FastUpFront

Today, I got a taste of some of the frustration our clients of trying to research small business cash advancing and bad credit business loans in general.  I was trying to look up some non-biased information (ie not put out by a creditor) so that I could quote it on here.  Although I found a ton of stuff from our competitors about how wonderful a practice this is, I couldn’t find ANYTHING written by an independent source.  There is plenty out there about the pros and cons of PERSONAL payday advancing, but I didn’t see anything for businesses.  This lack of easy-to-access is unfortunate, because everyone should be able to research their financial decisions, and it appears that all the info out there is coming from the brokers.

One competitor said back in May: “It is reported that only 44 percent of all new businesses will survive through their fourth year.  With costs rising… Cash flow has become the most critical component in the survival of any small business.” Now, while I know this is true, it would have been a lot nicer to see a source, and even better to have it come from someone who did not try to convert you into their client at the end of the article. 

One good, non-biased site I found is Financial Web.  The page I’m linking to lists the different financing options for new businesses.  Now we can take on clients who have been in business for as little as 4 months.  So that’s not BRAND new, but its pretty darn new.  On the financial web site, cash flow/cash advance financing is not even listed as an option to compare to!  Everything they list requires a business plan… There is not true bad credit/no credit option on the list.  Now, they do have a section on cash advance/payday loans, but that section is only written for individuals, not for businesses.  The biggest payday loan they show is $1500.  We offer up to $250k.  In short, they just don’t have information.

So, the search for unbiased articles to direct people to continues…

I had a “simple” idea for a blog entry today:  thought I would find the top 10 rated books on amazon.com for small businesses.   I think Amazon needs a new search engine!  In the end, I simply searched in the ‘books’ category for “small business management” and sorted by customer rating.  After taking out books on uber-specific topics (like how to become a dog trainer – gosh, I know they have a book for everything but I hadn’t thought of that one before).  I then chose not to include on this list books published more than 3 years ago, because things are changing all the time.  Finally, I decided to make a separate list later of tax related books ( in that safe, indefinite ‘later’ point in time….

After all that, here are the top 10.  I think ill make a software list, too… at some point…
Top 10 5 star books on Amazon

1. Instant Cashflow (Instant Success) by Bradley J Sugars and Brad Sugars (Paperback – Dec 19, 2005)

2. Alpha Dogs: How Your Small Business Can Become a Leader of the Pack by Donna Fenn (Paperback – May 8, 2007)

3. True to Yourself: Leading a Values-Based Business (Social Venture Network) by Mark Albion (Paperback – Jul 12, 2006)

4. Running a 21st-Century Small Business: The Owner’s Guide to Starting and Growing Your Company by Randy W. Kirk (Paperback – Feb 17, 2006)

5. Fire Someone Today: And Other Surprising Tactics for Making Your Business a Success by Bob Pritchett (Paperback – April 11, 2006) – Bargain Price

6. Entrepreneur’s Notebook: Practical Advice for Starting a New Business Venture by Steven K. Gold (Paperback – Feb 21, 2006)

7. The Big Book of Small Business: You Don’t Have to Run Your Business by the Seat of Your Pants by Tom Gegax and Phil Bolsta (Hardcover – Feb 6, 2007)

8. Maximum Marketing, Minimum Dollars: The Top 50 Ways to Grow Your Small Business by Kim T. Gordon (Paperback – April 1, 2006)

9. The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart by Maxine Clark and Amy Joyner (Hardcover – April 21, 2006)

10. Whoops! I’m In Business: A Crash Course In Business Basics by Richard Stim and Lisa Guerin (Paperback – Aug 2005)

Disclaimer: We will not be held liable for any information held on the sites listed below, I haven’t researched the companies putting out this information, I have simply tried to include comparisons coming from all sides (ie companies who help incorporate, those who help create proprietorships and those who specialize in creating a Limited Liability Company, or LLC)  I do not recommend using any of the companies I am linking to, I just found them in Google.

The majority of our clients are sole proprietors, or in a partnership.  Although this is the most common structure of small businesses, many experts say that small business owners should revisit the decision to structure their businesses in such a potentially risky fashion.  I have put together here some links that compare different structures available to small businesses. I hope they give y’all a good picture of the options out there:

Many websites I have been to have recommended BizFiling as a source for small business structure comparisons.

However, I found this chart, which is similar, but also includes partnerships in the comparison.   The website it is on (http://www.llcweb.com/struc.htm) contains further information comparing Sole Proprietorships vs. General Partnerships vs. Limited Partnerships vs. C Corporation vs. S Corporation vs. LLC. However, one should keep in mind that the website is put together by people who want you to pay them to help you form an LLC. 

This website seems to just be quoting a book (which is fine, and suggests it is relatively unbiased).  It breaks down each option for business structure.
 

Here is an independent article written on incorporating.

Although your credit score is totally irrelevant to working with us, here at Fast Up Front, it is still key for small businesses like yours.  Despite that, the vast majority of small business owners don’t seem to understand how business credit is established at all, let alone GOOD business credit.

Because of its importance, I have compiled a list of steps to establishing business credit:

(Note: The scale for business credit scores ranges from 0 to 100.  75+ is an ‘excellent’ business credit rating. This is a totally different scale from personal credit scores, which range between 300 and 850 with an ‘excellent’ score of 680+.)

1. Obtain an FIN or EIN from the IRS.  Go to the IRS website for information on applying. I’ve put together a list of links that compare the liability implications, cost, and other issues involved with running a sole proprietorship vs. a partnership vs. a LLC vs. a corporation.  See my entry on small business structures.

2. Register with the business credit bureaus.
   The four major business credit bureaus are (in order of importance):
   Dun & Bradstreet (DNB, D & B) – Paydex score
   Experian Business – Payquo score
   Equifax Business
   Business Credit USA

3. Make sure you are in legal compliance, etc. Proper licensure, etc.  Follow local, state, and federal requirements for your industry.  Additionally, you may want to consider membership with the Chamber of Commerce in your area, or the Better Business Bureau. 

4. Have supporting materials available. An extensive list of a typical request list from creditors can be found here.  You will probably have to write a business plan/summary and provide balance sheets, and other financial statements.

5. Maintain good relationships with your vendors. Make sure they report your payment history with the business credit bureaus.  These vendors provide the foundation of your credit report and can be used as references if you want a commercial business loan.  Clearly, part of maintaining a good relationship means timely payment, etc.  But it also means, working with one person at each vendor and creating a friendly working relationship.  In many cases, the people you work with on a regular basis at vendors can count as “employees” with the credit bureaus, raising your score.

Of course, you could just forget all this, and use us – we don’t need to run a credit check in order to put money in your hand.

Sites I used to compile this list included Ibank.com, entrepeneur.com, andstrongbusinesscredit.com

Welcome to the official FastUpFront Weblog (blog). Our core service is providing businesses with unsecured cash advances. We provide the necessary financial resources to promote, develop, expand or simply maintain small businesses to medium sized businesses.

Through this Blog (in addition to other areas of our website), you will be able to find current news, information, and business resources online. We intend to cover all areas of business financing, credit, credit card processing, loan options and more.

Feel free to use our feed, comment on posts, or simply suscribe to this blog.

Thanks in Advance,

Online Marketing Team,  FastUpFront