Finance Your Company

ATTENTION BUSINESS
OWNERS:
Don’t Give Up on
Financing Until You’ve
Read These Facts

“You might be a top-notch sales pro or an operations wizard, but do you have access to the best, most up-to-date advice for how to improve your company’s financing?”

Dear Business Owner,

My name is Tiffany C. Wright. As a CFO and strategic & financial advisor to small businesses, I have helped companies successfully obtain more than $31 million in financing from many different sources. What I’ve learned from working with entrepreneurs really made an impression on me, so much so that I absolutely HAD to share it with you.

The sad truth of the matter is that the failure rate for small businesses with
employees is extremely high. According to the SBA, 56% of these firms disappear
in four years or less. And surprisingly, the failure rate is even higher for businesses
without employees.

What is one of the major reasons owners cite for this high failure rate? Lack of
capital.

Of course, some business owners will tell you they are doing fine without paying
attention to their cash position or financing. It’s called DENIAL! Just take a look at
their cash flow or shareholders equity and it’s easy to see why they’re avoiding
reality.

Here’s the big problem: Most business owners prefer to spend their time focusing
on areas they’re comfortable with. They pay lots of attention to sales or operations
but completely overlook cash management and financing. They focus on running the day-to-day business and
ignore the impact that financing, financial management, and cash management
have on their business.

When it comes to running a small business, ignorance is NOT bliss. Financial
ignorance inevitably leads to business failure.

The First Steps

So let’s say you’re an entrepreneur who recognizes this problem and accepts the
fact that your business needs help when it comes to financing. Where do you start?

Resources such as Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) and
community colleges can provide classes on getting started with your business,
building sales and business development functions, marketing the company,
hiring,… These are all very good subjects to know. However, all of this costs money
and takes up your time. SCORE counselors can provide assistance on finding financing. Your CPA may have some suggestions. There are other books out there. These are all helpful to some extent. But they don’t usually answer the question of what is a good financing source for my business and how to do I access the funds?

Typical business owners are gung-ho in the first years of launching and growing the business, but then have absolutely no plan for when the money seizes up. Sound at all familiar?

So You Pursue the Banks!

Naturally you want to obtain financing for your business before you have an
overwhelming need. Perhaps you’ve tried many times to approach banks or
other lenders, only to be turned down. Or maybe you only tried once or twice and were
turned down but quickly grew frustrated because no one told you what the problem
was.

Perhaps you’ve even sought out books on the subject of how to access capital.
Usually these are filled with dusty, out-of-date lists of various types of financing or
financial institutions but not enough actual usable information about when to use
which type and why. Many of the books out there make no acknowledgment that
financing is not “one size fits all.” In fact, your options vary greatly depending on the
stage of the business, the type of business, and sometimes even by industry. When
you have no background in finance, it’s difficult to decipher.

You want to say, “Let my accountant handle all of it.”

Don’t!!

 

Who Stole Your Cash?

As a consultant to many entrepreneurs and a former owner of a real estate investment firm and a construction trade newspaper, I occasionally take calls from owners of construction firms who don’t have the
cash to finish a project. Often their receivables are 45 to 60 days outstanding and
they have to pay out cash in 30 days.

I ask them if they’ve tapped out their line of credit. They ask me “What line?” I ask if
they purchased supplies on a supplier line of credit. They say, “Again, what line?”.
So I say, “Did you plan? Did you have any idea this would happen? Who ‘stole’
your cash?”

You’re probably feeling much the same way right now. You find yourself cash-
strapped because your credit line was reduced or frozen. Or maybe your company
grew so fast you didn’t have time to pursue a bank line. Now you just want to stop
the “robbing Peter to pay Paul” dynamic. You want to stop worrying about how you
are going to make payroll this time around.

I want to let you know that there ARE solutions. You CAN stop worrying about your
company’s cash flow and start focusing again on the work you truly love doing.

 

Don’t Give Up on Financing Until You’ve Read This

I want to tell you another story about a client I once worked with. His name
is Jeff* and he’s the owner of a small construction company here in Atlanta where I
live. Before we ever worked together, Jeff realized he needed financing.

So Jeff went down to the branch of the national bank where he kept his business
account and asked to speak to the branch manager about a loan. The branch
manager ran his personal credit report and informed him that he didn’t qualify for
a business loan.

So Jeff started over. Except this time he was armed with just a little bit of the
knowledge I gave him about how business lending works in the real world.

Jeff went back and worked with his accountant to prepare his financial statements
and then we wrote up a six-page abbreviated business plan. I walked Jeff through the process and explained why he didn’t get the loan the first time. I helped Jeff get everything in order so that he could properly present (i.e., “package”) his business to the bank.

The last thing I did for Jeff was help him find a the right banker for his business. We
found a community bank that did a lot of business with construction firms. Jeff sat
down with them and was approved for a $50,000 loan.

Yes, that’s all it took!

Your situation is not unique. And more importantly – your situation is NOT
hopeless.

Business owners who find it difficult to obtain financing typically tell themselves the
same three lies repeatedly. The problem is that the people they so often talk to – other
business owners, failed business owners, accountants, consultants – spread a few big
myths, which are then often repeated by the media.

The Top 3 Lies Business Owners Tell Themselves About Financing

• 1. “No one is lending money to small businesses right now.”

Even in a down economy, there are plenty of ways for small businesses to get
financing. It may still a little more digging or a little more polishing, but it’s there. Still, many entrepreneurs get discouraged and quit looking…even when they
shouldn’t.

• 2. “I have a relationship with my bank because I have an account there.”

When it comes to getting a loan to expand your business, having an account doesn’t carry much weight. So many business owners neglect to build real relationships with their banks’ lending officers.

• 3. “Bank loans and venture capital are the only capital sources available.”

There are so many different types of financing available, in debt and equity and a hybrid of the two, yet the vast majority of business owners are completely unaware of the possibilities.

Here’s the bald-faced reality: The majority of businesses are run by owners who don’t
have much experience with finance, don’t know what’s really out there, don’t know how
to get the money they need and are inundated with bad ideas about the real world of
business credit.

Do you want to be lumped in with the majority of business owners who are struggling
to fund growth and have no real plan for how to finance their businesses’ expansion in the future? Or do you want to have access to the financing that will help your business thrive?

Help! I Need Money for My Business Now!

So here’s the deal: I’ve released a resource called “Help! I Need Money for
My Business Now!” that shows entrepreneurs like you how to obtain financing.

 

This ebook is different than anything else on small business financing you might have
seen. It’s the result of years of advising entrepreneurs and helping companies obtain
funding. This book is written entirely in layman’s terms, so you don’t have to be a
business banker or investment banker or a junior economist to understand the concepts.

It’s like having your own personal financial consultant sitting there next to you, explaining the concepts and coming up with a game plan!

If you’re worried about the future, about the credit crisis, about making payroll, or even
about how you’re going to manage your company’s future growth… I have some
insights you should seriously consider and I have an entire book full of step-by-step
recommendations that will help you get you the financing you seek.

Here are Just a Few of the Concepts Covered in “Help I Need Money for My Business Now!”

• Learn about the various financing sources that your competitors don’t know about.
• Maximize your banking relationships with advice that helps you get approved.
• Learn about the available debt (loans) and equity (investors) options.
• Get step-by-step alternatives to pursue based on business type.
• Get 24 detailed case studies show what others have done in similar situations.
• Get 3 actual executive summaries that were used to access funding.

Don’t Think You Can Access Business Credit or Investment?
Think Again.
The financing techniques I describe in my book have worked for hundreds of people just like you. But I don’t expect you to believe me until you see even more proof. Don’t just take my word of it – check out what readers are saying about this book: