There are so many changes with the credit markets these days it’s tough to keep up. As a small business owner, it’s important to keep updated on the highlights so you know where you can turn to when you need capital. At Business Credit Services we strive to stay abreast of the latest developments and pick out the highlights to keep our readers informed.

In our latest blog post we have a few updates about some credit issuers and the latest credit bill being passed this week in congress, all information that a small business owner should be aware of.

Advanta Corp said late Monday that it is no longer going to issue small business credit cards. Advanata (NASDAQ: ADVNB; ADVNA) of Spring House, PA funds its credit-card receivables by placing them into a trust and selling shares in it to investors who are paid interest on their investment. The rising delinquencies is causing less money to come in from investors and putting a strain on the business. Analysts are not seeing a good outcome for Advanta.

If you have an Advanta small business credit card you may want to call the bank and find out if they will be calling your account payable any time soon. This could be a way for the bank to bring in much needed capital, but cause an even bigger strain on small businesses with balances of their cards.

The NSBA recently completed their 2009 Small Business Credit Card Survey just recently. Some of their findings included:

In December 2008 – 49% of small businesses used credit cards to finance their firms in the last 12 months

In April 2009 – 59% have used credit cards to finance their firms in the last 12 months.

In December 2008 – 69% said they experienced worsening credit card terms in last five years

In April 2009 – the number was 79%, and when asked if their credit card terms had worsened in the last six months 75% reported they had

In April 2009 - 33% of small business had their credit lines reduced, up from 28% in December 2008

In April 2009 – 40% report paying off credit cards at the end of the month down from 50% in Dec. 2008

What does all of this mean?

We know small businesses are having more difficulty getting traditional bank financing. Many of them are turning to credit cards not thinking there are any other choices. The banks are taking advantage of this and raising interest rates and making terms much worse for the business.

Credit Card reform Legislation is going through the House and Senate this week and is expected to be signed by the President by the end of the week.

There are a lot of proposed changes to keep the credit card companies from making dramatic changes to terms, however once again small business credit cards are NOT included in the legislation.

If we are to see a recovery in the economy we need small business to create the jobs. Job creation of small business got us out of the last recession; it could get us out of this recession too, HOWEVER, the lack of financing options will slow this down.

Small businesses need access to capital, financing options and the knowledge of when terms will change in order to manage their finances. We can do everything in our power to change the mindset of politicians, however I choose to take actions that I can control the outcome. Politicians have their own agendas and seem to rarely look at the small business owner’s needs when making decisions. That being said, we (the small business owners) need to keep our options open for alternative financing sources and capital access.

The alternative financing industry is growing rapidly and vendor/trade credit is being used more and more as business owners find decline letters from banks in their mail box each day. The key is to be prepared and in compliance with what these institutions / lenders need so you can get access to the capital.

The Business Credit Builder program offered by BCS has a compliance check that lays out any inconsistencies of the business that will cause a lender to decline a credit application. This is critical to have a check completed on your company and correcting those inconsistencies before applying for the alternative lending.

David Gass
Founder
Business Credit Services, Inc.

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

To begin, let me ask you some revealing questions. As a business owner, can you walk away from your business today for one or two months and come back to find it operating smoothly and profitably? Can you even escape for two weeks? Have you ever had a work-free vacation? If your answers are “no”, you don’t have a successful business, you have a glorified job in which you are trapped! You don’t have an effective business system; you are the business system! In a large sense, you are a prisoner of your own success.

No matter what industry you are in, you should not be a prisoner to your business! If you are, you have it backwards. Your business should serve you and your dreams. It should give you greater freedom, not less. In fact, your business, properly designed, should function practically without you, not because of you. It should run predictably and automatically whether you are in the office or not, in the store or not, out in the field or not, on vacation or not. Your business should not depend upon your presence, personality, problem solving and perspiration for its daily survival. If so, your business does not work, you do!

Bottom line, you should run your business; it should not run you, your family or your life. Your business should work harder so you don’t have to. It should be systems-dependent and not owner-dependent or expert-dependent for its success. It should have its own heart, mind, and soul – it should not steal your vital organs and spirit!

Stop for a moment and think of the consequences. If everything in your business flows through you and is dependent upon you, then you are restricting dramatically the growth and profits of your company. As a single human being, there are natural limits to the amount of work, transactions, problems, and decisions that can flow effectively through you in a given day. Stop being a bottleneck or clog. Otherwise, you will continue to restrict the potential of your employees and business and ensure your persistent exhaustion. Stop missing out on greater personal freedom, money and happiness.

If you would like to achieve greater freedom, fulfillment and financial returns from your business, visit www.earn.com. Earn.com is our new community for entrepreneurs and we are registering the first 1,000 members at no cost to you. You get free access for 30 days for providing us feedback on how to improve the community. After 30 days it’s only $24.95 per month to continue.

David Gass - Founder
Business Credit Services, Inc.

I would like to respond to one of our readers and let everyone know I do read your email responses and will reply to some. I felt if someone took this much time to respond to one of my emails I send to you, it was only considerate to respond to his questions. I have posted his email and below that my response. Have fun reading and I hope you learn some things along the way.

*************************************************************
From: “Richard E”
To: “David Gass”
Date: Tue, 3 Mar 2009 15:34:52 -0500
Subject: Re: I honestly need your help….

Who are you and why does the United States of America back your scam?
David, have you ever owned a business? Did you get it the honorable way,
inheritance? Do you have anything real to offer a small business like mine?

The problem with services like yours is you just want the money. You are
willing to whore yourself out to anyone dumb enough to ask for your advice.
Unfortunately, you really don’t have any idea of what it is like out here.

I have a credit score of right around 800, yet I can get no increase in
credit. I have a net worth of around 500,000 and yet I am rejected when I
ask for a credit increase from 13000 to 30000. Why?

Do I have to get workers comp?

How do I attract more customers?

Should I knowingly break the law and have a booth at local flea market, I
know another dealer has operated illegally there for years?

Should I hire employees to sell or just 1099?

Should I advertise in the newspaper?

Should I advertise on the local cable?

How can I sell an item that costs over $2000 if I cannot get any consumer
financing?

Do you have any real answers for real problems of just the same general crap
that others seem to pedal for money.

Don’t want to be too mean but why should someone like me listen to someone
like you.

I could spend the whole day listening to Warren Buffet that seems obvious,
who the hell is David Gross?

Richard

Either come up with something real and substantial or just delete me from
your time wasting emails. Better yet just delete me.
*********************************************************************

Richard -
Thank you for your email. I understand your skepticism. Yes, there are a lot of online companies and people sending emails offering services, products and advice - some good, some not so good and some downright scams.

I would normally not even respond to an email like yours. However I found some of your questions very interesting, so I thought I would respond. Your questions are in bold and my response follows:

Who are you and why does the United States of America back your scam?
Our company does not run a scam nor would we be listed on the partner page of the IRS and SCORE or be on the Inc5000 list two years in a row or would we have operated our company for the last nine years successfully.

David, have you ever owned a business?
Yes, several. I have built several companies from scratch and sold them successfully. The latest of which is Business Credit Services. I started the company in October of 2000 with $200 and a computer out of my office. Eight years later we do more than $5 million in annual revenue and were listed on the Inc5000 fastest growing companies list two years in a row. This brought the attention of CSC - Corporation Service Company (the largest and oldest incorporating firm in the United States) to acquire BCS from me in October 2008. I don’t think a company of this level would have ever purchased a scam.

Did you get it the honorable way, inheritance?
My father was a school teacher, stay at home mom and three brothers. We were lucky to go to McDonalds or Pizza Hut once a week for dinner. We weren’t poor, but inheritance???? I don’t think so. Thankfully my parents are still alive, so no, no inheritance.

Do you have anything real to offer a small business like mine?
Go to http://store.bcscredit.com, www.earn.com and www.incorporate.com If you can’t find anything real at these sites I don’t know what to tell you. We offer free webinars weekly for small business owners - go to the www.earn.com site to sign up.

The problem with services like yours is you just want the money. You are willing to whore yourself out to anyone dumb enough to ask for your advice. Unfortunately, you really don’t have any idea of what it is like out here. -
Yes, we are interested in making a profit. That is the point. If you don’t make a profit, the business won’t be around very long. However, I believe there are three key principles in entrepreneurship. They are: Learn, Earn and Return. You have to learn first that you don’t know it all. You have to learn that others sometimes have the advice that will help save you a ton of time and money and then take the advice and coaching and do something with it. Those that act eventually Earn. Once you have earned a living you need to give back – RETURN. I work with several groups to give back but the one I spend most time with is the high school students. I believe teaching, coaching and advising students will make a difference in our country’s future. If we can get through to just one student each time we talk to them and they do something to build a business and create jobs we are doing our part to continue to build this great country.

I have a credit score of right around 800, yet I can get no increase in credit. I have a net worth of around 500,000 and yet I am rejected when I ask for a credit increase from 13000 to 30000. Why?
I’m sure there are several factors involved in the reason why so it’s difficult to say. I will tell you however if you are a corporation or LLC and have more than two years in business you shouldn’t have a tough time getting any financing with an 800 fico. I would suggest talking to a local credit union or community bank for a line of credit.

Do I have to get workers comp?
If you hire an employee you need workers comp. It’s up to you if you want to have workers comp if you are the only employee.

How do I attract more customers?
Have a valuable product or service. Attracting companies is easy when you have something of value. Of course it’s important to have good marketing and advertising but a valuable is key.

Should I knowingly break the law and have a booth at local flea market, I know another dealer has operated illegally there for years?
Never knowingly break the law. I believe in doing things the right way the first time so we don’t have to clean up our mistakes later.

Should I hire employees to sell or just 1099?
There are IRS guidelines you have to follow that will tell you if you can hire someone as a 1099. Here is some information about that. http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99921,00.html

Should I advertise in the newspaper?
Try craigslist.com its free and you can test headlines to see what works before spending money in the newspaper.

Should I advertise on the local cable?
Use www.spotrunner.com to test television commercials for very expensive rates.

How can I sell an item that costs over $2000 if I cannot get any consumer financing?
You can try working with a lender to offer a lease on your product or provide payment terms yourself. You would build a book of receivables and potentially be able to factor those receivables for cash upfront.

Do you have any real answers for real problems of just the same general crap that others seem to pedal for money?
We have helped over 15,000 clients obtain over $1 billion dollars in financing. Our parent company has incorporated over 200,000 small businesses and is the resident agent and incorporator for more than 50% of the Fortune 100 and public entities. Yes, we believe we offer real solutions to real problems.

Don’t want to be too mean but why should someone like me listen to someone like you.
I believe it’s up to you to decide who you want to listen to. If you feel you are getting good information continue to read our FREE blogs and listen to our FREE webinars. If you want to hire us because you believe we offer great value, we would love to have you as a client. If you don’t see the value, then you don’t need to continue to read our emails or get our information, just click unsubscribe at the bottom of our emails to opt out.

I could spend the whole day listening to Warren Buffet that seems obvious, who the hell is David Gross?
Actually, it’s David Gass. You can read many of my articles, books and listen to some radio interviews by going to our media center http://bcscredit.com/business_credit_tab/press_media.php
or just Google “David Gass” and see my articles and information posted on hundreds of thousands of websites across the world that others have copied to their sites because they saw value in the information. I don’t believe it’s an either or. Listen to Warren Buffet or David GASS, I believe you can listen to both. Warren Buffet is amazing at what he does and is very smart. He has built an amazing business that very few people have done and he has given most of that fortune away. I respect the man very much. However, I don’t think he would have responded to your email. That’s why people work with me. I’m reachable.

Either come up with something real and substantial or just delete me from your time wasting emails. Better yet just delete me. You can click the link unsubscribe at the bottom of any email we send. We don’t send emails without an unsubscribe or email to reach us. Anyone can unsubscribe at any time, just click the link at the bottom of the email.

I hope if you didn’t get some value from my response at least someone else reading this does. It is meant to provide real answers to questions from someone courageous enough to ask.

David Gass - Founder
Business Credit Services, Inc.
www.bcscredit.com

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David Gass

Some of you may think I’m crazy for the headline but it’s true. In the midst of a down turn, stock market plummeting, housing prices falling, high unemployment, poor consumer confidence, and all the other things going wrong there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That’s right – new business start-ups.

If you don’t believe me, just look at history. A recent article by Rhonda Abrams in the USA Today noted that 16 of the 30 companies that make up the Dow industrial average were started during a recession or depression. These include: Procter & Gamble, Disney, Alcoa, McDonald’s, General Electric and Johnson & Johnson.

In the years 1973-1975 the United States had an unpopular president, was in the midst of the Watergate scandal and was at the tail end of an extremely costly war that had divided the country. Gas prices increased 50% in just two years and consumer confidence dropped to an all time low.

You would think based on the state of America between 1973 and 1975 you wouldn’t want to start a business or at least if you did it would be a horrible time to do so and no company would make it. We’ll here are a few that did start in the early 70’s and not only survived…. Well you’ll get the picture.

Supercuts, Chilis, Cablevision, Industrial Light & Magic, Famous Amos Cookies, Oakley and of course there was Microsoft.
Starting a business in so-called “bad-times” can be a great time. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Many businesses are closing leaving a gap for the consumer to fulfill on their needs. If there are four Ice Cream stores in the area and consumers slow down their spending, you’ll likely see all four stores hurting for customers. The Ice Cream store with the best financial balance sheet will likely survive through the “hard-times”. If there aren’t any with good balance sheets, they may all go under. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a need for an Ice Cream Shop, there just isn’t enough of a demand for four. This would be a great time to look at where the gaps are in your area.
2. Consumers typically slow down on new purchases, which means when an item breaks they are more likely going to fix it then spend the extra money to buy a new one. If you are a handy at repairing items, you may want to set-up a repair shop. It was just reported last week that sales at repair shops have increased every month the last year when all other stores were declining in sales.
3. Become the affordable alternative. Many consumers are loyal to a specific restaurant, store or type of business. However, when times are tough and the consumer starts to cut back they are more likely to jump ship and find a less expensive alternative to meet their needs. If they are use to spending $25 for dry cleaning and can get the same quality for $20 they just may change their dry cleaner.
4. It’s a great time to pick up really good talent. If you are starting a business where you need to hire staff, now is a great time. There are a lot of layoffs at corporations and small businesses closing during tough times. This is a great opportunity for those hiring to pick up top talent at lower wages. You can now afford to hire the College graduate whereas before you had to settle for someone who just completed their G.E.D.

If I haven’t convinced you yet that now is the time to start your own business, then you may just be one of those people who I run into daily that says – “I have always wanted to start my own business – but have always been afraid it’s not the right time.” They’ve been making that statement for years and will continue to live with regret they didn’t make the move and decide it is the right time “now”.

David Gass

Here are year-end business tips to save you money, time and protect you and your business.

December typically brings many of us great joy and celebration. We are able to spend time with family, reflect on wonderful memories of past December holidays and look forward to the start of a new year.

As entrepreneurs there are certainly important tasks we need to do before the end of year to keep our business and personal life in order. Here are five tips that can help in ending the year on a positive note.

Tip #1 – Corporate Records, make sure you have all your corporation or LLC records in place. Every Corporation or LLC should have the following documentation prepared each year to protect the corporate veil and provide back-up documentation in case of a tax audit. One of the first things a tax agency will do in an audit is ask for these.

• Annual meeting minutes of the Board of Directors (Managers)
• Annual meeting minutes of the Shareholders (Members)
• Corporate Resolutions for non day-to-day tasks such as borrowing money, opening a checking account, etc.
• Stock Certificates filled out for all shareholders
• Stock ledger kept current and up-to-date

If you need a good tool for maintaining your corporate records I would highly recommend the BizDoc software. The software is an interactive program that isn’t just a bunch of word document templates, it can actually help track everything for you and provide guidance on what to do next.

Tip #2 – Financial Review. Pull together a Profit and Loss statement month-by-month for the entire year with a comparison against the previous year’s numbers. By doing a review of year over year results by month you can get a very good feel for where you business is going and what needs to be corrected. If you see sales overall drop, you need to look at the items you are selling and see if the drop was across the board or only in one area. You can also look at your advertising expense and see if the same amount was spent year over year.

You should also look at expense growth. Have you increased expenses or overhead that weren’t necessary?

Once the review is complete, write down key findings and action steps you can take in the New Year to correct them.

Tip #3 – Budget and Projections. Take time to layout projections in revenue for the New Year by month. What will sales be each month for the New Year and break it down by category of sales. With the projection in sales you should then be able to determine how much you need to spend in marketing to get to that number. This will start you on the budget. So next start a budget for what expenses will look like in the New Year based on the previous year’s results. Look at the key findings in your review from Tip #2 and be sure to correct the areas that need attention.

Once the budget and projections are complete make sure you use them as a tool throughout the year. This means you need to track your Profit and Loss statement on a weekly basis to be sure you are sticking to the budget and meeting the projections.

Tip #4 – Write down your goals. I never start a new year without writing out two sets of goals. I have one list of personal and one list for business. I found it was a lot easier to write the goals when I didn’t put my business into the overall mix. Personal goals need to include at minimum your physical health, financial situation, mental wellbeing and rewards. I love having rewards as part of my goal list so I am reaching to achieve the goals for more than the satisfaction of meeting the goal. I want to reward myself for doing it. I have trips, electronics, and simple rewards such as an extra day of golf.

Tip #5 – Create an Action Plan. Now that you have a list of corporate documents you need to complete, a review of your financial situation, budget for your business, projections of where sales need to be and goals written out you need to create your action plan.

Start at the end. Look in the future 12 months. Figure out what everything has to look like in order to reach your objectives. Then work backwards. For example, if you want to lose 20 lbs in the next year, you can break that down by saying I need to lose 1.7 lbs a month. In order to lose 1.7lbs per month you need to figure out how many calories you need each day and make sure you eat only the amount of calories you need and nothing more. Then determine how many days each week you need to exercise in order to lose the weight.

In the first month or two you will be able to determine exactly what those numbers are and can set out the action plan. The action plan should have in it what you need to do each day, week and month to accomplish the objectives.

When looking at the five tips, I start by protecting my business (where my income comes from). I want to make sure initially it’s protected from lawsuits and audits, and then make sure I have a good budget and projections in place. Once I have that I can create my goals and action plan to tell me what I need to do for the new year.

David Gass

The much anticipated ‘It’s Only Business’ Workshop on the East
Coast has come to a close and we are very excited to share our
experience with those who were unable to attend.

This was the very first time we have ventured to the East Coast
using the new workshop format of ‘It’s Only Business’ and I have to
admit that we were welcomed with opened arms. We kept this workshop
closed to the public and were joined by an intimate group of
entrepreneurs and small business owners laying out a number of
strategies that could be immediately implemented into their
businesses.

Our Nationally renowned trainers, David Francis, Mark Del Guercio,
and Scott Fritz along with myself, discussed topics directly
related to the current economy and focused on the importance of
having an action plan.

“To love what you do and to feel that it matters, how can anything
be more fun” said David Francis about this training session. This
was a very emotional workshop, with the economy in the state it is
in, business owners large and small face times of turmoil and
without knowledge business owners are finding themselves having to
close up shop. “Education is the key to survival,” Francis added,
“we are here for just that, to educate and help in times where
there seems to be no hope.”

The media has focused on the bad for far too long…
Now is the time to focus on your goals and educate yourself as a
business owner or entrepreneur in order to see yourselves through
the dark times and this workshop has proven that you are able to do
just that.

Structuring your organizations with a step by step action plan is
critical, especially when funding is the main source of stress. The
first step is to know what business credit really is and how very
important it is today.

If you could just turn back the clock to when you were 18 years of
age and start all over again with your personal credit.  If there
were a class or seminar at your high school where you could have
attended to guide and educate you on how personal credit works and
the impact it will have on your life, knowing what you know now,
how much would you be willing to pay for that seminar if you had
the money?  This is a question we have asked audiences all over the
country.  The answer is always the same, “tens if not hundreds of
thousands of dollars”.

Well, we cannot go back to high school or to the start of our
personal credit record, but what we do have the opportunity to do
is start our business credit the right way and allow ourselves to
save tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars of the life of
our business.

According to FAIR Isaac, the issuers of personal credit scores
(FICO); the average number of credit inquiries for the American
consumer is one per year.  An inquiry is when a credit granter
purchases your credit report to determine if they will grant
credit.  Based on our experience if someone has more than the
average numbers of inquiries, each inquiry tends to drop their
personal credit score 5-10 points.  Now, as a business owner will
we have more or less than the average number of inquiries?  Of
course, MORE.

The good news is that as business owners we have the ability to
develop a credit profile personally as well as one for each of our
businesses.  If proper steps to establish and build excellent
credit history have not been taken, applicants for business credit
are in for a rude awakening.  However, unlike what many people
think, it is not an easy process to obtain the credit and capital
most small businesses need.  There are specific steps a business,
or individual, must take in order to have a realistic chance at
gaining approval for an application of credit.  The steps one needs
to follow may seem deceptively simple on the surface; however, it
is very important to note that the implementation of these steps
can become complicated.  Each step has to be carried out with a
great deal of preparation and it is very important to know that
each step is thoroughly choreographed. You wouldn’t want to skip a
step and have your foundation crumble would you?

As Mr. Francis stated, it was a very emotional workshop. Our
attendees went down a path of enlightenment and were truly thankful
to all of the trainers. You can look forward to hearing some of the
testimonials soon.

Entrepreneurs and business owners alike are some of the most driven people you could meet. The passion in their eyes is almost blinding. The goals they set for themselves are remarkable! And now with the economy in such turmoil, I can see the hesitation becoming overwhelming.

A National Small Business Association survey of 500 small business owners found that sales and profits had dropped and job growth was at the lowest point in 15 years, problems that could have a significant impact on an already shaky U.S. economy.

The survey also found that 71 percent of business owners have a “negative outlook” on the economy compared to 43 percent a year ago; confidence in their business’ success dropped from a high of 81 percent a year ago to 70 percent now.

To keep your business from being impacted by any of the challenges the economy is facing there are 4 key points all business owners need to address once they have incorporated to maintain the positive mindset you started your business with.

1. Life After Incorporation
2. Establish Asset Protection
3. Financial Planning
4. Developing an Action Plan

Today I want to talk about the very first steps you need to take once you have incorporated.

First, you need to understand your company’s roles and who will fill them. Understanding the need for leadership within the organization and how to provide that is the key to the success of the business owner.

Second you must meet the legal requirements of running a corporation.

Third, regain control of your corporate records.

Fourth, get your company in compliance. Some of the things you will need to focus on include:

1. Open a separate bank account for your corporation.
2. Start a minute book for your corporation’s meetings.
3. Hold your first board of directors’ meeting.
4. Issue certificates to your corporation’s initial stockholders (if applicable).
5. Obtain business licenses and permits for your corporation from:
6. Follow all legal requirements for running a corporation.

Incorporating can be a long-term benefit to your new business in the long run, but the process can be complicated. To ensure that your new business complies with your state’s legal requirements at all steps in the incorporation process consider retaining the services of professionals who are experts in these processes.

The companies that see through these times of turmoil are the companies who come out significantly ahead of the rest.

One way to gain clarity and see past these challenging times is to learn from people who have actually achieved success. We have four of the Nation’s top business experts meeting in the Philadelphia area for three days in November, offering invaluable business insights, proven strategies and techniques on raising capital, building corporate credit, separating personal and business finances and protecting your assets. Our trainers, David Gass, David Francis, Mark Del Guercio and Scott Fritz have been featured in INC 500, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc., Kiplinger and Business Week as well as business experts on radio and television.

By attending the ‘It’s Only Business’ Workshop: Business Strategies for Today, you will
discover the insider secrets on how to succeed in an economy that has been said to be putting consumers in greater trouble with banking woes, rising debt levels, and unemployment.

Wanting success isn’t enough. You have to take ACTION and NOW is the TIME! Seating is limited so you need to RSVP to secure your spot so don’t delay!

Register Now by clicking here:
www.itsonlybusiness.com/seminar

Today hearings are going on in Washington to decide how to clean up the financial mess that has been building over the last decade or more. They are trying to figure out how to bail out big businesses so they don’t fail and cause more of a mess for us all. What are they really doing for us? Can they help the small business owner? Are they even considering the small business owner?
Go to our blog post to read more…

The reality is the financial markets are in disarray because mortgages were made available to high risk borrowers using programs they couldn’t afford. Then as interest rates rose the payments got too high and the high risk borrower couldn’t afford the payments any longer.

Lenders are now looking at all lending practices. In the small business lending market, there used to be very easy to obtain loans and lines of credit for a small business owner up to $50,000 with very little documentation. Well, now that the financial crisis has hit the easy programs are falling to the waste-side.

Keep in mind when you are applying for a small business loan, more now than ever, an approval is based on the level of risk of the borrower. If you are a high risk business or business owner you aren’t going to get an approval. If you lower your risk by being in compliance with the lending markets, having a business credit profile, a solid business credit score, good trade references, revenue in the business and a good personal credit score you improve your chances of an approval.

If you don’t have all of those things to lower your risk, don’t wait. Start now to improve your standing as a low risk borrower so as the credit markets loosen, and they will in due time, you are ready to take advantage of the programs that will be made available.

So what do you do now? There are several lending options for the small business owner. The best option is one that doesn’t cost money with high interest rates, trade credit. Trade credit, also known as business or corporate credit is easier to obtain once a business is in compliance with the lending markets. It is when one business sells a product or service to another business on credit terms. Typically without interest if paid within 30,60 or 90 days.

In addition there are several other alternative financing options that will be easier to obtain once a business is in compliance and obtained several trade accounts with vendors. Those options include equipment leasing, merchant account cash advance program, equipment sale-lease back, factoring, purchase order financing, angel investors, etc., etc.

The place to start when seeking financing is to put your company in compliance with the lending markets. The first step in that process is to incorporate and then do everything you need to in order to lower the risk level of the business. Get a business license, list your phone number with directory assistance and about 2,000 other checks that a lender can do to determine your level of risk. The BCS Compliance report will do those checks for you.

In today’s financial crisis we need not sit back and wait for the government to save us. We as business owners are the ones that built this country, not the law makers. We need to start right now, doing everything we can to build revenues, add jobs and provide a quality service or product that’s needed in today’s market place. When we do that, good things will happen.

David Gass

Last week I announced the sale of Business Credit Services to CSC (Corporate Service Company). There have been several of our readers who have congratulated us for the sale and a few with questions about what’s next for BCS and me.

First, I appreciate all of you who provided your comments about how you were genuinely happy for us and told us your stories about what BCS was able to help you with. (You can read a few of those comments at the end of this post)
Second, I want to provide some clarity about what’s next for all of us.

At Business Credit Services, everything is business as usual - for now. There are several projects underway to improve the quality of our offerings and also to add to them. For years, I have been asked by clients who graduate our Business Credit Builder program “What else do you have for me?” Soon enough we will have several answers to that question.

Over the next few months as projects are finished and rolled out we will announce them here in our newsletter and blog. You will be the first to see how the acquisition of BCS by CSC will change the landscape of the Business Credit, Small Business Financing and Incorporation industries forever.

I am extremely excited about the solutions we are putting together that will change the statistics for small business owners in the near future. No more 80% fail in the first year. Our goal is to change that statistic to the positive by providing quality solutions to business owners that improve the success rate of small business.

My new role in the company is to build those solutions with the resources of CSC. With the CSC experience of over 100 years in the market place as the leader in incorporation services and our teams small business entrepreneurial mindset we will provide a revolutionary package of solutions that entrepreneurs everywhere will benefit from.

We look forward to hearing the successes of small business owners as they join us in the effort to increase the likelihood of success for business with quality solutions .

David Gass