Bootstrapping 101

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Now that you have slaved away night and day to get your business off the ground. The hardest part is finding financing, especially in these times.

Our Merchant Cash Advance product is in greater demand than ever. Often our clients need more funding than we can qualify them for. They use our funding for the most mission critical needs then boot strap for the rest, because failure is not an option

Their are five successful keys to bootstrapping:

1. Focus on cash flow! Most small business owners focus on profitability and that's a good theory. Unfortunately theories don't pay the bills, but cash does. Focus on clients/products that pay promptly or even prepay, stretch your suppliers terms to the limit and conserve every cash expenditure.

2. Forecast from the grass roots, not from the top-down. Example, we add an additional shift we can install 15 more units a week versus we need to gain 3% points of market share in our market. The first in much more tangible and easy to focus on and become attainable.

3. Forget the "big league" players to staff your team. Hire starving, talented young kids that will not only bust their butt, but also foster creativity and new solutions. The key is directing all that energy towards the goal of generating cash!

4. It doesn't need to perfect! Your product or service will never be perfect and once you think you have it perfect, clients will most likely not. Its a constant revision to deliver a great product or service that provides value. Just get it out there and refine from there.

5. Understaff and add staff only when the breaking point is near. You get to sleep when you're six feet under, plus the growth your forecast may not happen for another six months so why pay for extra staff until you need them.

Sure there are other ways to save your cash and build your business. The above are the biggest items that will suck up all your cash. Don't focus on the pennies of profits and let the dollars of cash slip through your fingers!

Credit Lines For Small Business Cut 25% Since Last Year!

Everywhere in the news we have been hearing that the signs are there for the end of the recession. Unfortunately the recession will not be ending anytime soon until the credit markets return to normalcy. At American Finance Solutions we supply credit to small- and medium-sized business and we follow the credit market closely and sadly report that credit is being denied at an accelerating pace. Large, well-capitalized companies have no problem finding credit. Small businesses, on the other hand, have never had a harder time getting a loan.

Since the onset of the credit crisis two years ago, available credit to small businesses has contracted by trillions of dollars. The same is true for consumers (who support most small businesses with their spending) and that phenomenon is reflected in dismal consumer spending trends. Equally worrisome are the trends in small-business credit, which has contracted at one of the fastest paces of any lending category. Small business loans are hard to find, and personal credit-card lines for small business owners (a critical funding source to small businesses) have been cut by 25% since last year.

Unfortunately for small businesses, credit-line cuts are only about half way through. Home equity loans, also historically a key funding source for start-up small businesses, are not a source of liquidity anymore because more than 32% of U.S. homes are worth less than their mortgages.

Why do small businesses matter so much? In the U.S., small businesses employ 50% of the country's workforce and contribute 38% of GDP. Without access to credit, small businesses can't grow, can't hire, and too often end up going out of business. What's more, small businesses are often the primary source of this country's innovation. Apple, Dell, McDonald's, Starbucks were all started as small businesses.

What's especially disturbing is how taxpayer dollars have supported "too big to fail" businesses yet left small businesses unassisted and at a significant disadvantage. Small businesses do not have the same access to government guarantees on their debt. After all, most of these small businesses don't issue public debt.

In reality, our government should be supporting the life blood of our economy by offering incentives to community banks to step up small-business loans on a greater scale. These smaller banks could not only bridge gaps created by the shut down in the securitization market but also gaps being created by a massive contraction in credit-card lines. Arguably credit would perform better with these types of loans as they would reintroduce and reinforce the most important rule in banking: "Know Your Customer."

Alternative lending sources such as merchant cash advances offered by AFS will continue to thrive as the trend continues. We get to "Know Our Customers" and offer solutions to access capital and grow your business.

Approval Rates For MCA At An All Time High

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In the past 60 days approval rates for Merchant Cash Advances are at an all-time high. American Finance Solutions is currently running a 70-plus percent approvals for new clients. There are a couple of reasons for this.

First reason is the state of the economy and almost total lack of traditional funding. Everyone knows the last 18 months have been some of the toughest on record of business owners. Banks have tightened up their lending activities in response, but to make matters worse the banks are now left with devastated portfolios of commercial loans.

Merchant Cash Advances are filling a huge void in the market place by supplying desperately needed capital to marketplace. If you are in the business of offering MCAs, there has never been a better time to build a portfolio of clients.

A second reason has been the maturation of the MCA-industry. Now the MCA product is evolving to offer various products that fit certain business-types or situations. A good example of this has been the fixed-repayment schedule. At AFS you can choose between paying a contract as a split percentage of credit card sales or a fixed weekly or daily payment. Another product is the "starter advance" where clients are offered smaller funding amounts with quick repayment times to limit risk to the funding company. This allows clients to build lender history and graduate up to more financing and improved terms. AFS launched its FAST CASH product in this niche in August of 2009.

I firmly believe that the combination above will last for at least three more years and continue to give merchants access to capital and provide agents with strong customer service skills a chance to develop a great clientele list.

Bad Credit = No Small Business Loans

As business confidence begin to return the world of small- and medium-sized businesses, many entrepeneurs are lacking the capital to take their successful operations to the next level. A recent CNN video highlights just how severe the access to capital is.

A restaurateur who has proven he can thrive even in this challenging economy cannot find the funds he needs. Yes, he has less than perfect credit, as most successful business owners do. They boot-strap, borrow on personal credit cards, take loans from family members then work 80-hour weeks and make it happen.

This theme is occurring again and again across the country from large cities to rural areas in almost every business type. For many of these business owners a Merchant Cash Advance is one alternative financing method to take their business to the next level.

Alternative Finance Companies Here To Stay

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Business week recent wrote an article on entrepreneurs accessing alternative finance companies. You can read the entire article here. It confirms what most of us already know, banks have virtually shut their doors to all types of financing for small business! Credit lines (both secured and unsecured), equipment financing and even personal credit cards to business owners are all being denied.

The articles highlights the fact that alternative lenders, such as traditional factors, reverse equipment leasing and merchant cash advance financing is becoming the mainstream for business owners out of necessity. All of the above and more expensive than traditional bank financing since they involve the financing company taking on more risk.

As for merchant cash advance, it seems that we have finally made it out of the infant-stage of our new product and are now entering the mainstream. For our agents selling the product, now is the time to expand into new business types that have not used the MCA before and target clients with very good credit who would not have considered the product before.

Keep All Of Your Processing Residuals

The majority of agents offering merchant cash advances started with selling credit card processing services to businesses. The two products are obviously very complimentary and go hand in hand.

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As an agent selling both services you not only benefit by earning commissions on both products, often making two lucrative sales to the same client, but also by keeping the client for years. Business owners who take a merchant cash advance are prohibited from switching their processing until the contract is paid in full. If you are representing a merchant cash advance company that focuses on client satisfaction then you'll be earning commissions for a long time.

The average American Finance Solutions (AFS) client does just over seven contracts, that's a lot of renewals and residuals. With AFS, our agents completely own the processing account and all of its residuals. You are not a sub-agent earning a split of a split. However the agent must be signed up directly with one of AFS' approved processors, since not all processing will perform the collection of our clients' credit card receipts for us.

If you're new to the industry you'll want to make sure you partner up with a company that allows you to maximize your earning potential from all sources. Make sure you do your due diligence and go with a reputable processing and merchant cash advance funding company. While some may offer a big upfront bonus, it doesn't make much sense if the client only does one contract and then leaves. All that hard work for a one and done deal gets frustrating, while building a solid portfolio of processing and MCA residuals leads to a successful business.

No Business Left Behind!

In today’s credit crunch most business owners across America are feeling left behind. Most of them are telling us that with the recession in full swing they have not been able secure a loan and a new line of credit. Businesses of all sizes have really taken a beating the last 18 months with the meltdown of the global economy, the credit crunch and lack of normal revenue from their customer base. Like the US homeowner that has been unable to continue to pay their mortgages and getting behind with payments the same thing has happen with business owners. They have trouble paying rent or leases, paying their employees, purchasing needed equipment to stay open and with cash flow issues. They are having the feeling of being left behind.

American Finance Solutions (AFS) FAST CASH program was rolled out to assure that “No Business is Left Behind”. With 175 business types 100% pre-approved and another 65 business types 95% pre-approved for AFS’ Fast Cash program. The underwriting process is streamlined and inclusive for this new financing product. Now business owners can have a recent Bankruptcy, liens and a low credit score (in fact credit isn't even considered) and still get approved for FAST CASH.

The FAST CASH product is really more inclusive to those that have been really affected by the present recession. A lot of these clients are good owner-operators that have had some bad luck with not being able to pay bills on time or have had to file for bankruptcy. The FAST CASH product allows these merchants to navigate through some really tough financial times and get caught up on a few bills and get above water.

AFS will fund a business with the FAST CASH product in 24-48 hours and them qualify for between $2,500 to $9,500.

The requirements for FAST CASH financing are as follows:

1. Must process at least $4500 per month in credit cards
2. Have no current cash advance accounts open
3. AFS must obtain a landlord verification and must not be behind in rent more than one month
4. Minimum of 15 credit card batches per month

The business owners who receive the FAST CASH product are not the only ones who benefit. AFS allows the ISO partner agents to keep 100% of all the processing residuals and they also get a great upfront and back end commission on the deal. Merchants who complete three FAST CASH programs are then approved for a traditional cash advance.