At present some financial advisor become a instruments of the various financial companies They will get remuneration in terms of points from the selling the funds and other financial tools. It is now best of the interest to the financial advisor rather than thinking for the customer profits. So such types of wrong of self-interest practice can give bad reputation in the market.

The honesty with the client or customer is the keys in the financial advise business.

William Smith asked:


Financial advisors are trained professionals in a highly-regulated industry. Like doctors and lawyers, financial advisors must be licensed and undergo continuing education. Unfortunately, financial advisors are salespeople, and many put their role as salesmen ahead of their roles as fiduciary professionals.

Here are some tips to make sure that you find a person who is a credit to the investment industry, not a cheap salesman in a fancy suit.

Experience or Youth – Which is Better For You?

How experienced is your financial advisor? If he or she appears to be older, this does not necessarily answer your question. Many people become financial advisors after being displaced from another career.

Experience is important, but don’t necessarily disqualify a would-be financial advisor for being new to the industry. Many more experienced financial advisors develop bad habits over the course of a career, and may not be up on the newest trends.

Older financial advisors may be more conservative in their recommendations, which may or may not be appropriate for you.

If your financial advisor is experienced, ask for some references. A good financial advisor with happy clients will be eager to provide them. A shady one will skirt the issue. It will be easy to tell.

If your financial advisor is new to the industry, ask him or her what score they received on the Series 7 exam. More experienced brokers will undoubtedly find such a question offensive, and it is less relevant for them.

But newer financial advisors are there for one of two reasons – 1) They have strong sales skills, which is good for the company but probably not for you. 2) They have strong investment knowledge, in which case, they may be a better financial advisor for you than their other, more experienced counterparts.

The Series 7 exam is a comprehensive test of a new financial advisor’s investments knowledge, which a full 33 percent of would-be brokers fail and has a median score of just 73 percent. Look for a new financial advisor with a score of at least 85 percent – they are not easy to find, but they know their stuff.

Interview Your Prospective Financial Advisor

Set up a face-to-face interview with at least four financial advisors from different firms. First, take note of their phone demeanor. Does the person sound like a professional?

Does she seem eager to meet with you or expect you to qualify? A true investment professional is interested in helping people, whether they are worth $500 million or $5,000. Only cheap salespeople from disreputable firms refuse to work with people of modest means.

When you meet the financial advisor, take note of his company’s office. Does it seem professional and well managed? Professionals take pride in their work and conform to industry standards. In the investment world, this means everyone is in professional business dress and things are orderly.

During the interview, determine whether the broker is truly trying to assess your needs or simply trying to sell you products for which he earns a high commission.

Never buy mutual funds from a broker – you can pick mutual funds for yourself. Funds sold by brokers include sales charges, whereas funds you can buy on your own typically do not. Also, be highly skeptical of annuity products.

Finally, when you have narrowed your search down to your favorites, Google their employers. If there have been any securities law violations by the firms, take this into account when making your decision.

A perfectly good advisor can work for a firm with a bad apple or two, but if there are multiple violations, particularly from the executive level of the firm, then the company probably does not practice the best business ethics and it is most likely advisable that you take your business elsewhere.

Roberto Luongo asked:


For keeping your financial health in order, you may need some truly professional advices to maintain your bank balance and loan mortgages trouble free. Financial advices are of many types and can be taken in a variety of interesting ways to make your finance really sound. For getting really useful advices on financial matters, you can go to a finance advisor who expertise in finding tricky answers for all your money related problems. Try to get a licensed best financial advisor UK to seek positive money solutions. Here are few tips that may help you to find a quality advisor for your money problem:

Setting of Goals – A good financial advisor may help you to set your priority goals. We all have usually a broad idea about what is our priority works and where we want to spend our money in. Just line up your goals according to their importance and sit with your financial advisor to tackle them nicely. He can calculate the money structure to be spent on your priority while maintaining your budget and expenditure.

Plan Your Things – At some point of time, we all need to plan the outcomes of our financial resources. Planning for financial activity can be a simple task to do. Sometimes, it is difficult to make a balance with the complex and priority activity of our life. Here, the role of financial advisor starts. He can bring equilibrium in the financial statement by maintaining both simpler and complex parts of your financial life. With his proper knowledge and skills, he can draft a proper financial plan for your efforts.

Seek Professional Help – Normally, we are in misconception that we are able to handle each and every financial problem of our life. However, in practical, concepts of investment, tax-saving and the numerous other schemes are not at all easy to understand. By taking help from a skilled financial advisor, it becomes easier to maintain a balance and proper planning can be done. By explaining and analyzing the numerous schemes available to us, he can help us make better, more informed choices.

Personal Attention – To get a personal attention to justify your unique financial needs and goals, a financial advisor is needed badly. It is also important for giving personal attention to the goals and needs which suit your investment plans the best.

Choosing a financial advisor is a laborious process. It is important for us to have some knowledge of how things work financially, as that will help us decide.