finance degree online

Benjamin Zander and his wife wrote a book entitled: “The Art of Possibility; Transforming Professional and Personal Life”. Their idea is that “you can create a passionate energy permeating The Art of Possibility that will be a true force in your life. You can make your own rules.” Their book is inspirational. You will be inspired if you buy and read it. The question is: how does this pertain to accounts receivable financing?

It’s all about attitude, enthusiasm and point of view regarding how to conduct your business. Can you make your own rules regarding how banks, commercial finance companies and other financial entities operate? Of course not. Can you make your own rules regarding how you utilize the financial recourses that are available to finance your business? Absolutely!

Here are three examples how to harness the power of accounts receivable financing sometimes with other types of financing to grow your B2B business.

Case Study One:

A Solar Energy Company that designed and supervised the installation of renewable energy systems was unable to obtain bank financing. They were one of the area’s lowest cost providers of solar panels, system design and supervision. One of their biggest assets was State Solar Tax Credits that are paid to homeowners who install the solar energy systems. An obligation from a State to a consumer is not within the definition of an account receivable. In other words, it could not be financed because it was not an obligation to a business. Using the art of possibility, the homeowners were persuaded to assign their solar tax credits to the Solar Energy Company. This transformed a consumer receivable into a commercial accounts receivable. Voila! The Solar Energy Company received accounts receivable financing it needed to grow.

Case Study Two:

An individual purchased an Importing Company that had been financed with a bank’s SBA loan. As collateral for the loan, the bank placed a UCC1 filing on the accounts receivable and inventory of the business. UCC refers to the Uniform Commercial Code in effect throughout the United States of America. In some respects, it simplifies the process of lending, selling and borrowing nationally. In other ways it is very complex. A UCC1 filing by a bank usually prevents any further financing because there is no collateral left to be financed. It is similar to a first mortgage loan on a house. If you have a 95% loan on your house, no other financing is available on the house because there is no equity to lend on. Using the art of possibility, the Importing Company was successful in convincing the bank to subordinate their UCC1 filing to another commercial lender’s UCC1. The Importing Company convinced the bank that it would be mutually beneficial to lower the bank’s UCC1 lien to a secondary position to allow a commercial finance company to offer new accounts receivable financing and inventory financing. Voila! The Importing business has a new credit line available for growth. It is now more profitable and the bank is more likely to be repaid. This is a win-win situation.

Case Study Three:

A start-up Clothing Company involved in manufacturing, distributing and designing T-shirts landed a substantial purchase order for their product. The product was to be made in China, and the Clothing Company lacked sufficient funds to pay for the costs of manufacture and distribution. Using the art of possibility, the Clothing Company obtained a letter of credit to guarantee the Chinese factory of payment, purchase order financing to pay for the T- shirts upon delivery, and accounts receivable financing to pay the purchase order company upon delivery of the goods to the customer in the US.

Whether you are starting up your business or expanding it you will need finance in order to do so. This is especially relevant to new businesses that are just starting up. There are numerous avenues that you can approach in order to gain this start up finance and there are many different forms of it open to you; choosing the right finance that will benefit your business most is the important thing.

There is a saying that states ‘it takes money to make money,’ this applies so much to new business ventures. For your business to become a success you will need a large amount of money to start off with that can be used to get your business set up. This money will be used to buy equipment, pay the rent on your business property, employ your staff and ensure that you have enough stock to get your business going as well as being used to pay the first few months of all your bills.

Two of the main reasons why many new businesses fail to get anywhere beyond the starting point are due to inadequate business capital and poor management skills, which is why raising money is so important in the early start-up stages of business.

Some ways in which people choose to fund their business idea is by using savings, but realistically not many of us have that sort of cash tucked away, which is why we require outside help. You could opt to borrow money from friends or family if they have the financial resources to help you or you could take out a credit card for the specific use of funding your business. All of the financial options that are open to you can be split into two sections, either debt finance or equity finance. Debt finance is classified as being money that is borrowed from varies different aspects. This is finance that is required to be paid back.

Some examples of debt finance include:

o Bank loans

o Credit cards

o Overdrafts

o Leasing

o Asset financing

All of these are the borrowing of money in one form or another and they will require monthly repayments that will have added interest. Most people however use their bank as the first call of gaining start up finance regardless of the fact they are going to end up paying more money back.

There are disadvantages and advantages of using a bank loan to fund a new business idea. However the disadvantages of having a bank loan to fund your business start up far out-weigh the advantages. The benefit of using a bank loan for business finance include being able to organise a repayment holiday meaning you only have to pay interest for a certain amount of time and you don’t have to turn over a share of your profit. The disadvantages however are that bank loans have strict terms and conditions and can cause cash flow problems if you are unable to keep up with your monthly repayments. Also bank loans are often secured against assets and you may be charged if you decide you want to repay your loan before the end of your loan term.
The other form of finance; equity finance, is often more overlooked than it should be when in fact equity finance could be just the answer that your business is looking for. The main forms of equity finance come from business angels and venture capitalists. Equity finance is money that is invested into your business in return for a share of the business. With equity finance the advantages out-weight the disadvantages and equity finance is a lot more helpful to small businesses than bank loans are.

Some of the advantages of equity finance include your investor being committed to your business and intended projects, they can bring valuable skills, contracts and experience to your business and they can assist you with strategy and decision making as well as often being prepared to follow up funding as your business grows. Two disadvantages of equity funding are your business may suffer as you are spending time securing your investor deal and the investor will own a share of your business.