Uncategorized Archives - Page 8 of 10 - Excel Capital Management

Insurance Agency Loans: How to Get the Funds Your Agency Needs

June 12, 2019March 18, 2018 by Excel Capital

If you run an insurance agency and you need fresh capital to operate or grow your business, it’s important to understand what options you have when it comes to insurance agency loans.

Below, you’ll learn what types of loans and other funding products are available for insurance agencies as well as information about how funds from these loans are typically used. We’ll also let you know why it’s difficult to access insurance agency loans from big banks.

Most traditional banks don’t offer insurance agency loans. But it’s not because of credit or financials as much as it is due to the SIC Code they’re associated with.

Many insurance brokers and agents work with us to get business loans because they have been turned down by banks and want to know what other options are available.

Once you’ve gotten the inside scoop on insurance agency loans, we encourage you to set up a free consultation with us to talk about these practical business loans and other Fintech funding products available to you.

At Excel Capital, we help business owners achieve their business goals by making it easy for them to get the cash that they need without the hurdles and red tape associated with traditional bank instruments and loans.

What are insurance agency loans?

An insurance agency loan is a business loan which may be used to operate and/or expand an insurance related business.

Whether its an agency or a brokerage, working capital is needed to operate insurance agencies as they often have cash flow problems due to the way they receive payments. In most cases, every thirty days rather than day in and day out like most businesses.

Between monthly payments, you need sufficient cash flow if you hope to meet your financial obligations.

Most insurance agencies with cash flow problems struggle for a few different reasons:

The agency is over-leveraged
The agency is over-invested
Unpaid “withholding” taxes
Over-leveraged agency owners
Or a failure to budget

Establishing proper cash flow is essential to the profitability and longevity of your insurance business. And an insurance agency loan will help you to optimize your cash flow and realize your business goals.

What are borrowed funds used for?

When you access an insurance agency loan, you’ll be able to use the funds for working capital, hybrid equity and debt financing (mezzanine financing), agency perpetuation plans, and agency acquisitions.

Suffice it to say, there’s a lot you can do with funds from this type of loan.

Some examples include:

Paying vendors
Marketing
Buying equipment
Hiring new agents
And virtually anything else you can think of

With the right cash flow in place, you’ll have the freedom to handle current expenses as well as implement growth plans which offer long-term benefits.

Why traditional lenders won’t help

Your insurance agency may be rock-solid, but you’ll still get turned down for a business loan from a bank. Why? Because insurance agencies are considered “high-risk” by traditional lenders.

Companies are considered high-risk based on various conditions. One is that they operate in industries with “high-risk” designations, insurance being one such industry, and the other is that the threat of financial failure is present.

When a company has a high-risk designation, it severely limits funding options. If a bank does decide to grant your business a loan, you can bet the terms and conditions will be harsh.

Banks examine certain thresholds for accounts receivable (AR) portfolios and look at hard assets to see if sufficient collateral is available.

Banks want enough collateral to negate or minimize the risk. So, they often decide to deny loans because their loan officers aren’t comfortable with the risk level.

If you’re running a smaller insurance agency and looking for opportunities to grow, you may not have enough financial weight in the finance world to get the affordable loan that you need from a big bank.

However, nowadays, you have options. That’s because an insurance agency can get the business loans they need from alternative lenders.

Apply for an insurance agency loan today

At Excel Capital Management, our team of alternative lending experts understand the insurance business and why it’s unique.

We know why you need cash flow and why insurance agencies have trouble getting loans from big banks.

We also know that bank models for analyzing credit ratings and other performance factors before approving or denying loans are out of date.

That’s why we offer secured and unsecured loan options that fit the needs of modern insurance agencies like yours, no matter the size of your business, and even if your agency has a poor business credit rating or even no credit history at all (9002 credit).

To find out more and see what your agency can be approved for, click here to complete our short, 3-minute application.

How a CRM Can Benefit Your Business: Exclusive Interview with ConvergeHub Founder/CSO, Manash Chaudhuri

September 7, 2017September 7, 2017 by Excel Capital

Using a great customer relationship management (CRM) is extremely beneficial when it comes to running your small business. Not only does this type of software help to analyze customer interactions and data, it is also a great tool for marketing, inter-office communication, and overall company improvement. Excel Capital Management sat down with ConvergeHub’s Founder/CSO, Manash Chaudhuri to discuss their software and the benefits of using a CRM. Check out our exclusive interview below!

Excel Capital Mamagement: For business owners who may not be familiar, what exactly is a CRM?

Manash Chaudhuri: CRM is an acronym that stands for Customer Relationship Management, a technology, practice, or strategy designed to help businesses to perk up their interactions and relationships with potential and present customers. A CRM system also helps organizations to streamline business processes, stay connected to customers, and improve profitability. In general, when people talk about CRM, they usually refer to software, a tool that helps with contact management, sales and support management and more. A CRM system helps us to focus our organization’s relationships with individual peoples, which includes customers, colleagues, service users, or suppliers. It also helps in finding new customers, winning their businesses, provide customer support and other additional services throughout the relationship.

Here is an illustration of what a CRM is and what it can do for an organization:

ECM: What are the benefits of using a CRM system and what kinds of industries typically use them? Can business owners of all industry-types benefit from using the software?

MC: The primary benefit of implementing CRM system in an organization is that the software can help to provide a clear 360-degree view of your prospects and customers. Using a CRM platform, you can view everything in one place- a customizable, simple dashboard that can tell you customer’s previous history with your organization, the past and present statuses of their orders, any outstanding customer issues, and more. A CRM can also help you to include information from your prospect and customer’s public social media activities- their preferences and dislikes, what they are socially sharing or saying about your brand or your competitors. Marketing personals can use a CRM system to better understand their sales pipeline activities, which makes forecasting more accurate and simple. Using a CRM, you can find a clear visibility of every leads or opportunity, highlighting a clear path from inquiry to sales. Though CRM system has traditionally been only used as a sales and management tools, customer service is also seeing great benefits in using this software, which once embedded in your business DNA can even help HR and supply-chain-management in your company. Yes, all type of companies can benefit from using CRM, such as in market verticals namely – banking, consultants, customer support, law firms, finance, merchant funding, real estate, investment banking, healthcare, e-commerce, retail, insurance, professional services, and others.

ECM: When it comes to sales and marketing, why would you suggest business owners use a CRM rather than do everything manually or staying in communication via old-fashioned email?

MC: An active sales and marketing team can generate a deluge of data. Hence, more administration works mean less time for everything else in your company. Moreover, your reps can be out of the office talking to customers or for finding out valuable business information- but too often all these information gets stored in laptops, handwritten notes, or remains inside the heads of your sales and marketing teams. However this traditional way of retaining customer and business information can make details get lost, meeting not followed-up on time and prioritizing customers can be a matter of intricate speculations, rather than a conscientious exercise based on facts. Moreover, modern day customers may contact you over a broad range of platforms including emails, phones, or social media- asking questions about an issue or for following up on orders. Even, if you have successfully collected all these data, you may often face the challenge of making sense and extracting intelligence from this disparate information on diverse platforms. Reports can be hard to create and they can waste your sales and marketing team’s valuable selling time. Managers in your sales and marketing team can also lose sight of what their teams are up to, which means that they cannot offer the right support at the right time. Hence, without a common platform for customer interaction like CRM software, customer information, details of their interactions and communications can get lost in the flood of information, leading to slow and unsatisfactory response, which is why CRM software in need for replacing the traditional method of doing everything manually or staying in communication via old-fashioned emails. To put it briefly, a good CRM system gathers information from a huge variety of sources. It gives you unprecedented insights to spot problems, improve what you offer and identify gaps in your marketing and sales processes, which cannot be performed by following legacy methods or in this world of social media just by staying in touch with your customers over email.

ECM: To get back to marketing, email marketing campaigns are a huge deal these days. Why might a business owner use a CRM, such as ConvergeHub, rather than a software such as MailChimp, which is typically used for this sort of thing?

CH: If just sending email-blasts are your key concern, then email automation software like MailChimp can serve up your purpose efficiently. However, if you are looking beyond that, for a next generation software that offers a comprehensive marketing, sales and service suit then nothing can replace ConvergeHub. MailChimp like most of the other Email marketing solution relies on email tracking and web analytics, however, when you have a prospect showing interest; all these softwares will then have to export the data and then import or manual enter the data into some form of Sales management system. This is where ConvergeHub brings a lot of value. ConvergeHub not only offers a complete Email marketing solution and it also has a very nice handshaking mechanism which seamlessly move your prospect data from Marketing to Sales by just click of a button. It is a huge time saver and it can deploy your DRIPs or customer behavior based segmentation or other related automation activities without missing a single moment. Therefore, while MailChimp offers just limited marketing automation with basic functionalities, ConvergeHub is more than just a newsletter and email marketing tool. ConvergeHub is a fully functional customer engagement platform and a reliable and far more innovative MailChimp alternative, which can also integrate email automation software like MailChimp within its scalable platform.

ECM: Tell us a little bit about your company, ConvergeHub and what makes it a leader CRM systems.

CH: ConvergeHub is a powerful all-in-one cloud CRM software that combines Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, and Billing in one unified platform, which enables businesses to attract more prospects, win more deals, and build stronger customer relationships. ConvergeHub is a fully featured CRM and does not call for expensive add-ons. It is perfect for small to medium sized businesses that have the same software needs as large enterprises but do not have the additional budget to spend on multiple standalone software applications and their integration.

Some of the features that make ConvergeHub so special to owners of businesses include:

Sales Force Automation-SFA
Marketing Automation
Customer Service / Support / Case Management
Document Management and Collaboration
Partner Management
Project Management
Invoicing and Payments
Reports and Dashboards
Customizable Modules
Social CRM
Use of minimum mouse clicks

Finally, ConvergeHub CRM for SMB is also a price performance leader, which lets you create unlimited lead, contact, account, templates, automation, and you can ask for help anytime from our support team without worrying about additional cost.

Motel loans: What funding options are best for Hotels, Motels and Bed and Breakfasts.

February 19, 2020June 13, 2017 by Excel Capital

Motel Financing: How to Obtain the Working Capital You Need | Excel Capital Management

Owning and operating a motel business is no easy task whether you have one location or are in charge of a franchise. Keeping up with trends and the constant competition among other motel and hotel chains can be quite difficult at times, and some additional working capital may be needed to keep up. When it comes to applying for financing help, many motel owners have a tough time going the traditional route. Traditional banks and lenders tend to list motels as high risk for various reasons such as seasonality, low numbers of guest bookings, negative reviews, lack of collateral to pledge when obtaining financing, and more. These concerns are all justified, but it’s not the end of the road. There are many alternative funding options available to motel business owner. Let’s take a look!

Motel Financing Options

Split Funding aka Merchant Cash Advance: Short-term financing transactions that are collected through a set percentage of your Visa and MasterCard sales that are accepted at your place of business. Probably the most common term used in the industry. These do not have a set repayment schedule and are based on the volume of your businesses credit card processing sales. These are usually only guaranteed by the future sales of your business.

Equipment Financing: Equipment Financing is a loan product used to help business owners purchase any type of equipment needed to run the business. The loan amount is dependent upon the type of equipment needed, as the repayment term is usually as long as the expected life of the piece of equipment and if it is used or new.

Term Loans: A loan that is backed by a bank for an exact amount that has a specified repayment timetable and interest rate that are adjusted accordingly. Terms mature between 1 and 10 years.

ACH Loan: These loans may need personal guarantees, and have a fixed repayment schedule that is paid either daily, weekly or monthly. These products are catered to industries that do not accept credit cards and need a fixed payment.

Business Lines of Credit: A rotating loan that gives business owners access to a fixed amount of money, which they can use day-to-day according to their need for cash. Interest is only paid on the amount of the advance actually used.

What Can Working Capital Acquired via Motel Financing Be Used For?

What’s great about all of the aforementioned motel financing options is that the working capital acquired through any of them can be used for virtually anything as long as it pertains to the business. Whether your motel has hit a rough patch and you need the capital to fix cash flow issues, or business is booming any you want to grow bigger and better, you can use it! Here are just a few popular working capital uses among motel owners:

– Business Expenses and Tax Payments

– Payroll and New Hires

– New and Additional Locations

– Equipment and Supplies

Three Crucial Steps to Take Before Applying for Motel Financing

As you would assume, there are many, many alternative lenders out there who can promise you the world when it comes to your motel financing needs. While most lenders and brokers out there are good guys, it is in your best interest to be cautious and to ask questions. Before you sign anything, make sure you fully understand the business funding solution you are applying for, how it works, and what the overall cost will be – literally and figuratively. Here are three crucial steps to take before you apply:

Identify Your Business’ Needs – First things first, why does your business need a loan in the first place? Sit down with your core staff members, financial advisers, or simply yourself to determine your business’ needs and how a quick business loan could help. Do you need to purchase inventory, hire additional staff, catch up on bills? Having a plan of execution once the loan is acquired is essential for success, as well as a plan for paying the loan back.

Do the Due Diligence – You may hear the phrase, “do the due diligence” a lot when researching quick business loans. In simpler terms, this means doing the necessary research before applying and accepting an offer with a lender. There are thousands of lenders and brokers out there – traditional and alternative. Don’t take everything at face value. Learn as much as you can about each lender you are interested in, compare pricing, read reviews, ask questions, and follow your gut if something just doesn’t seem right. You have the right to protect yourself and your business. The last thing you want to do is put your business in more of a financial bind or have setbacks. Research and knowledge is key. Do your due diligence.

Choose the Best Quick Business Loan Option – Maybe you did this when identifying why your business needs a quick business loan, but it’s a good idea to confirm again the type of loan product your business truly needs. Speak with your chosen lender to go over all of your options and get a better understanding of each financing option and how everything works.

Find Out What’s Needed To Qualify and Apply – All lenders have different business loan qualification guidelines. Depending on your business’ financial standing the amount of money you are looking to obtain, the documentation needed to be presented with an approval will vary. It is a good idea to at least have your last six months of business bank and credit card processing statements available, as well as additional financial documents like P&L and Balance Sheets and tax returns easily accessible.

The Application, Approval, and Funding Process

The great thing about motel financing is that the application, approval, and funding process is quick and simple. Generally, lenders that provide these financing options only require a simple, one-page application, four months of recent business bank statements, and four months of business credit card processing statements to get started. Once these pieces of documentation (and maybe a few others) are received, you can be presented with an approval and funded in as little at three business days!

For more information on motel financing options, contact one of our funding specialists today at 877-880-1106 or APPLY NOW!

Split Funding: What are the Benefits for Your Business?

April 18, 2024June 6, 2017 by Excel Capital

No matter what the industry type, almost all small business run into a point over time where they need additional working capital. Whether you need the working capital to cover basic business expenses during a slow season, a little extra cash to take care of payroll, money to purchase bulk inventory, or anything else pertaining to the business – access to funding is crucial for any business owner. Today, let’s discuss on probably, the most popular, alternative funding option out there, the cash advance business loan.

What is Split Funding and How Does it Work?

Split Funding is more commonly know as a Merchant Cash Advance. This type of business funding solutions is a flexible and cash-flow friendly way to access additional working capital for inventory purchases, equipment upgrades, hiring, employee training, payroll, taxes, and anything else your business could use the money for. Split Funding is especially great for businesses whose owners value having the amount they remit fluctuate with their daily payment card receivables. In simpler terms, a flat percentage of your business’ credit and debit sales are automatically remitted daily. If your business does a large amount of sales one day, a larger payment is taken out to pay back the advance. If a small amount of sales is done that particular day, you pay less. There is no fixed payment amount or maturity date. A larger repayment amount is sent on busy sales days than on slow days, and the process stops as soon as the advance is paid back in full.

What are the Perks of Split Funding for Small Business Owners?

The primary purpose of Split Funding is to service the financial needs of small to medium sized business owners. However, there are unique advantages included in the service that tailors to a specific business owners need. Here are some of those advantages:

Unlike traditional business loans, funds from split funding disburse in as little as three to four business days.
Split Funding does not require a minimum credit score to qualify. Therefore, any company struggling with a weak credit profile qualifies for the funds they need.
Traditional business loans typically require some form of collateral to secure a loan. The collateral requirement causes many business owners to face the fact they may lose precious assets in case they cannot make their payment. However, split funding does not require any personal collateral to qualify. Business owners who have limited assets never need to worry about losing their collateral.
Since there is no fixed payment with split funding, business owners who run into financial trouble or weakening sales do not carry the burden of a fixed remittance.
Since payments come from a small percentage of credit and debit sales, a business owner will actually see their payment decrease during lean times. There is no advantage quite like this with traditional business loans.

What Can Working Capital Acquired Through Split Funding Be Used For?

As mentioned in our opening paragraph, many business owners obtain funding at some point in their business’ lifecycle to help out with various needs. The great thing about split funding is that it can be used for virtually anything as long as it pertains to the business. Here are some common uses:

Business Expenses

By acquiring working capital for your business, you will be able to pay for things that may have not been affordable in the past. You may need office supplies, new computer software, or you may have a few bills to pay. These payments can all be made possible with working capital.

New Hires and Employee Training

Once you business starts to boom, you may need some extra help. Maybe you want to hire additional cashiers for your store. Maybe your restaurant needs additional wait staff or hosts. Maybe your medical office needs another receptionist. Maybe you even need to hire a few accountants to help take care of your finances. Additionally, many of these employees will need adequate training. Working capital can be used for all of these things!

Inventory and Equipment Purchases

Many business owners choose to use working capital to take advantage of bulk pricing on inventory and equipment. Similarly, equipment such as machines, computers, vehicles, and more can reach well into the thousands of dollars. Because many vendors require a large upfront payment for this type of pricing on inventory and equipment, working capital gives business owners the funds they need to purchase the items they need before it’s too late.

Unforeseen Problems

Unfortunately, with every business, problems do arise. Equipment fails, vehicles breakdown, natural disasters occur, employees leave. The headaches are unforeseeable and can be expensive, but working capital can help to cover the costs in a matter of a few days.

Marketing & Advertising

One of the most important things you can do is market and advertise your business to the world. Website development, paid ads, and social media marketing is a big job, and hiring a team of professionals can be pricey. Having enough working capital in order to cover these expenses can help tremendously.

Research & Development

Constantly developing your products, goods, and services is essential for staying ahead of the competition in your industry. Additionally, doing the proper market research and analyzing your target audience and consumers is key to knowing what your customers want. Working capital can certainly be used to help fund this process.

Product Manufacturing

Similar to research and development, product manufacturing may be a constant need depending on your industry and business capital may be needed during slow periods or when business is so great, that you must quickly meet the demand.

Office Space & Business Locations

Maybe you need an office space or facility in order to properly operate. Working capital can be used to acquire the appropriate space during the startup face or shortly thereafter.

What’s Needed To Qualify and Apply?

Split Funding is fairly easy to qualify for! Most lenders generally only require that the business have at least two months of operating history, documented gross monthly sales of $10,000 or more, $7,500 or more in monthly credit card sales, and no open bankruptcies. As you can see, if you business is out of the startup phase, qualifying for this business funding options is simple. After this criteria is met, the documentation you must provide is simply a one-page application, four months of business bank statements, and four months of business credit card statements. Most business owners receive a call with an approval within 24 hours and are funded in as little as 3 business days!

Complete our online application and see how much you can be approved for: Apply Now

Truck Overhaul Financing: How It Can Help Your Business

June 13, 2018June 1, 2017 by Excel Capital

The trucking industry can be a highly competitive and taxing. Training drivers to operate new equipment and trucks, the length of your payment terms with various vendors, the price of fuel, and maintenance are all expenses that need to be considered. From driving through hilly terrain to hauling heavy loads, a lot of stress is put on your truck’s engine. Despite staying on top of fixing small problems before they become bigger problems you will eventually have to put money towards a major fix. This is where truck overhaul financing can help.

While you should take your truck to a shop for analysis, you can also use your senses (sight, hearing, smell, and touch) to monitor their condition. If your truck is showing any of these signs, it could mean that it’s time for an overhaul:

Increased oil consumption: This is caused if the valve guides are worn, or if there’s too much space between the valve stems and guides, or if the valve guide seals are worn, missing, broken or not installed correctly. The engine may still have good compression, but it will use a lot of oil.

Excessive Exhaust: Since they positioned in the back of the truck, your tailpipes can go unnoticed. However, knowing if it blows excessive smoke, that’s a good indication that it’s time for an engine rebuild. Thick and dark is another clue. Just keep an eye on the tailpipe and take notice of any unusual smoke or a larger amount of it is coming out of your tailpipe.

Black, blue, or white exhaust: See if your truck is emitting exhaust that is blue, black or white in color.

Water in the oil: If there’s water in the oil, it will create a foam or gunk on the fill cap or the dipstick. Water that has formed on the dipstick will also cause rust to develop.

Engine knocking: Listen for changes in the way your trucks sounds when running. Rough running and pinging are both signs. If you ever hear a sound coming from your engine that sounds bad, it would have to be the knocking sound that gets louder when you rev the engine. This can sound like someone is actually knocking on your engine. This sound is not just annoying, but not a good indicator. It is not normal and sometimes it can lead to other auto problems if not addressed properly.

Oil pressure gauge: Even if the gauge isn’t calibrated perfectly, look out for any noticeable change in its reading.

Sludge: If you notice oil sludge on your oil pin when you clean and replace your oil, then you know your engine is not working well. Oil or coolant sludge is not just gross, it’s also a sure sign that you will need an engine overhaul in the immediate future. Sludge is wasted oil or coolant that is not going to be used. Plus it can cause issues that may make your engine not run very well.

Overheating oil: Oil that’s overheating smells like burning oil.

Reduction in acceleration: This is a sign of loss of cylinder compression.

Low fuel economy: Fuel is be pricey and can be a nuisance if you constant have to refill our tank, especially during long distance hauls. When the engine is slow or not working well, it can uses a lot more gas just to run.

Low oil pressure: This happens when the oil pump does not create pressure, and as a result, oil doesn’t all of the components. It’s often due to worn rod bearings or a broken oil pump.

Truck Overhaul Financing Options

Overhauling an engine can be costly and you may need additional working capital to help. The following are some of the trucking overhaul financing options available:

Equipment Financing: Used to help business owners purchase any type of equipment needed to run the business. The loan amount is dependent upon the type of equipment needed, as the repayment term is usually as long as the expected life of the piece of equipment and if it is used or new.
Merchant Cash Advance (Split Funding): Transactions that are collected through a set percentage of your Visa and MasterCard sales that are accepted at your place of business. Probably the most common term used in the industry. These do not have a set repayment schedule and are based on the volume of your businesses credit card processing sales. These are usually only guaranteed by the future sales of your business.
Term Loans: A loan that is backed by a bank for an exact amount that has a specified repayment timetable and interest rate that are adjusted accordingly. Terms mature between 1 and 10 years.
ACH Loan: These loans may need personal guarantees, and have a fixed repayment schedule that is paid either daily, weekly or monthly. These products are catered to industries that do not accept credit cards and need a fixed payment.
Business Lines of Credit: A rotating loan that gives business owners access to a fixed amount of money, which they can use day-to-day according to their need for cash. Interest is only paid on the amount of the advance actually used.
Emergency Business Loans: Loans that are funded quickly to help your business get out of a jam quick. Generally funded within 24 hours.

Application Process

Once a business has been approved, they can be funded in a little as a week. Usually, the documentation that is initially submitted is enough for this to happen in most cases, but there are instances when additional documentation may be requested depending on the lender. The following is the standard business documentation you should have prepared when starting the application process:

Business license
Voided check for the business account
Clear copies of identification for all owners
Proof of ownership
Trade references
Four months of bank statements
Four months of credit card statements (if applicable)

If it’s time to get some work done, trucking overhaul financing could be right for your small business. Excel Capital Management’s funding specialists are here to help and guide you every step of the way. Excel Capital Management will work to match your business capital needs. Give us a call at 877-880-8086 or APPLY NOW!

Hard Money Business Loans and How One Can Benefit Your Business

May 24, 2017 by Excel Capital

Hard Money Business Loans and How They Can Benefit Your Business | Excel Capital Management

If you’re a small business owner, you most certainly are aware of the many reasons why you, or any other entrepreneur for that matter, might need a small business loan. The reasons could range from office renovation, purchasing new inventory, up-dating computers or other equipment, or paying unforeseen taxes and other obligations. Or, maybe business has been so good for you that you found yourself shorthanded and need to hire more people, but don’t have the cash on hand to cover the cost of adding personnel.

For small businesses, just as in any other business, cash is king. Having sufficient operating capital can mean the difference between growing your business and simply standing still. In some cases, it could even be the difference between great success and utter failure. Many small business owners, in the early stages of operation, may not have thought that they could get a loan to keep them going until they prospered. Seasoned business owners could have mistakenly assumed that the only place they could go for a business loan was the banks, and they wouldn’t be successful. Even thriving businesses are recognizing that they could benefit from an influx of cash, and these types of loans could be the answer to their problems. Not to worry! There are options. Consider a Hard Money Business Loan.

What is A Hard Money Business Loan?

Hard Money Business Loans are a viable alternative to bank loans for providing necessary capital to companies that may be under-capitalized, growing rapidly, in the middle of a turnaround, or highly leveraged. In many cases, a small business might just require a cash infusion for preventing their growth from coming to a standstill or for getting over a financial hurdle. Using your business’ assets could be the key to obtaining the working capital needed for inventory, equipment repairs and purchases, or anything else your business may need. In short, you would be borrowing against your future business income, therefore, gaining access to that revenue sooner rather than later.

What Can a Hard Money Business Loan Be Used For?

The beautiful thing about a Hard Money Business Loan is that the working capital acquired through it can be used for literally anything as long as it pertains to your business. Many small business owners opt to use their loans for:

Business Expenses and Bills
Cover The Costs Customers Who Fail to Pay On Time
Seasonal Slow-Downs
To Fix Cash Flow Problems
New Hires and Employee Training
Inventory and Equipment Purchases
Marketing and Advertising
Product Manufacturing
Office Space
Research and Development
Unforeseen Circumstances (ie: natural disasters, employee resignations, equipment failure)

What Types of Assets Can Be Put Up as Collateral?

Hard Money Business Loans, as mentioned, are given to businesses that have shown steady and stable operating history. The business must also possess assets that can be financed and have not been put up as collateral to another lending institution. In addition, the company must not have any serious legal or tax issues which could impact the loan. Here are a few other pieces of information to be aware of:

– Accounts Receivable are the main type of collateral used to obtain an Hard Money Business Loan. Other forms of collateral such as equipment, real estate, inventory, and more can be used depending on the alternative lender’s restrictions and requirements.

– The Hard Money Business Loan amount you are approved for is determined by the value of your collateral/assets. Businesses can generally borrow 75% – 85% of the value of their accounts receivable. If the collateral a business puts up is equipment or inventory, they can generally borrow 50% of the value.

– Most businesses are approved for an Hard Money Business Loan in the amount of $500,000, and this number can exceed well into millions of dollars. Alternative lenders offer far lower interest rates than traditional banks, however, these numbers vary depending on the lender.

Applying for a Hard Money Business Loan

You may hear the phrase, “do the due diligence” a lot when researching business loans. In simpler terms, this means doing the necessary research before applying and accepting an offer with a lender. There are thousands of lenders and brokers out there – who can off your a great Hard Money Business Loan. Don’t take everything at face value. Learn as much as you can about each lender you are interested in, compare pricing, read reviews, ask questions, and follow your gut if something just doesn’t seem right. You have the right to protect yourself and your business. The last thing you want to do is put your business in more of a financial bind or have setbacks. Research and knowledge is key. Do your due diligence, and you will be ready to move onto the next step.

Generally, regardless of the industry type, as long as your business has decent financial statements, collateral, customers that pay on time, and reporting systems, obtaining a Hard Money Business Loan shouldn’t be too difficult. An added benefit is that this type of funding solution comes with regular fixed payments and lower interest rates compared to a traditional bank loan. This means less worries and more time to focus on your business and its success!

Typically, most lenders that offer Hard Money Business Loans only require minimal paperwork in order to present your business with an initial approval. As mentioned, your business’ bank account can even be funded in as little as three business days! Here is a list of items to have ready when applying.

Completed application provided by your chosen lender
Four months of recent business bank statements
Four months of recent credit card processing statements (if your business accepts credit cards)
Clear copies of identification for all business owners
Voided check for the business bank account that is to be funded

Keep in mind, that because this type of loan is asset-based, additional documentation will be required, however, it is still much less than traditional bank requirements.Many Hard Money Business Loans have $750,000 to $1,000,000 in collateral requirements.

For more information on Hard Money Business Loans, contact one of Excel Capital Management’s funding specialists at 877-880-8086 or APPLY NOW!

What are the 4 C’s of Credit For Getting a Business Loan?

February 10, 2020March 8, 2017 by Excel Capital

The 4 Cs of Getting a Business Loan | Excel Capital Management

You’re probably already aware that your credit score plays an important role in determining your eligibility to obtain a business loan or line of credit and that’s why it’s more important than ever to know what the 4 C’s of credit are.

However, what most don’t know about the 4 c’s of credit is what specific factors lenders look for within that overarching category.

When determining your eligibility for a loan, lenders look for what are called the ‘4 C’s of credit’ and, in fact, they stretch beyond just your credit score.

The number and type of factors vary somewhat depending on the lender, however, the four C’s of credit were created to help simplify and clarify the loan process for small business owners looking to obtain a loan.

It can be looked at like a guiding light to help understand what lenders and other funding companies look for when evaluating a business for credit

What are the 4 C’s of Credit?

The 4 C’s of credit are as follows –

Collateral

Typically appearing in the form of property or other physical assets, collateral is any asset a borrower can offer to secure a loan.

If the borrower defaults on the loan, the assets they used as collateral can be seized. Many small business owners are wary of secured business loans because of this reason as they require hard collateral that is tied to your personal assets. Many business owners are and have the right to worry about crossing the line between business and personal. Making a business mistake shouldn’t have to affect your personal assets.

Fortunately, unsecured business loans often don’t require collateral, and if they do, it’s a form of ‘limited’ collateral such as a portion of business sales which isn’t required to be paid back if you go out of business, meaning the risks are much lower.

Capital

Capital refers to any business asset that can be sold to make loan payments. This includes available money and cash savings, investments, properties with equity, and other assets that you could sell or use to quickly obtain cash.

If business drops off and you’re unable to pay your loan payments for a time, lenders want to see that you have liquidity to cash out on so you can continue to make payments on time.

Capacity

Capacity refers to your business’ ability to make the revenue needed to pay back a loan.

Lenders don’t just want to see that you have assets you can use to pay off a loan (or which they can secure to do so), they want to see a history of being able to make regular payments regardless of those assets.

Character

The final ‘C’ in the 4 C’s of credit, lenders determine character by reviewing the borrower’s personal credit history and calculating several factors together.

Factors taken into account include:

Your total amount of debt
Delinquent accounts
Available credit
And whether you make payments on time

If you’re in need of a small business loan but don’t believe you can satisfy all four C’s of credit, don’t worry, there are several other options available. Now that you know what the four C’s of credit are you can easily understand how to prepare yourself and your business when you try to pursue a lender for any sorts of funds.

At Excel Capital, we provide a variety of financial solutions which we can offer even if you have bad credit.

Click here to complete our short application to get in touch with one of our financial specialists to see how we can help.

TrakLoans: How They Can Help Your Small Business

March 13, 2020December 15, 2016 by Excel Capital

As a business owner, you understand the importance of having the working capital necessary to grow your business and achieve success. Whether business is booming and you need capital for inventory purchases, expansion, new hires, and training, or you run into some cash flow issues over time and need it to these problems, most businesses will apply for funding at some point. You’re probably a little familiar with many of the alternative funding solutions we offer such as Merchant Cash Advances, Business Lines of Credit, Term Loans, and more, but now, we’d like to introduce to you the TrakLoan.

TrakLoans are a flexible, cash-flow friendly way to access small business capital fast. These loans work particularly well for businesses whose owners value having the amount they remit fluctuate with their daily payment card receivables. TrakLoans are also a stress-free funding solutions because instead of sending a large payment amount once a month, a flat percentage of your business’ credit and debit card sales are automatically remitted on a daily basis. That being said, a larger payment amount is only sent on busy sales days rather than slower days. Additionally, these types of loans have no maturity date and no fixed payment amounts. Thanks to this process, business owners can stay 100% focused on growing their business rather than repaying a loan. There are no checks to write or harassing phone calls coming to your business. The payment process stops automatically once the TrakLoan is repaid in full.

To add to the benefits, unlike traditional banks and lenders, alternative financing companies, such as Excel Capital Management, that offer TrakLoans have minimum qualification requirements. All that is required to get started is a completed one-page application form. No personal collateral is needed to qualify, and poor credit is not a deal breaker. For more information on TrakLoans, APPLY NOW!

How Automating Repetitive Business Tasks Can Save You Time

February 19, 2020September 28, 2016 by Excel Capital

As a business owner, you know that there are many tasks you and your staff find yourselves doing that just take up more time than they should. While important, spending unnecessary time on repetitive tasks that could be used to better the business in other areas can negatively affect productivity and company morale. The negative impact is made much worse for small businesses that just don’t have the manpower to handle hundreds of tasks per day, in turn, stunting the overall growth of the business. Here are a few common tasks to consider automating!

Checking and Answering Emails:

For many businesses, email is the lifeline. It is used to correspond with partners, answer customer inquiries, make requests, and much more. While checking your email is essential, if possible, try setting a few solid times throughout the day to check your inbox rather than every few seconds or minutes. If this is not possible, setting up your email filtering to allow urgent emails to go to one inbox and less important emails to go to another could save you time and stress. Additionally, try setting up automated email replies for when you are out of the office or even an autoresponse to let customers and partners know that you will reply to them shortly.

Payroll and Accounting:

Since you are most likely doing payroll weekly or biweekly, it may be a good idea to try to automate this process as much as possible – especially if you have a large staff. Consider hiring a payroll company to take on the job for you so you can focus on running your business, or if you want to handle most of the job yourself, consider purchasing a payroll, bookkeeping, or accounting software such as Quickbooks or Sage50. These types of softwares will not only help you with payroll management, but they can also help you with keeping track of business expenses, paying bills, and more.

Social Media Marketing:

By now, we’re sure you’re on top of the social media business marketing trends. Constantly creating and promoting content is essential in running a successful business, but it is a hefty job. If you are managing all of your social media accounts yourself, it is easy to quickly become overwhelmed. Consider downloading an app such as Hootsuite. This neat app packs quite a punch, allowing you to manage all of your social media accounts at once. You can even schedule posts for each account (maybe you use Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn) and track analytics.

Inventory Management:

Keeping track of inventory is time consumer, but one of the most important tasks for your business. Proper inventory management will require work from actual employees, however, human error does occur, not to mention, this task can be a tedious one. To make ensure that you are on top of what inventory your business has in stock, what needs to be purchases, and what is selling and what is not, consider using an inventory tracking system. Keeping a handwritten record or even a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is helpful, but Fisbowl or FlowTrac are two great softwares that can make the task even more seamless.

An ACH Loan Could Be The Perfect Funding Solution for Your Business

March 19, 2024September 6, 2016 by Excel Capital

ACH Cash Advance or ACH Loan for Your Bar or Restaurant

Deciding if an ACH Business Loan is right for your business:

Applying for funding for your business can be quite daunting. Do you go the traditional bank loan route or work with an alternative lender? ACH Loans make Funding Quick and Easy

Well, traditional bank financing can be quite tedious, tiresome, and unfortunately, not always the best solution.

Alternative lenders like Excel Capital Management can offer better funding products depending on your business’ needs such as an ACH Business Loan. Let’s take a closer look at how ACH Loans work and how one could benefit your business.

What Are ACH Loans?

money exchange | Excel Capital Management

To start, the primary purpose of an ACH Business Loan is to service the working capital needs of small to medium-sized business owners. They are a popular funding solution for businesses that do not accept credit cards or want a set repayment schedule.

Whether you need the working capital obtained through an ACH Business Loan for inventory purchases, new hires, employee training, additional office space, or almost anything else for your business, this funding solution can be extremely beneficial.

Unlike traditional business loans, funds from ACH Business Loans are disbursed in as little as one business day after being approved for funding.

Additionally, this funding product does not require a minimum credit score to qualify, which means many up and coming businesses or businesses experiencing a rough financial period. Having collateral is not necessary to qualify, so business owners who have poor credit or lack business history can still apply for this great funding solution.

Lenders use the ACH (automated clearing house) system provided by many banks to set up automatic recurring payments to collect payments. This is the main set up for Unsecured Business Loans.

Payments are usually remitted via daily or weekly ACH’s and provide micropayments instead of one large payment due at the end of every month. This ACH loan process reduces the risk for many higher-risk industries such as restaurants, car dealerships and trucking. Allowing alternative lenders to provide restaurant business loans, Cardealer funding and truck financing when most other traditional banks would not consider funding.

What Can an ACH Loan Be Used For?

The great thing about ACH Loans is that they are a funding solution that can be used for businesses in all industries and for virtually anything as long as it pertains to the business itself. Here are some common uses of working capital acquired through an ACH Business Loan:

Business Permits & Licenses – Depending on your industry and state of operation, your business may be obligated to obtain and display certain permits and licenses. Renewing these documents can be costly, but are necessary since not having the proper documentation at any point of operation can cause major legal issues in the future.

Office Space & Business Locations – Maybe you need an office space or facility in order to properly operate. Business capital can be used to acquire new space or to improve and expand an existing location.

Inventory Purchases – Business capital acquired through an ACH Business Loan can be used for bulk inventory purchases so there is never a shortage of goods and products. Often times, purchasing inventory in bulk has it’s benefits and is much cheaper than individual purchases.

Marketing & Advertising – Website development, paid ads, and social media marketing is a big job, and hiring a team of professionals can be pricey. Having enough business capital in order to cover these expenses can help tremendously.

Research & Development – Constantly developing your products, goods, and services is essential for staying ahead of the competition in your industry. Additionally, doing the proper market research and analyzing your target audience and consumers is key to knowing what your customers want. Business capital can certainly be used to help fund this process.

Product Manufacturing – Similar to research and development, product manufacturing may be a constant need depending on your industry and business capital may be needed during slow periods or when business is so great, that you must quickly meet the demand.

Employee Hiring & Training – Consider using the capital obtained through an ACH Business Loan to hire additional employees or to train existing staff on new business operations.

How are ACH Business Loans Paid Back?

The process of collecting payments on an ACH Business Loan is typically done through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) withholding method with fixed daily, weekly, or monthly payments. Lenders are able to withdraw a predetermined amount from you business’ bank account. The less common, but just as efficient, method is through a lockbox agreement. This process is a little more involved as all of a business’ daily credit and debit sales are deposited into a lockbox account with the lender withdrawing a predetermined repayment amount.

Deciding if an ACH Business Loan is Right for You

Many business owners feel ashamed when it comes to applying for some sort of financing, but not to worry. Almost all successful businesses have reached out for additional working capital at one point or another. In fact, many businesses that are doing incredibly well obtain additional working capital through a business loan for continued growth and expansion. Here are a few steps to take in order to decide if an ACH Business Loan is right for you.

Identify Your Business’ Needs – First things first, why does your business need a loan in the first place? Sit down with your core staff members, financial advisors, or simply yourself to determine your business’ needs and how a quick business loan could help. Do you need to purchase inventory, hire additional staff, catch up on bills? Having a plan of execution once the loan is acquired is essential for success, as well as a plan for paying the loan back.

Choose the Best Quick Business Loan Option – Maybe you did this when identifying why your business needs a quick business loan, but it’s a good idea to confirm again the type of loan product your business truly needs. Could your business benefit from an SBA Loan, Term Loan, Startup Loan, or something else? Speak with your chosen lender to go over all of your options and get a better understanding of how everything works.

What is the Application Process for an Ach Loan Like?

loan application | Excel Capital Management

Typically, most lenders that offer ACH Loans require minimal paperwork in order to present your business with an offer and approval. As mentioned, your business’ bank account can even be funded in as little as three business days! Here is a list of items to have ready when applying:

Completed application provided by your chosen lender

Four months of recent business bank statements

Four months of recent credit card processing statements (if your business accepts credit cards)

Clear copies of identification for all business owners
Voided check for the business bank account that is to be funded

*additional documentation may be requested prior to funding*

How An ACH Loan Can Help Your Restaurant or Bar:

While it is a trendy and thriving industry, owning and operating a bar or restaurant isn’t so simple. The business is constantly growing, changing, and will forever be one of the most competitive. These issues on top of the fact that business owners of all kinds will inevitably run into some financial hurdles overtime can be overwhelming to think about. So what do you do when your bar or restaurant is in need of working capital to fix cash flow issues? What do you do when the traditional big banks decline your business loan application? There are options. Introducing the ACH Cash Advance and ACH Loan or Unsecured Business loan.

As mentioned, all business owners will be in need of working capital at some point over their business’ lifetime. Whether additional funds are needed to fix your bar or restaurant’s cash flow issues during a slow period, train new wait staff, hire more bartenders, purchase inventory, or repair kitchen appliances, A quick Business loan can help. Two popular reasons many bar and restaurant owners reach out for capital is due to the turnaround of employees and the fact that their business may be cyclical.

For instance, employees in the bar and restaurant industry do not tend to stay at a job very long due to constantly looking for additional or better work opportunities. It’s a fast paced industry that many work in on the side to make extra cash. The causes many issues for business owners who can’t compete with other bars or restaurants that pay better. Additional capital could help you to give deserving employees a raise or promotion. Similarly, many bars and restaurant are cyclical, meaning they are open 2 to 4 days per week. Thus, generating enough revenue to pay rent for the business and cover expenses and payroll can be tough.

To acquire working capital from a traditional bank via a business loan is no easy task. BIg banks require lengthy applications, lots of paperwork, and tend to take a few weeks for processing and an approval or decline. Not to mention, due to the unsteady industry, an approval can be even more difficult to receive. (Check out our recent blog, “Why Business Loans Declined For 3 Reasons” for more on that).

Luckily, alternative financing is available, and the most popular financing solutions tend to be the Merchant Cash Advance or ACH Loan. The primary purpose of a Merchant Cash Advance or ACH Loan is to service the financial needs of small to medium sized business owners. Unlike traditional business loans, funds from a cash advance or ACH Bank Loan disburse in as little as three to four business days. They do not require a minimum credit score to qualify, therefore, many rising businesses or businesses that run into a rough patch over the years opt to use this financing solution.

Another benefit is that Merchant Cash Advances or ACH Bank Loans do not require any collateral to qualify, so business owners who have little to no collateral (or poor credit or limited business history) to offer can rest assured that nothing will be taken from them. Finally, since ACH Cash Advances and ACH Bank Loans do not necessarily have fixed payments, business owners who run into financial troubles over time do not carry the burden of large monthly payments, balloon payments and do not accrue over time (since they are classified as a purchase of future sales at a discount).

When it comes to paying back your ACH Cash Advance or ACH Loan, there are two common collection processes. With a Merchant Cash Advance, payments come from a set percentage of credit and debit sales. With ACH Loans (this financing product is typical for businesses that do not accept credit cards or want a set repayment schedule) the collection process is done through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) process. collection process is through the Automated Clearing House withholding method with fixed daily, weekly or monthly payments. This method allows the lender to withdraw a predetermined amount from your business bank account. Lastly, a lesser common method of collection is through a lockbox agreement. With this method, all of a business’s daily credit and debit sales are deposited into a lockbox account, in which the agreed upon repayment amount is removed by the lender.