Business Loans In Canada: Financing Solutions Via Alternative Finance & Traditional Funding

Business loans and finance for a business just may have gotten good again? The pursuit of credit and funding of cash flow solutions for your business often seems like an eternal challenge, even in the best of times, let alone any industry or economic crisis. Let’s dig in.

Since the 2008 financial crisis there’s been a lot of change in finance options from lenders for corporate loans. Canadian business owners and financial managers have excess from everything from peer-to-peer company loans, varied alternative finance solutions, as well of course as the traditional financing offered by Canadian chartered banks.

Those online business loans referenced above are popular and arose out of the merchant cash advance programs in the United States. Loans are based on a percentage of your annual sales, typically in the 15-20% range. The loans are certainly expensive but are viewed as easy to obtain by many small businesses, including retailers who sell on a cash or credit card basis.

Depending on your firm’s circumstances and your ability to truly understand the different choices available to firms searching for SME COMMERCIAL FINANCE options. Those small to medium sized companies ( the definition of ‘ small business ‘ certainly varies as to what is small – often defined as businesses with less than 500 employees! )

How then do we create our road map for external financing techniques and solutions? A simpler way to look at it is to categorize these different financing options under:

Debt / Loans

Asset Based Financing

Alternative Hybrid type solutions

Many top experts maintain that the alternative financing solutions currently available to your firm, in fact are on par with Canadian chartered bank financing when it comes to a full spectrum of funding. The alternative lender is typically a private commercial finance company with a niche in one of the various asset finance areas

If there is one significant trend that’s ‘ sticking ‘it’s Asset Based Finance. The ability of firms to obtain funding via assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets with no major emphasis on balance sheet structure and profits and cash flow ( those three elements drive bank financing approval in no small measure ) is the key to success in ABL ( Asset Based Lending ).

Factoring, aka ‘ Receivable Finance ‘ is the other huge driver in trade finance in Canada. In some cases, it’s the only way for firms to be able to sell and finance clients in other geographies/countries.

The rise of ‘ online finance ‘ also can’t be diminished. Whether it’s accessing ‘ crowdfunding’ or sourcing working capital term loans, the technological pace continues at what seems a feverish pace. One only has to read a business daily such as the Globe & Mail or Financial Post to understand the challenge of small business accessing business capital.

Business owners/financial mgrs often find their company at a ‘ turning point ‘ in their history – that time when financing is needed or opportunities and risks can’t be taken. While putting or getting new equity in the business is often impossible, the reality is that the majority of businesses with SME commercial finance needs aren’t, shall we say, ‘ suited’ to this type of funding and capital raising. Business loan interest rates vary with non-traditional financing but offer more flexibility and ease of access to capital.

We’re also the first to remind clients that they should not forget govt solutions in business capital. Two of the best programs are the GovernmentSmall Business Loan Canada (maximum availability = $ 1,000,000.00) as well as the SR&ED program which allows business owners to recapture R&D capital costs. Sred credits can also be financed once they are filed.

Those latter two finance alternatives are often very well suited to business start up loans. We should not forget that asset finance, often called ‘ ABL ‘ by those Bay Street guys, can even be used as a loan to buy a business.

If you’re looking to get the right balance of liquidity and risk coupled with the flexibility to grow your business seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor with a track record of business finance success who can assist you with your funding needs.

Buy Wholesale Clothes Before the Kid’s Clothing Stores Buy it All Up

It’s hard to clothe our children in ways we would like, especially since they grow up so fast. Sometimes you feel like you have to take out a small loan if you shop at the kid’s clothing stores in the mall. Even the clearance rack can feel overwhelming at times. This is why many families are starting to use wholesale children’s clothing websites for their clothing options. The product is still name brand clothes but for a fraction of the cost.The reason why many of these wholesale children’s clothing websites can offer the low prices is because they purchase the product from wholesalers or manufacturers who are going bankrupt or out of business. This means name brand clothing like Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Carters, Calvin Klein and others suddenly become quite reasonable. These websites are doing their best to try to let the public know about the products they’re providing. They also market to kid’s clothing stores, but they will raise the price so they can increase their margins. So before the clothes are all bought up from a retailer, visit the wholesale website to buy your child’s upcoming wardrobe. You won’t be disappointed by what you find!Pros:
* Wholesale distributors are working to let the public know about their services.
* You can still get name brand clothing for a low price.
* By buying it before the retailer, you’ll be saving a ton of money.Cons:
* Items you want were bought by a retailer before you could hit purchase.
* There’s too many choices to pick from.
* You don’t know where to look for options.Stay ahead of the kid’s clothing stores by buying name brand wholesale children’s clothing for a small price. Your paycheck can then go to other areas of the monthly budget.

Why a New Home Buyer Should Not Rely on the Former Buyers Home Inspection Report

Not all home buyers end up closing on the home that they put an offer on. Things happen and deals do fall through. This happens for several reasons. The top reasons are financial approval fell through, the seller and buyer got along poorly, the sellers decided not to sell the home, and the condition of the home was worse than the buyer originally thought it was.Once the home purchase has been cancelled the first home buyers usually look at other homes. The sellers are now left to hope another buyer comes along. The home inspection report is often shared with the real estate agents and the seller. Erroneously this home inspection report is sometimes shared with the new home buyers. This is an error for a couple of reasons.The first reason is because the second buyer has no contract with the home inspector or the home inspection company. Because there is no agreement/contract if the second buyer has an issue with the home claiming that the home inspector missed a major issue there is zero responsibility for the inspector to take care of them. There was zero legal obligation.Another reason is that the new home buyer was not present at the inspection and therefore has not idea what conversations the former home buyer and inspector had. This can be vital information. Sometimes in the inspection agreement the buyer request somethings not be inspected so the report is not as whole as the new buyer may believe.The last reason I am giving here for not relying on the home inspection report created for a previous home buyers has to do with your warranty. To help sell homes agents and sellers will often buy a home warranty for the new home owner. However most home warranty companies will not repair a lot of your issues if you did not have a home inspection completed for you. I spoke with a home warranty rep and they do depend on the home inspection report to determine if items such as your furnace or air conditioner were working when you bought the home. If you do not have your own inspection report to verify that things did operate when you bought the home then you are out of luck and the warranty company will not pay to fix your broken stuff.If you are buying a home that was previously inspected then you need to have your own inspection done to be protected as fully as possible. If anyone tells you that it is fine to use the previous home inspection report they are wrong. Your are not protected well at all. When Habitation Investigation does a home inspection the client has the ability to get an 18 month warranty for the fee of 12 months. Habitation Investigation also provides warranties such as sewer line protections, 5 year roof leak warranty and 90 day warranty on structural and mechanicals. All those things are there for the home buyer if Habitation Investigation does the inspection for the clients who buy the home.