May 29th, 2009 by hanun

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?

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?

May 24th, 2009 by hanun

Free business letter writing ebook.

When you use the free ebook offering sample business letters, you will be provided what you need in order to effectively communication key messages necessary in business.

Without rambling, a short and clearly stated letter will get the point across most effectively. While you do not want to seem short, the point needs to be made in as few words as possible.

Being cordial yet understanding takes certain finesse. The lessons you will learn when using this free tool for writing business letters will provide you with the right approach to say what you need to say.

A professional and focused letter will be more appreciated than an erratic letter that makes no clear point.

Some really great sample business letters are included to get you through most business situations without seeming unprofessional. In business, letter writing is a very important skill.

When you come across as an uneducated person who does not know how to write a business letter, how many people do you think are going to take you seriously? If they are laughing at your letters, what are they saying about you or your business?

When you see how the sample business letters are concise, properly set up, and have all the information that is relevant to the subject in the right format, it will seem senseless to you to use anything else.

The Business Letter Writing ebook will show you the right way to keep your personal feelings from interfering with your professional life. Mixing the two is typically not a good idea.

When you use this tool to help you get on the right track, you will wonder why you did not take advantage of this sooner.

The idea behind sending a well written business letter is to get results. In addition, you want to ensure that you receive a response that is clear and concise.

The many samples available include an apology letter, thank you letters, donations requests, collection letters, reference letters, letters of resignation and more.

When you utilize any of these sample business letters, you will see how important it is to use the right approach in your written communications.

For example, if you need to write an apology letter for any reason, do not dwell on the apology. Make it, say you have learned from it, and you hope to maintain a business relationship with their company.

You do not want to keep apologizing. One time is sufficient. To keep stating it repeatedly makes the person you sent it to begin to wonder if you are unsure of yourself. Do they want a business that is run by someone who is not sure of themselves?

If you are asking for a donation, state what is for, how it will benefit the receiver, and how much you will appreciate their consideration. Do not beg for money, or lay a guilt trip on someone.

Using the correct approach for this donation request can mean the difference between receiving the donation versus your letter being filed in the trashcan.

These are a couple examples of how much you can learn from the Business Letter Writing ebook. Take advantage of this free tool today by visiting Leadership-Tools.

May 18th, 2009 by hanun

“Small businesses” is an economically term which generally related to the business scope and extent. The taxing authorities categorize “small business” according to their finance turnover in a defined time duration, in most cases: a year. Another aspect of specifying a business as a “small” one is its field of activity: a single barber shop, or a single “Pizza” parlor, or a single stand in a marketplace, are “small businesses”. When one of those becomes “a chain of…” it’s another story.

 

The behavioral sciences, especially Sociology, regard “small business” as a small organization. From the sociology point of view a business is a type of social organization. The sociology discipline classifies organizations by their internal human relations and interaction. No matter how many people are involved, what’s count is the quality of the inter-relationships among them. If everybody knows everybody, face to face, by each name, and the instrumental communication is informal as the social communication, then it’s a “small organization”. 

Such informal relationships can function when we are talking about 2 to 100 workers, managers and subordinates all together. Probably when it’s a 100 people organization we’ll find formal division of labor, duties definitions and documented regulations. On the other hand – a 4 personnel store: the informality is extreme and there is no room for documentation and definitions, everyone is doing everything and if the boss, the store owner, will keep distance – he’ll lose the great advantage of potential warm instrumental relationships with his three salespersons.

Between the 4 and 100 personnel the most common are the 30-40 personnel small businesses. Even if the business owner will try to establish formal regulations he wouldn’t succeed. In such a small organization people will behave according to the informal habits which dominate the everyday activities. There is no way that a new employee will sit down and read a documented guidance book. What will probably happen is that he’ll be told orally what to do by a senior foreman and will complete his integration by imitating others in his close working environment. If he’ll insist to read written instructions he wouldn’t find it because it doesn’t exist  in such small businesses and if he will – it wouldn’t be updated. This is the great fault of small organizations and yet their great advantage: it makes them much more flexible and adaptable to market real time changes.

The sociologist Max Weber claimed that the ideal desirable theoretical model of the most efficient organization is the ‘bureaucratic” model. Weber argued that this type of model will be the only social organization that will overcome human faults and weaknesses. His organization will leave much longer than the individuals who are working for it. People will have to adapt themselves to the organizational needs and demands and not the other way round. He wanted to fulfill the old cliché saying “The graveyards are packed with people who thought they were irreplaceable”.

Just for the sake of argumentation, I’ll point only two of the criticism on Weber’s model:

One – Bureaucratic organizations suffer of stagnation. When a “big business” wants to react to changes in its businesslike environment its got to be someone whose job is to detect such changes and to call a meeting of the right forum which is nominated in advance to take care of such cases and according to the firm regulations to make decisions which will be accomplished by those who will be appointed to the task. Such a procedure is taking a lot of time while small business are reacting immediately and move forward leaving the big businesses behind.

Two -  The biggest enemy of the bureaucratic organization is the informal organization within the formal one. A lot of money, time and energy are wasted trying to overcome the influence of the informal organization. In small businesses, which are informal by nature, there is no such problem.

 

As a metaphor we can compare big and small businesses to a steam ship and a sailing boat. In the big steam liner, even if the crew members know each other personally, they operate a daily routine under strict regulations carried out by formally ranked officers and other commissioned lower ranked staff. If the weather will change and threat the ship safety, no one will react without a strict command issued by the captain. In the small numbered crew of a 40 feet sailboat there are no ranks or strictly defined jobs. Everybody is doing everything which is needed when it is needed to be done. There is a Skipper but in case of a sudden hazard you can carry on each sailor that he’ll do what’s necessary without waiting to be told what to do. In small teams, who are operating in a stressed environment, a small boat in the big blue sea or a small business in the jungle of the wild markets, crew members know that if they wouldn’t operate shoulder to shoulder they will be hanged neck to neck. The friendly commitment to each other is working for the benefit of the organization.

 

A online print shop is a classic example of a small business. It is organized by the following departments:

Management and administration (3)

Sales and marketing (3)

Accountants (2)

Customer service (3)

Graphic artists studio (5)

Printing machines operators (3)

Production and finish (7)

Shipping (2)

Business development and Internet support (2)

 

Those 30 workers are crowded in 100 square meters shop including machines and furniture.

The print shop is operating on line and off line.

On line, through the Internet, they offer the classical advertising and promoting printed materials like: Business cards, magnets, fliers, stamps, account books, envelopes, letterheads, invitations, stickers, bookmarks, and so on.

Off line, when the customer arrives in person and orders his request face to face. This is when the products are “heavy” like: books, catalogs, folders, small paper made packing materials, and such.

 

The small number of employees, operating under the right managers leadership, creates consolidation, unification, integration, and forging “team spirit” based on interpersonal relationship which creates an identification, involvement and empathy with the business goals. The lack of distance between managers, foremen and other employees do not harm discipline and high standards of working moral and ethics. Discussions, which are taking place from time to time, in open forums, enable all workers criticize constructively or suggesting improvements. Workers can express themselves freely in periodical interviews and all channels of communication, including internal E-mailing, are open unlimited. The closeness relationships enable flexible positioning workers in different stations according to various burdens. The outcomes of 30 workers is synergistic by nature and much more than just aggregative.