Category: finance

In light of the recent Global Financial Crisis (GFC), businesses are always looking for ways to remain competitive and at the forefront of their industry, and more recently expand their business, without the normal associated price tag. Finance solutions tailored to individual businesses needs offer budget-friendly options to obtain the equipment required to succeed in the industry without having to outlay capital upfront. As an equipment supplier, by offering vendor finance options to your clients, you can offer them the peace of mind of the latest business equipment without the upfront cost, while at the same time allowing you to gain a competitive edge in the industry.

There's more than one advantage for your equipment supplying business to offer vendor finance to your clients.

1. Reach more clients - by offering your clients a variety of payment options that can be tailored to the needs of their business, you are effectively reaching a greater number of clients, as money is a major factor behind equipment choices. 2. Retain more clients - by offering attractive finance options to your clients that stand out when compared to other business equipment suppliers, not only allows you to reach more clients, but it also allows your business to retain more clients over a longer period. 3. Know your clients - by creating a relationship with your clients from the start, learning their credit history, company background and even their goals, your business is able to accurately gauge which clients to offer finance options to. Knowing this information from the start will allow your business to forecast revenue and predict cash flow. 4. Avoid heavy discounting - by offering attractive payment plans, there is less reliance on discounting and other business gimmicks to make sales. 5. Long-term cash flow - with payment plans for your client established from the start, long term cash flow for your business is guaranteed as your clients make payments over the approved timeframe. 6. Boost sales - agreed payments for business equipment over a set timeframe, means the needs of the client are met whilst also often increasing the bottom line profit of your business. 7. Expand your business - through reaching more clients by offering a range of payment options and avoiding discounting, your business is likely to expand as more businesses realise the potential such payment options for equipment could hold for their business.

Vendor finance gives your clients access to the equipment they need to remain competitive in their industry without having to worry about upfront payment concerns. These options are just as valuable to you as a business equipment supplier as they are to businesses looking for equipment.

Scholarship program for moms by Obama is not a new subject anymore. It has been a topic of many ever since it was proclaimed by the president in pubic and many are still not aware of it. The main objective of the scholarship program is to help in need mothers have nicer way of living by providing free college education. The government has provided enough funds with additional contributions from individuals who are willing to give some amount for the program to be able to pay lesser income tax to the government. This scholarship program is one of the priority programs of the government especially at present that the country is still experiencing bad economic situation. Every mom who will be part of the program can receive an amount up to $10,000 for their education purposes. The amount provided will be enough to pay for their school fees educational materials, and other expenses related to the said schooling. If they are able to spare some, they can also use it to pay some of their personal bills.

The money grant given by the government not only helps moms pursue college education but it also helps cover small bills and other small expenses at home. In addition, since the money is intended for a scholarship program, it will not require scholars to pay a single cent after they have completed their education unlike for student loans and other financial assistance offered to students. In student loans, you will even be asked to pay accrued interest from the time you were receiving money from the institution for your education. Obama's scholarship program was designed to fit every mom lifestyle whether they are working or staying at home to take care of household errands. For moms who cannot attend the school campus regularly, they have the option to study online at their own home. Time is also flexible that one can choose when to access their online modules and do its correspondence. Working moms do not have to leave their jobs just to go to college and same thing with stay at home moms; they do not have compromise the time for their kids just to go to school. Education is the key to success as we used to hear it and it is true in most cases. It's a very effective and powerful tool to make your dreams come true. You can have your dreamed job that will provide you with enough income to make things in life easier for you and for your family.

Have we got a story for you! There's an interesting old story /legend about a guy named Bernard E. Smith who at the time of the 1929 crash of Wall Street crash simply went around and saw what companies were building up receivables and inventory and maybe not selling enough either . We're not really focusing on 'sales ' today though. The bottom line on this legend is that by simple observation of build up in receivables (and inventories) he became somewhat of a predictor for companies that would fail.

Receivable finance in Canada. Exactly when does your firm know it needs something new when it comes to financing working capital and understanding what solutions are available and when ?

If you have a strong handle on receivables in your company you're in a position to know a lot about your cash flow and working capital. When we look at what our buddy Bernard Smith was doing he probably would have profited even more (he was ' shorting 'those companies ) if he had simply had solid access to an analysis of any company's' A/R position.

When you truly understand the relationship between sales and properly managed accounts receivable you're a more effective business manager or owner. That's because you can only run so long on the concept of sales, and what one analyst called ' borrowing from the future '.

Financing working capital is need when your receivables rise substantially over your sales growth. Poor collections and liberal credit terms are some other causes, and those require separate measures and actions. But today we're focusing on simple ' growth '.

So, two things. How can you track such a phenomenon, and secondly what is one solid solution for receivable financing in Canada?

When it comes to tracking set up a very simple chart or spreadsheet around sales / receivables, and inventory. Simply track the actual growth rates over a specific period, say quarterly, even monthly if you want. (We'd say annually was a bit too late!)

If you find that sales are growing at 15% for example, and A/R and inventories are growing at 35% you will quickly start to feel a working capital and cash flow shortage. It's as simple as that!

So if you can't get support from a bank in Canada on your A/R and growth then perhaps its time to look at another option. That option is known as receivable finance, or invoice discounting is another term. You might not be able to get additional financing because you're growing to fast, or in some cases you simply can't meet bank criteria.

That's when it comes time to rethink your Canadian business financing strategy. The cost of factoring is often a consideration or concern , and business owners can address this by effectively understand how they can use the capital generated from invoice financing .If you have good gross margins you're even in better shape when it comes to assessing the cost of receivable finance.

Speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor who can assist you in both monitoring working capital needs and assessing quality solutions for business cash flow and growth.

Stan Prokop