Is your business struggling with bad credit? There are many ways bad credit can affect your business and your personal life. Find out the top ways bad credit can hurt your plans, and where to find quick access to funds to boost working capital. How Bad Credit Can Hurt You Personally Higher down payments – When you need to borrow money for a car or house, for example, it will more than likely require a down payment. If you suffer from bad credit, the required down payment will probably be higher (the bank will view you as a high credit […]

Owners of businesses that go through periods of rough seas know it can be challenging for them to obtain access to working capital. Struggling small businesses usually don’t expect a warm handshake from their bank or credit union. Instead, they very often get a cold shoulder. If you own a struggling business and want to get business funding, read below. Business Loans for Struggling Businesses Even if you work hard and with great dedication, there’re factors outside of your control. These include recessions, surging competition, rising supplier pricing, and changing customer preferences. You can’t predict them or keep them under […]

One of the more innovative products available in the alternative lending marketplace is an ACH loan (sometimes called an ACH advance or cash flow loan). ACH loans are a broad category of business loans that are specific in the way in which they are paid back. When you apply for an ACH loan, a prospective lender (like First American Merchant) will review your business’s checking account statements, typically going back several months. Why would they do this? Simply to get a sense of your average daily closing balance, which helps them determine how much of a loan to offer you, […]

There are many situations that call for a business owner to look elsewhere for business funding. Financing startup costs, fueling growth, funding expansion and covering operating costs, to name a few. When a business finds itself in a tight situation, the first place the owner typically turns is their bank. However, the task of securing a small business loan can be a very long, drawn-out process. Applying for a bank loan requires extensive documentation and long wait times for funding. To make matters worse, many of the businesses turned down for financing have no idea why their application was rejected. […]

According to Sean O’Malley, president and co-founder of SmartBiz, “Although small businesses make up a vital part of the economy, access to small-business loans has been restricted since 2008.” Even though small business lending options are improving, there are still many entrepreneurs that are still ineligible for traditional lending options. For one reason or another, these businesses are considered to be too risky and are turned away. Banks refuse to offer business financing of any kind. Thankfully, the number of alternative options for small businesses and startups continues to increase. If you’re business is currently in need of a little […]

A new alternative to the traditional small business loan, merchant cash advances continue to grow in popularity. Why? Instead of waiting weeks (or months) for cash – only to find they’ve been declined – the merchant cash advance allows the business owner to secure cash fast. An alternative lender like First American Merchant can advance you the funds you need in as little as 72 hours (if not sooner). The lender provides you with this working capital by making a purchase of your future credit and debit card sales; the amount of sales and the discounted cost are agreed upon […]

Short-term loans typically appeal to retailers because they’re easy to get. For instance, getting a two-week loan from PayPal only demands a small amount of paperwork and a manageable servicing fee. The money is deposited into your account almost immediately, and you can fulfill your needs quickly. However, things start to go south when two weeks pass by, and your business still hasn’t recovered well enough to pay off the loan. What are your options? You could take the road more travelled and pay the servicing fee again to extend the loan for another two weeks, but you have to […]

A line of credit is a good option for small businesses as they can use it to fund a variety of needs. The latter include building a credit history for future financing and having a great deal of flexibility as compared with other financing options. Also, a such business funding allows for accessing your credit whenever needed, paying down the balance as your cash flow permits, and using it again and again. Below you can read how to use a business line of credit correctly. Building Up Credit Scores You can use a business line of credit to build up […]

Years ago, it was often difficult to get approved for a traditional bank or a credit union loan. Business owners had to borrow from their family, friends, or against receivables. Today, thanks to alternative lenders and institutional investors, entrepreneurs have better chances to get business funding even with bad credit for their companies. Funding Options for Small Businesses Alternative Lenders Alternative lending came into existence after 2008 financial crisis when small businesses saw it was difficult for them to get approved for a traditional bank loan. Online lenders built web-based lending platforms that made it easier and faster to obtain […]

For years, bad credit could damage a business before it even began. Bad credit could limit the ability for a merchant to obtain a bank account, a plastic card processor, or a business loan. Bad credit could also limit one’s ability to rent a building. Bad credit was once something that could have you turned away even before your idea was heard, but today things have somewhat changed. While mainstream banks and processors still look at bad credit as a turn-off, more and more “off the cuff” processors are embracing these merchants, and the ideas that they possess. Those with […]