Why You Need Your Business Phone Number Listed

Do you have your business phone listed in the white page or in 411 Directory Assistance? If you don’t, you are putting yourself at risk when a potential customer decides to search for your number because they want to purchase the product or service you offer. If the 411 operator doesn’t come up with your number, the customer may be a little disgruntled, and the next action they will take will be to give their business to one of your direct competitors. It also detracts from your business image when a customer does not find you in the book or in the directory assistance database. Your small business is not perceived as stable when people can’t find you easily.

Here is something else to consider – some business loan lenders will confirm the legitimacy of your business by checking Directory Assistance and the phone book. If they don’t find you there, the chances of being extended business credit by that lender are slim to nil.
 
If you have a land line, the matter of getting your business phone number listed is standard and automatic. However, in this age of modern technology, many small business owners are opting to use a wireless phone system such as VOIP or cell phones to communicate with clients. The telecommunications industry has been shuffling around the concept for a wireless 411 directory for some time, but there is a great deal of controversy over the matter. Although the FCC insists that it’s illegal for telemarketers to use automated dialers to call wireless phones, many consumers are nervous about the prospect. The FCC says this type of directory would have to be opt-in for consumers to be included and no printed or electronic list would be made available to telemarketing agencies.

In the meantime, there are a couple things you could do to get your number listed in the current 411 directory. Firstly, you can pay for a land line service without an actual phone hooked up to it that you simply use to forward all your business calls to your wireless phone. That land line number can be listed in the directories. Now, certain wireless phone service providers are giving their clients the option of being listed in a particular national directory. If you have not heard from your service provider about this, call them and ask about it. The point is – get your business phone number listed in the book or in the directory pronto!

Build Business Credit like a Pro

If you are like most small business owners, you want to build business credit for your company and get small business loans when you need them. To build business credit means less risk for you as the owner of the business. There is effort involved when you decide to build business credit. Start taking the steps to build business credit from the get-go. This way, you won’t find yourself without a strong business credit profile even if your business is thriving.
 
There is a lot of hype regarding the need to build business credit that says personal credit does not matter. It’s true that when you build business credit, you separate your business credit from your personal credit, but it does help to have strong personal credit as well. The more solid you are on your feet with personal credit, the more effective you will be when you build business credit. Credit protection laws vary between personal and business credit, so it’s important to understand the differences when you begin to build business credit. A good rule of thumb to follow is simply this – repair your personal credit along with the efforts you are making to build business credit.

As you begin to build business credit, set up your business structure properly with the state and get all the necessary licensing. When you build business credit you will need a business phone listed in the telephone directory under the business name. Buying products or services from companies that report your payment history to Dunn & Bradstreet and Experian will help you build business credit.
 
Don’t be discouraged by the best business credit score being reserved for the “big guys” when you build business credit. Maintain your focus and you will build business credit that has enough impact to catch the interest of private commercial lenders. Beware of loan fraud when you build business credit – a legitimate underwriter will not charge you a fee upfront to connect you with a business loan lender. There may be fees for other services involved when you build business credit, but not for that. Good business credit cannot be “bought.”

Factoring: Really Fast Small Business Loans

There are times in any small business when we just need some upfront cash, right? For example, to keep it going while we manufacture a product or deliver a service that will very soon go to accounts receivable. Factoring is basically a short term loan against those accounts receivable. It can be a quick cash loan for a portion or the full amount of the customer’s bill.  It’s likely the quickest way to get your hands on emergency cash for a small business, save for cashing in your favorite baseball card collection. The point here is – unless you’re really desperate to get rid of your small business, using money as the reason is not really an option. There are so many ways for a small business to get needed funds that a small business owner can’t help but manage financially with a little planning and organization.  Get in touch with us and we’ll tell you more about factoring loans for a small business.

Prioritizing for Maxiumim Productivity

In his book, Eat That Frog, 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time, Brian Tracy says “The mark of a superior thinker is his or her ability to accurately predict the consequences of doing or not doing something. The potential consequences of any task or activity are the key determinants of how important a task really is to you or your company. “(p.25)

As a small business owner, you can use this concept to make decisions about daily activities that will ultimately take your business to the end point (long term goal) you have determined. If you don’t know what your end point is, then this is the perfect place to begin. You must be clear about your long term goals, because this knowledge will directly influence the most productive course of action you can take in every hour of your business day. Having a clear picture of your long term goals will help you prioritize daily activities. The top priorities will always be those tasks which lead your business to the attainment of a long term goal in the most direct and timely fashion. Those top priorities must always be your main focus. These are the items on your flow sheet that get done first. If you don’t do these things first, the consequence is that you will not achieve the success you would like to have with your business, and it will certainly not happen in the time frame you desire.

Determining tasks and activities that are of lesser importance happens by examining the effect they will have over the long haul. We live in a society that likes instant gratification, where short-term pleasure often overrides a long-term future. Denis Waitley said, “Losers try to escape from their fears and drudgery with activities that are tension-relieving. Winners are motivated by their desires toward activities that are goal-achieving.” Take a good look at everything you are spending time doing in your business. Are those activities contributing to the end point or are they giving you present satisfaction only? Any activity that is not contributing to the overall success of your company should be dropped from your flow sheet immediately. These things are getting you nowhere fast!

If you are living and breathing, there will always be more to do than you can accomplish in a day. Your work will never be done. It is simply the nature of human experience. Inevitably there will be items that fall off your flow sheet at the end of the day. Let these be the items that hold the least importance to you and your business. Once you have spent your time, you can never get it back. You can spend money and get more money to spend, but when you use your time, it’s gone forever. So, using the time you have for maximum productivity means you are not wasting time.

Ask yourself what the activities are in your business days that are of the greatest value because they contribute the most to the overall success of your company. What is the “ace card” you are holding that will bring the greatest results? In what tasks do you really excel? You must constantly evaluate the consequence of how you are using your time. For every hour of the day, choose the most important task on your flow sheet, and let that be where you focus your attention. Doing those items first is the assurance that you will achieve your long term goals.

Using Surveys to Increase Business

As small business owners we have the tendency sometimes to get so excited about our product or service that we forget to consider the preferences of the public. We can’t help but have a biased opinion about what we produce. However, despite the fact that we may happen to manufacture the greatest “widget” that will ever be at the absolute lowest, rock bottom price, if it doesn’t meet the expectations of the public, it will never fly.

The public relations department in your business is where public opinion is handled, through the process of taking surveys. Surveys are created to target various markets to poll for public opinion. The information gathered through surveys include fact, figures and opinions that, when analyzed reveal true public interest. Surveys will tell you what people like and what they don’t like. It will tell you what people consider valuable enough to be willing to pay money to have.  Most people are willing to answer survey questions because in this society, we are not usually asked our opinions. The advertising industry basically uses the marketing strategy that covers telling us what we want and what’s important to us, without considering our thoughts on the matter.

Using a survey to poll your target market, in a sense helps a small business create an agreement with the public. You, as a small business agree to provide what the public wants, and the public agrees to exchange money for the value of what they are getting. You may be surprised to discover what your public really wants. It may end up being the product or service you least expected, but so what. One of the reasons you’re in business is to make money, so have the courage to produce what sells. You can intelligently predict which product or service will sell the most, by surveying your public.

Small Business Loans are Possible

Have you tried getting a small business loan lately? How many rejection letters did you receive before you thought there was no hope of getting the funding you needed to launch or expand your small business? Here’s news that will cheer you up. There are plenty of folks out there that are looking for small business owners just like you. They are private lenders that make it their business to help you get the financing you need. The catch is that they base the small business loan on your business credit, not your personal credit. For many of us that don’t have pristine personal credit, or don’t want to risk personal assets, this could be a blessing.

To make this happen, you must educate yourself regarding what it means to have a business credit score, and then go to work on building it to be worthy of a private lender’s attention. This can happen as quickly as you are willing to put it into action. Provided you have everything required in order, this will likely be your best option once you have been rejected by the bank for a small business loan.

Business Debt Financing & Collateral

What can be “collateralized” in my small business when I need business debt financing?

The short answer is: Anything with any value can be usued as collateral when you need start up business financing or business debt financing.

Collateral is “an asset pledged to a lender until a loan is repaid,” according to the Denver Business Journal. The Denver Business Journal goes on to define an asset as “anything that has commercial or exchange value that’s owned by a business, institution or individual.” In other words, anything owned by your business that has any intrinsic value on the marketplace, taking in to account the value that would be lost if the assets had to be sold off quickly, can be used as collateral on a loan toward your business.

When looking at what you may be able to use on collateral, it’s important to consider how much money you’re looking to have loaned to you and to look at the value of the assets you have available to use as collateral. It’s also important to consider the risks involved. If you fail to pay off a lender, the items used as collateral can and most likely will be seized and liquidated very quickly, giving you little chance to intervene.

For example, say your business owns a database computer for which it paid $5,000. A bank may determine that the computer may only draw $2,000 if it had to be liquidated quickly, given the relatively quick obsolescence of computers - there’s always something newer and better. Thus, the bank would accept your $5,000 computer as collateral on a $2,000 loan. In essence, you would be putting $5,000 on the line so that you can obtain $2,000 for use somewhere else in the business.

Another element to keep in mind is that collateral isn’t limited to simply physical property. Accounts receivable, purchase orders and other debts owed to you by other people and business can be used as collateral. Insurance policies, collectables, furnishings and virtually anything with an identifiable cash value can be used as collateral, though accepted collateral will vary from bank to bank.

Strengthening Business Credentials

As your company grows, over time it develops a reputation for how it conducts business. The integrity of your small business and your relationships in the business community are heavily valued by lenders. Strong relationships can equal a compelling case for obtaining financing. Strong credentials based on solid footing in the business community are invaluable when it comes time to seek the capital your company needs.

When you know you will be seeking a commercial business loan, it is very important that once you have your business credit established you are able to maintain that business credit. Stability and daily updates will be the key to this. Establishing and maintaining good business credit references will be very important. Once you have built that good business credit standing, you will need to monitor it closely to make sure nothing adversely affects it.

When establishing your business credit you want to use every possible business credit reference. A benefit to building business credit is you can never have too much business credit. Whether it is your utility bill, your cellular phone bill or a merchant account, it is all relevant to building your business credit If you are a relatively new small business, you may not yet have established the technical requirements that a bank, credit union or traditional lending institution uses to determine your business credit worthiness or eligibility for a commercial business loan. In this case, your bank loan could very well be rejected. On the other hand, developing a good relationship with your local banker and good banking habits are important, regardless if the bank turns you down for financing.

In a sense the bank can be considered one of your suppliers, since they provide you with a service. Alternative lenders and business credit bureaus will investigate your banking practices, as they do your relationship with other vendors.

In terms of a strong business credit image, membership in a local Chamber of Commerce in you area gives your small business many advantages, including marketing, advertising and networking opportunities. It also provides invaluable support through referrals and recommendations from other local small business owners.

Being a Chamber of Commerce member denotes a measure of recognition for good standing in the small business community. You can be a member of more than one Chamber of Commerce. Membership has yearly fees attached.

Membership with the Better Business Bureau provides consumers with a basic level of confidence, since membership requires adherence to ethics and standards of small business conduct. It also has membership dues attached. The BBB promotes self-regulation for small businesses within their specific areas of industry, which adds to a company’s image of having integrity. The business credit image is taken into consideration by lenders when a small business is seeking a commercial business loan. The unfortunate side of the BBB is the reality that unfounded or unfair complaints can be publicly filed with the BBB against a small business.

Your business relationships with your vendors and suppliers, your banking institution, and your relationship with the Chamber of Commerce and the Better Business Bureau are all taken into consideration when you are applying for commercial financing, business credit cards and lines of credit. Take the time to maintain the integrity of these relationships. It will pay off in the long run.

Business Financing for the Wise Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs like you tend to be visionaries that think outside the box. Your unleashed creativity is the reason for all the great advances that have occurred throughout history, yet it can also be the root of your greatest challenge. Idea people often have the most difficulty with planning and tasking out a flow sheet for step by step activities. You know how to “keep the end result in mind,” as Stephen Covey reminds us to do, but the in-between stuff can somehow seem too mundane to warrant your attention. A clearly laid out business plan that outlines daily actions and timelines is a must when it comes to starting a new business. This is precisely what will lead you to your end result and your projected goals. A note to the wise - one of the biggest lumps you will have to swallow when starting up a business is the fact that you will need the cash to get it off the ground, so make it one of the first challenges you tackle.

In your minds eye you may have pictured your best friend or a relative with a savings account fronting you the investment capital you need. Unless you are looking for a partnership with this person, really consider the pressure you can bring to your relationship if your plan fails to unfold as projected. What do you propose to do if you are unable to fulfill your agreement to repay the personal loan? On the other hand you could approach your local banker for funding but maybe your personal credit score doesn’t quite cut the mustard, and besides, do you really like the idea of putting personal assets, such as everything you own and the roof over your head at risk?

What the entrepreneurial minded often forget is that incorporating a business with the state means that your business is now a legal entity with its own life! Despite the fact that you created it, now your business has been pushed out of the nest and it has to make the choice to fly. The bottom line here is that you went into business to make money. Expect your business to perform for you and give up on the notion immediately that you need to pull cash out of your pocket or back it with personal assets to keep it afloat.

In the world of business financing a business has the ability to build a credit score for itself that is not associated with personal credit. A business credit score is required for a commercial business loan and thus, the commercial lender does not run a personal credit check on the business owner(s). Dun & Bradstreet and Experian are the two primary companies in the U.S. that provide reports on the business credit scores of companies that have registered with the state. The process of developing business credit does not happen automatically as it does with a personal credit score. There are steps involved in determining a business credit score, such as how many people you employ, where your business is located, how well you keep updated with your state of incorporation and your payment habits with your vendors and suppliers.

Another note to the wise - don’t get stuck on the idea that the bank or the SBA is your only source of funding. There is a plethora of private lenders in this country that make their business helping small business owners like you. Using a private lender in the beginning can be the quickest way to the cash you need and will be a plus for your business credit score, providing you maintain your loan obligations with the lender. Once your business credit score is established at a certain level you will be more readily accepted for a traditional loan from a bank.

Willingness to take the required steps toward a strong business credit score will land you the financing you need. One of the first details in your business plan needs to be registering to begin the process. Find yourself an experienced business mentor that can show you the ropes and save you from unnecessary costs. Having all your ducks in a row before you approach a lender will be to your greatest advantage for financing your small business. Entrepreneurial wisdom means aligning your daily business operation tasks with your overall vision and is a sure way to achieve success.