Archive for the ‘Capital Finance’ Category
Commercial finance is one of the many options available to entrepreneurs seeking capital to start or grow an existing business. This sort of financing is also referred to as asset-based lending, meaning that it is a secured business loan. The borrower guarantees the loan by giving up business assets as collateral for the loan. Another popular phrase for commercial finance is asset-based finance.
Account receivable factoring is one form of commercial finance. This consists of selling open invoices for cash that can be used right away in the business. There are many benefits to this financing option including not giving up equity, being able to take advantage of early payment and volume discounts from your suppliers, you can actually purchase in greater volume from suppliers, and you also accrue no additional debt in your business.
Another popular commercial finance option is purchase order financing because it offers quick cash flow reserves. When any business is growing or expanding their business the cash flow simply isn’t there because of the money it takes to market and produce products. Suppliers also want to be paid with C.O.D. and your customers are on Net-30 terms; so you run into a cash flow problem. Purchase order financing solves this issue by paying for the costs of your goods directly to the supplier, thus giving you more cash to use on more critical business expenditures. To begin with purchase order financing simply obtain a purchase order from your customer, find an approved supplier, place the order through that supplier.
Asset based loans, an additional commercial finance option, provide a short term approach to maximizing cash flow within a business. This form of financing is used as test for a business to show how they would perform with a long term loan. The business who is receiving the asset based loan has a short window to prove that with the proper financing their business model is effective, and that a long term loan would ensure business growth over a long period of time. This form of financing is perfect for the business that can’t afford to wait to establish their business credit. The assets that are accepted as collateral for this type of loan include real property, accounts receivables, and completed inventory.
Other forms of commercial finance include bankruptcy reorganization, expansion financing, import and export financing, inventory loans, secured lines of credit, and merchant account advances. Financing a business is a difficult process, but if you utilize the financing resources available, your business have a much greater chance of success.
It is also good to work on establishing your business credit, ensuring that you separate your personal credit from your business credit. With good business credit scores obtaining large loans and other forms of capital is very simple, and you won’t be one of the 97 percent that actually have a loan application denied. One other strategy that is easy to do and beneficial on your quest for business capital is to use a free business capital search engine.
In planning for a successful funding campaign, you must expose your investment opportunity to enough investors.
The Kugarand Theory of Investing states that for every …
1 investor who invests,
3 say they will invest, and
15 investors were exposed to your investment opportunity to get to the three to get to the one Investor who actually invests.
For example, if your company is raising $1 million dollars and has a minimum investment of $25,000, then your company is seeking 40 investors,
($1,000,000 / $25,000 = 40). For your company to get the 40 investors to invest, you will need to exposure 600 investors to your investment opportunity,
(40 x 15 = 600 investors).
Find out how many investors you will need to expose to your opportunity using this formula.
A = How much money are you raising?
B = What is your minimum investment amount?
A/B = C
C = Number of investments needed
C * 15 = Number of investors who need to be exposed to your investment opportunity
Now that you understand exactly how many investors need to be exposed to your investment opportunity, you can plan accordingly.
Investor relation campaigns expose, generate and promote investment opportunities to investors through strategic planning of your company’s investment opportunity. Activities to gain exposure include:
? Participation in investor events
? Customized investor events
? Press releases and promotion
? Direct mail campaigns to investors
? Email marketing campaigns to investors
? Investor phone calls
? Web marketing
? Investor interest articles
? Public online investment portals
? Private secure online investment portals with confidential investment information and due diligence documents
Investor relations campaign should include the following:
? Simplified method to communicate opportunity to investors so they will take the time to learn enough about the opportunity to be enticed to invest more time in learning more.
? Combination of group presentations and one on one investor meetings to provide an opportunity for the client to “tell their story”
? Passive marketing to the interest areas of the investor community through email, press releases, and interview on radio and TV broadcasts.
? Direct Mail to reach those investors that do not respond to other means of communication, targeted based on geography and industry preference.
? System to capture investor interest and respond accordingly
? Ongoing communication strategy to communicate updates to investors so they can see the progress and move a semi-interested investor to an interested and motivated investor
? A centralized point of information so that no matter how the investor first hears of the opportunity they have a source of information they can go to.
Learn more at www.launchfn.com
Stock exchange or bourse is a mutual organization which provides facilities for stock brokers and traders, in trading company stocks and other securities, and for the issue of redemption of securities and other financial tools and capital events like the payment of income and dividends. The securities traded on a stock exchange include: shares issued by companies, unit trusts and other pooled investment products and bonds. To be able to trade a security on a certain stock exchange, it has to be listed there. Usually there is a central location at least for recordkeeping, but trade is less linked to such a physical place. Electronic networks run modern markets are, providing them great speed and cost of transactions. Stock exchange is often called the most important element of a stock market. The Demand and Supply in the stock markets is attracted by number of factors that affect the price of stocks.
Raising capital for businesses:
The Stock Exchange helps current and newly-formed companies raise capital for building and expanding their business through selling shares to the investing public.
History of stock exchanges:
In 12th century France, the courratiers de change were concerned with managing the debts of agricultural communities on behalf of the banks and these men also traded in debts. These men were the first brokers.
Mobilizing savings for investment:
When people draw their savings and invest in shares, it leads to a more balanced allotment of resources because funds, which could have been consumed, or kept in idle deposits with banks, are mobilized to promote business activity that benefits several economic sectors like agriculture, commerce and industry, resulting in a stronger economic growth.
In the middle of the 13th century, Venetian bankers traded in government securities. In 1351, the Venetian Government outlawed spreading rumors about lowering the price of government funds. Because of this rumor people in Pisa, Verona, Genoa and Florence also started trading in government securities which was possible because there were independent city states ruled by a council of powerful citizens during the 14th century.
Creating investment opportunities for small investors:
The Stock Exchange provides opportunity for small investors like the big investors to own shares of the same or different companies.
Government capital-raising for development projects:
Governments at various levels may decide to borrow money for financing infrastructure projects like sewage and water treatment works or housing estates by selling another category of securities known as bonds. These bonds are raised through the Stock Exchange where public buy them, thus loaning money to the government. The issuance of such municipal bonds can prevent the need to directly tax the citizens in order to finance development, although by securing such bonds with the full faith and credit of the government instead of with collateral, the result is that the government must tax the citizens or otherwise raise additional funds to make any regular coupon payments and refund the principal when the bonds mature.
Listing requirements:
Listing requirements are the set of conditions forced by any given stock exchange upon companies that want to be listed on that exchange.
Requirements by stock exchange:
For companies to have their stock and shares listed at the stock exchange have to meet certain requirements of the exchange. But requirements vary in different exchanges.