Archive for August, 2011
Personal Business Cards – A Great Way to Present Yourself
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Many people think that business cards are only for those who are involved in
some kind of business. The fact is, everyone is in business in some way.
Anything you do to make a living, and much of what you do for fun, can be
considered a business.
Personal business cards can be a great way to market yourself, whether it is
in job opportunities, as a way to make friends, or a way to find activities you
are interested in. Lets call them contact cards.
How many times have you casually run into a stranger or an old acquaintance
and found yourself wishing later that you had exchanged contact information?
Having personal contact cards makes that exchange very simple and natural. It is
much easier to hand someone a card than trying find pen and paper, then risk
losing a name and number scrawled on a dirty napkin.
Having your contact cards handy is also a great way to let people you already
know what the best way is to contact you. If you like, you can use it to list a
few things that you do well, or hobbies that you participate in. You never know
when you will run into someone with the same interests. If you are on the dating
scene, personal contact cards are probably the smoothest and least awkward way
to introduce yourself to someone interesting.
Most of all, your personal business cards give the impression that you value
yourself and what you have to offer. Whenever you give out a business card, you
will definitely make an impression!
A Faster Way to Get Small Business Loans
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?
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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?
