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Financing Basics
By: Matt Bacak
The term financing is commonly used to explain the acquisition of loans from
banks or other financial institutions. Financing is usually provided to business
owners, either to be utilized as start-up capital or to support an on-going
business. Some businesses may require financing to help them through a rough
patch, or simply to provide some liquidity until more current assets are turned
into cash. Additionally, financing is also given to companies who are expanding
their businesses rapidly and require the money to support their new operations
and facilities.
Due the high interests and high risks that come with financing, small business
owners are often compelled to evaluate their situation from all angles before
making a financing decision. This is because there is a full range of loan types
available in the market, each of them for different purposes and with different
interest rates, repayment terms and loan terms. Apart from that, business owners
do not want to miscalculate their loan amounts, as obtaining a greater loan
value will mean a higher liability to the company, while getting a smaller loan
will produce a situation of inadequate financing.
Inversely, banks or financing institutions function to provide financing
facilities in order to make profits from the interest payable by the borrowers.
In return, they obtain a monthly repayment amount from the company, including
interests. Banks usually provide loans through the pledge of fixed assets to the
banks as collateral. In the event of payment default, the lender will sell the
assets to recover your debt to them. However, there may be cases that lenders
provide loans without the need for collateral, but with a higher interest and
more stringent qualifying procedures.
Apart from obtaining financing from lenders, small business owners are also
eligible for loans from government fund agencies such as the U.S. Small Business
Administration (SBA) or the local state governments. These agencies provide
financing to help spur the growth of small businesses in the country, and
usually impose criteria that are more flexible as compared to banks. In the
Small Business Loan program run by the SBA, they act as a guarantor for the
borrower in order for them to obtain loans of a longer term from SBA's lending
partners.
All the financing sources mentioned thus far are generally known as debt
financing. This type of financing would be ideal for companies that have a high
equity to debt ratio, which means that the owners of the company has invested
more capital as compared to the amount of debt obtained. However, in cases where
the equity to debt ratio is low, it may be difficult for a company to obtain
debt financing. Therefore, the alterative to this would be to work with equity
financing instead.
Equity financing would be funding obtained from friends, family or employees in
exchange for shares in the company. Additionally, venture capitalists are also
another source of equity financing, which has become a common source of income
especially since the dot com boom.
Venture capitalists are professional investors and are prepared to take a very
high risk in exchange for their investment. However, with the involvement of a
venture capitalist, more stringent management and accounting procedures may need
to be adopted, in addition to the inclusion of the venture capitalist in making
major decisions.
It is not easy obtaining financing from venture capitalists as they expect high
rates of returns for their investment in return for the high risks incurred.
Many applicants are screened through yearly, with only a handful that will
actually be funded. In addition to that, venture capitalists expect to grow
their companies into regional brand names within a short period of time. Getting
the company publicly listed is also one of the main objectives of venture
capitalists.
In short, there are many avenues in which financing can be obtained. Ultimately,
it is up to the business owner to decide on the financing source that would be
most suitable for the company. As there are pros and cons to each, a financial
and situational evaluation on the company would be most helpful for making the
right decision.
About the Author:
Matt Bacak became "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours. Recent
Entrepreneur Magazine’s e-Biz radio show host is turning Authors, Speakers, and
Experts into Overnight Success Stories. Discover The Secrets http://promotingtips.com
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