Tag: small business

Small businesses and small business owners

Trying to Build a Successful Small Business? Look Past Niches and Fill Gaps Instead

Trying to Build a Successful Small Business?

Like the countless number of stars in the night sky or grains of sand on a beach, there is an infinite number of ways to build a small business. The challenge for you, the business owner, is to identify the strategy, compile a business plan that best fits your personality and company, and follow it through to a successful conclusion.

One of the most popular and well-known strategies for start-ups, of course, is to find an unfilled niche in the marketplace and make it your specialty. Many successful entrepreneurs have followed this path to profits and success. But it’s not the only strategy out there. Today, we’re going to look at another strategy you may want to pursue.

Even the best and brightest small business owners seldom achieve success all on their own. Somewhere along the line, they had some kind of help or a business partnership that enabled them to overcome a difficult challenge or allowed them to make a breakthrough that enabled them to be the successful business owners they are today. For instance, many growing businesses struggle with slow-paying customers, and that leaves a cash flow gap which makes it difficult to cover daily needs and scale. At Charter Capital, we help businesses fill that gap by accelerating cash flow through invoice factoring with tailored services for specific industries. Our oilfield factoring services, for instance, help oil and gas service companies. Of course, funding is not the only challenge businesses face. Every company, no matter the size, has a gap they need assistance with. One way to guide your small business to ultimate success is to make it your mission to identify that gap and develop new ideas to fill it for your target market.

Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is certainly one of the most successful small business entrepreneurs of all time. His company has products found on virtually every computer and electronic device in the world and his innovation is world-renowned. But as big as the company is today, it started quite small. What started it on the road to its current level of dominance is the strategy it used to get going. Gates didn’t start out with Windows 10 or MS Office. No, he started by filling larger organizations’ gaps. Gates built relationships with these larger computing companies, learned they had areas where they needed help, gained their trust and provided a valued service and expertise. In Gates’ particular case, it was providing software for computing giant IBM that was an important factor for building his personal success.

At the time, IBM was THE world’s computing giant. There was IBM, and then there was everyone else. To think that IBM had any kind of computing or programming need that they couldn’t fill on their own seemed laughable. Yet Gates, who was essentially a nobody at the time, took the chance, asked the questions and built the crucial trust-based relationships that enabled him and his fledgling Microsoft to be the company that would fill the gaps in IBM’s personal computer business. Without taking advantage of that opportunity and those relationships, the world of computing might look far different today.

To achieve success and build a profitable business, then, is to constantly be thinking of partnerships. Think of partnerships not that can just benefit you, but of partnerships where both sides can aid one another and learn valuable lessons from each other. Yes, Gates received valuable work, contacts, assets and references he later turned into a multi-billion-dollar corporation. But Gates also learned things from IBM and, in turn, IBM learned some things from him. Their partnership was a two-way street. When you have a relationship and a partnership like that, no gap is too large to overcome for you and your team member to run a successful business.

March 26, 2019
Tired of Striking Out with Banks, Small Businesses Find Alternative Lenders’ Pitch More to Their Liking

In baseball, a player who bats below .200 is said to be hitting below the Mendoza Line, so named for a light-hitting shortstop for the 1970s Pittsburgh Pirates. That means the batter makes an out more than eight out of every 10 at bats. Sounds pretty futile, doesn’t it?

Small businesses often face a Mendoza Line of their own each time they apply for a loan. Nationally, banks reject small business loan applications 80 percent of the time, on average. So, each time an entrepreneur walks into a bank seeking capital to start or expand his or her business, they might as well be poor Mendoza batting against fireballing Nolan Ryan. The results are going to be about the same – another frustrating effort often ending in failure.

Mendoza was just plain out of luck and out of baseball after a few lackluster seasons. There’s just not much of a market for players that can barely hit their weight. Small business owners, however, have found other options for their lending woes. Thanks in part to the power of the Internet, these entrepreneurs have discovered new funding sources ready to go to bat for them instead of tossing curveball after curveball their way.

Online lending has proven to be a home run for capital-hungry small businesses. In fact, it’s been such a hit that 2018 was the biggest year yet for online lenders. Unlike standard brick-and-mortar banks, online lenders have proven much more willing to lend needed money to startups or young businesses looking to grow. While banks may okay only 20 percent of small business loans, online lenders are approving three times that amount, earning many appreciative fans in the small business community. Another advantage in their favor over traditional banks is a more simplified application process and a faster review/approval.

Peer-to-peer lending offers entrepreneurs another funding alternative. Investopedia defines peer-to-peer lending as “a method of debt financing that enables individuals to borrow and lend money without the use of an official financial institution as an intermediary.” You may have heard peer-to-peer lending also called social lending or crowdfunding.

This method of funding works a little like on online dating service. Only in this case, it’s a business and investor that hook up, rather than two lonely hearts. A small business looking for money puts a profile of itself on a peer-to-peer online platform. Interested investors can view these profiles and assess whether they want to lend money. The investor can lend all or only part of what a business needs. If the small company only gets a portion of what it’s seeking, it can keep its profile active online for other potential investors. The small business and the investor(s) must agree on repayment plans and interest rates. And, of course, the online platform that brought the two (or more) parties together also gets a slice for providing the service. As you can imagine, however, it’s certainly much easier and quicker to obtain funding this way.

Since Mendoza seldom got on base, he wasn’t much of a base-stealing or scoring risk to opposing teams. But online lending and peer-to-peer lending do have risks which you should be aware of before trying them.

With online loans, fees and interest rates generally tend to be much higher than for traditional loans from a bank. Plus, there are often more fees attached to the online loan than loans from other sources.

Many online loans have set repayment provisions, and these provisions could wind up making the loan more of a hindrance down the road than a help. If you are expecting a traditional once-a-month payment plan, for example, you may be surprised to learn the online lender you’ve taken a loan from actually requires payment every week, or in the worst cases, even daily.

Finally, there is the security issue. News reports come out almost daily about online scams of all kinds. Just because someone has put up a website advertising online loans does not automatically mean it’s a legitimate firm. There’s the possibility it’s a fly-by-night outfit looking to steal your information and good name for their own nefarious uses or a lead gatherer who will then sell it to online lenders.

As for peer-to-peer lending, interest rates may prove problematic. These rates can often reach more than 30 percent, especially for companies the investors view as risky. After all, a peer-to-peer loan is an unsecured loan for the investor, which means no collateral for repayment should the borrower default. Investors want some assurance they won’t lose everything in case of default, and that’s accomplished partially through high interest rates.

When looking for capital via online or alternative funding sources such as peer-to-peer lending, it’s best not to immediately swing for the fences. Do plenty of research beforehand. A good hitter studies that night’s starting pitcher looking for clues as to each pitch’s speed, movement and location before stepping up to the plate. Make sure you have a solid grasp of your true needs and of the risks and benefits of these non-traditional funding sources before pursuing a loan. You may find these choices a great resource for your business… or you may discover you’re better off taking your chances with a traditional bank. The one thing you don’t want to do is desperately flail away and make a costly out or error that will end your season and perhaps even your business.

A better play might be to consider another form of raising needed money for expanding a business, adding employees, buying new equipment and improving cash flow. This option is called invoice factoring. Invoice factoring allows you to “sell” your accounts receivable invoices to a factoring company. The factoring company pays you upfront for outstanding invoices, giving you the cash you need today to run your business, and eliminating the worry and hassle of slow pay collections. That’s now the invoice factoring company’s concern, leaving you free to run your business.

Invoice factoring is a convenient alternative to a traditional bank loan or fee-laden online loans and risky crowdfunding. Each of these sources require a long-term contract. Factoring, however, gives you the money you need when you need it with no long-term obligations. You can also get cash quicker through invoice factoring – usually within a day or two. If you would like to learn more about how invoice factoring works and how it can step up to the plate for your business, simply call toll-free 1-877-960-1818 or email [email protected]. You may find it a great addition to your lineup.

March 8, 2019
Gaining Trust (or How to Serve Filet Mignon in an Age of Baloney)

Everyone has something to sell these days. It seems like everywhere we go, we are bombarded by sales pitches. Fill up at a gas station and an ad plays on the pump’s screen. Go to a ball game and you’re surrounded by advertising (even the stadium’s name itself is often an ad). School buses are adorned with placards promoting some product in several cities. Even on vacation, it’s not uncommon now to be approached (even harassed) by someone selling timeshares. It’s becoming inescapable.

But with all these ads and sales pitches, how many do you believe? How many are you certain are simply blowing smoke and trying to part you from your money? When it comes to some selling, whom do you trust?

In the small business world, trust is often everything. Trust can define the difference between success and failure. Break the trust between you and your customers and the next ad you may be running will be an “out of business” one. A big business can often afford to lose a customer or an account. That’s just not the case with a small one. Each customer forms the lifeblood of that business and to lose one, for whatever reason, can hurt. But to lose business because of a breach of trust is a mistake that can prove impossible from which to recover. Therefore, it’s to a small company’s benefit to demonstrate it is worthy of trust from the first interaction with customer to the final transaction.

How can you as a small business owner accomplish this? How can you, with often limited resources, show that your word is like filet mignon in a world full of baloney? Here are a few helpful tips:

During the Sales Process

It’s tough to stay in business with no customers and no sales. That can lead to desperation, and prospects and customers can easily detect that desperation. And they can spot a come-on from a pushy, over-the-top salesperson more interested in meeting a quota and earning a commission rather than in servicing their needs. Don’t be that person.

You and your staff should treat each person who comes in the door as someone seeking your help, not as a potential paycheck. They want a solution to their problem, not a sales pitch. Give them the sales pitch, and they’ll likely walk away. Instead, take a different approach. Rather than talking, lend an ear. Listen to a prospect’s concerns. Offer ideas and solutions rather than products and services. You’re an expert … an advisor … a guide leading them to a way they can accomplish their goals. When a prospect sees you have empathy and a desire to help rather than simply a bunch of dollar signs in your eyes, you can begin to build a trust-based relationship. When you have a trust-based relationship, a client is more apt to listen to you, more inclined to believe what you say, and more likely to take your followup call because they understand your goal is to help, not just sell. You’re serving something of real value, not baloney.

Keeping the Trust After the Sale

Once you’ve gained the customer’s trust and made the sale, your job is not over. Now you must deliver. If you’ve sold your customer a product, it needs to be in their hands, ready to use in a timely manner. That shouldn’t be as big a problem in an age of overnight delivery. If you’re tasked to deliver a service, that service must be performed within the specified timeframe. If not, that needs to be communicated to the client immediately. Keeping customer uninformed or guessing is a surefire way to poison trust and kill any future business. If you’re having problems and can’t deliver what’s promised, be honest, apologize and proactively offer alternatives. No one likes to be in the dark. Honesty, openness and communication smooths a lot of rough patches.

Another way to engender trust and keep it is to stay in touch after the sale. So many companies make the mistake of “selling it and forgetting it.” Make a followup call to the customer to see how things are working. Do they need additional help or training? Perhaps they need an upgrade? You may never know if you don’t ask. Making the call shows your concern about the customer’s well-being and satisfaction. It also keeps the lines open for future business.

Lasting Trust
One important thing to remember, gaining and keeping trust is far different than making a quick sale. It also is more rewarding. A quick sale will likely be a one-time-only shot. By building and keeping a trust-filled relationship, the odds are far stronger that you’ll have a long-term repeat customer eager to do business with you and far more likely to give you the referrals that can grow your company. Why? Because your customer knows you’re serving filet mignon in an age where everyone seems to be dishing out baloney.

January 22, 2019
Is the U.S. Economy Slowing?

Last month we discussed the continued optimism of American small business owners as 2018 draws to a close. As that article mentioned, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 4Q small business index measured a strong 69.3, just six-tenths of a point down from its all-time high.

According to the chamber, the results show small business owners and operators are still upbeat about the overall national and local economies. More than a quarter of small businesses surveyed said they planned to increase investments and hire more staff in 2019. However, as the calendar now flips to a new year, is that near-record optimism justified in light of recent economic news?

Current business headlines across the news spectrum have suddenly grown darker. While there is no clear consensus that a recession is on the horizon, an increasing number of forecasts point to an overall slowing of the domestic economy.

For example, the Washington Post declares “Wall Street Predicts Economy Slowing Dramatically.” The story says investment bank Goldman Sachs is predicting a second-half of 2019 slowdown due to the fading effects of federal tax cuts and rising federal interest rates.

Another Wall Street banking firm, UBS Global Wealth Management, is quoted in a Fox Business News article that a slowdown is coming, but a recession is unlikely. Instead of a recession, UBS CIO Mike Ryan said the slowdown will be more like a “moderation” of the economy. Ryan told Fox Business consumer confidence remains high and the banking sector is improving.

Meanwhile, USA Today reports business spending is starting to dip, in part due to the U.S.-China trade war. The trade war has impacted revenues and cash flow, and that is causing many manufacturers to delay key spending plans. The article quotes one manufacturing CEO as being “uncomfortable” with spending due to the ongoing uncertainty.

That uncertainty has rocked the stock markets in 4Q 2018, which are roiling with volatility. Drops of several hundred points followed by large jumps are increasingly common, reflecting investors’ increasing concerns over the future direction of the economy. For example, on Dec. 26, the Dow Jones saw a record-setting 1,021-point jump that would have had investors dancing with joy had it happened in July. However, the one-day surge only helped mitigate drops of 525 points, 426 points and 365 points in the previous three days of trading.

Overall, the stock market has gone through a very rough final quarter of 2018. On Oct. 1, the Dow opened at 26,598, while the NASDAQ began the day at 8,091. The Dow reached its high for the quarter two days later midday at 26,951 before closing at 26,828 on Oct. 3. The NASDAQ’s high for the quarter came during the Oct. 1 session at 8,107 before closing the day at 8,037. It’s been a downhill slide for both ever since. The Dow reached its low for the quarter at 21,712 early in the Dec. 26 session moments before the 1,021 surge kicked in to close at 22,878. The NASDAQ sunk to its quarterly low of 6,190 near the end of the shortened Dec. 24 session, closing at 6,192. On Jan. 2 (the first trading day of the year), the Dow opened at 24,809 while the NASDAQ started at 6,937. On Dec. 31, the Dow closed at 23,327 (a 1,482-point drop for the year) and the NASDAQ closed at 6,635 (a 302-point drop for the year). A year that started with such promise ended with a lot of uncertainty.

So, after all those forecasts and all those numbers, the real question is: What does this mean for small business owners? Will 2019 resemble the optimism of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s survey? Or will it more closely reflect the views of economists and investors? Only one thing is certain, and that is no one knows for sure. But there are a few things you can do now to prepare yourself just in case.

Increase your sales channels: If you’re overly dependent on one type of product or sales package, you may be hit hard in an economic downturn as your customers decrease spending or look for different types of deals.

Seek out new sales partnerships and alliances: This will enable you to reach a greater variety of leads and attract new prospects in the event a slowdown causes a drop in your revenues.

Improve customer service: It’s likely you already offer great customer service, but there’s always room for review and improvement. Look for ways to enrich your customers’ experiences with you and strengthen their loyalty to you, that way, should a recession hit, they’ll be less likely to seek a better deal elsewhere in the event they have to cut spending.

Boost your credit: Having more credit during a recession will help you better weather a potential economic downturn.

January 3, 2019
Five Trends That Could Affect Your Small Business by 2020

If you are an entrepreneur looking for a sure-fire business idea, manufacturing crystal balls would be a good one. Everyone wants to know what is going to happen in the future. Unfortunately, few people have a consistent knack for accuracy. Still, by carefully reviewing recent events, it’s possible to glean some ideas about what may be coming tomorrow, even without a crystal ball. Here are five trends on the horizon that may impact your business down the road, if you aren’t already feeling some effects today:

Harnessing Big Data for Small Business

Big Data is nothing new. It’s been a buzzword for a decade now and many large corporations have successfully used large amounts of data to gain insight into their customers’ wants, needs and buying patterns. So why is it here? Because soon small businesses will affordably have access to Big Data’s power themselves to learn about their potential markets and how to better reach and exploit them, just like their big business brethren.

However, the real challenge of Big Data once you gain access to it is to manage this tidal wave of information and interpret it in a way that is meaningful to your business rather than be inundated by it. Without a solid understanding of what the data points represent, it’s easy to be overwhelmed. One trend sure to follow is the emergence of highly-focused specialists that can help apply Big Data to small businesses and assist them in mining the numbers so they can make informed decisions. Small businesses that can do this will have a significant advantage over those that can’t.

Small Business Has Its Computing in the Cloud

Just like small business will gain greater access to Big Data, so will it make greater use of cloud computing, another technology once limited to big business. Currently, only a small percentage of small businesses, those with less than 100 employees will be able to take advantage of this revolutionary concept. But in the next two to five years, this number will grow to the point that a majority of small businesses will enjoy its advantages.

Cloud computing helps businesses of all sizes reduce the costs of IT and makes it more efficient. As more and more small businesses adopt cloud computing, they will be able to take advantage of economies of scale, giving even the smallest of firms the IT power of the largest corporations for a fraction of the price it once took to maintain a computing department. Cloud computing will also help smaller businesses better access and exploit Big Data, that will transform their companies by putting a world of information at their fingertips.

Getting More Done With Less, and From Remote Locations

With the Internet, Skype, cloud computing and Big Data, a small business can literally operate anywhere… and everywhere… at the same time. For small business employers, this means they will now be able to increasingly hire the best and brightest workers, often regardless of their physical location. And for many small business workers, such as those in the back office, they can literally perform their function from anywhere, be it from home a few miles from the office, or even from across the country.

This will help small businesses reduce the cost of maintaining a physical location. Some small businesses may learn they don’t even need a physical location. Others, such as in manufacturing, will always need a physical building to perform their duties. But for those engaged in marketing, accounting, payroll, etc., these roles can be performed at any location via telecommuting.

Technology will also allow for more flexible scheduling, an item rated high on the list of desirability by incoming Millennials and Gen Z workers who, if they have to come into an office, would prefer to have greater control over their work-life balances. Offering telecommuting and flexible schedules will make a small business more competitive and attractive in this era of low unemployment.

Finally, as it has in the past, improving technology will boost employee productivity, enabling small businesses to not need as many workers because those they already have can get more done with greater efficiency.

New Skills Needed for the New Workplace

Thanks to all the rapid technological changes taking place, workers need to constantly update their existing skills and acquire new ones to stay relevant in the job market. In an earlier article, we examined the revolution taking place in manufacturing. Where once workers simply needed a high school diploma to get a good, high-paying factory job, today a high school diploma won’t even merit a call back on an application. As a result, the nation’s high schools and colleges are radically altering their vocational education programs to help students meet the increasingly more technical requirements of 21st Century employers. Businesses themselves are getting into the act, partnering with education to help steer courses and students.

Leaner, Flatter Management Structures

Technology will not only continue to allow companies to get more done with fewer workers, it will also allow them to flatten the organizational chart. Big Data and other innovations have helped businesses make more informed decisions. These innovations have also allowed them to make faster, more far-reaching decisions. This eliminates the need for many layers of management.

One major key to business success is getting to market before your competitors. The deeper the organizational chart, the slower a business moves. With a flatter, shallower org chart consisting of less management, decisions can be made quicker, with less deliberation. This makes a business nimbler and better able to respond to change in the marketplace. A company with a flat org chart can come up with innovations, devise new products and make adjustments with greater speed.

October 11, 2018
What Happens When You Put Up a “Now Hiring” Sign and No One Applies? The Problem of Full Employment

A growing economy and full-employment workforce are great things for America and its citizens… unless you’re a small business employer looking to fill a job and face an ever-shrinking pool of applicants. In July 2018, the national unemployment rate stood at 3.9 percent. That is one-tenth a percent higher than the 3.8 percent rate of May 2018, which was the lowest rate since April 2000, when it was also 3.8 percent.

Besides a nice headline, what does that mean for a small business owner? Well, if you’ve tried to hire someone lately, you may have noticed fewer applications for the position. And you may have had fewer candidates accept your invitation for an interview. Some employers are even reporting having job seekers agree to an interview then never showing up, a term called “ghosting.”

The world has certainly changed from the days when employers had their pick of prospects and could afford to blow off those that didn’t measure up, confident they had dozens, if not hundreds, of other candidates waiting in line. Now it’s job seekers who have the upper hand in a tight market for employers.

That market may grow tighter as employers continue to see Baby Boomers retire. This creates more openings and worries for employers who see years of experience and knowledge leave. They now face the daunting task of replacing that with someone who may get a better offer two days after starting.

What can you do as a small business owner to ensure that the booming economy doesn’t leave you on the outside looking in when it comes to staffing your company? Here are a few suggestions:

Why are You Hiring? – Are you hiring due to an expanding business? If so, congratulations on your success. Or are you hiring due to turnover? If so, you’ve got some work to do regarding retention. The best hiring decision you can ever make is to ensure you keep your best employees. After all, they are the ones who understand your business best and contribute the most to your success. One thing you’ll have to face is that in this economy, you’ll have to pay more to keep your best. That’s because it pays to jump to a new company for a higher wage than to stay for a measly 3 percent annual raise. If you value your best employees, realize that comes with a price. Make it worth their while to stay with you.

Sell Yourself – When jobs are scarce, applicants are advised to sell themselves. Now the reverse is true. As a business owner, you may have to sell your company and why it’s a rewarding place to work to someone who could have multiple offers. Show what makes your company’s culture a winner and how you appreciate your employees. If that’s a foreign concept to you, you’d better be a fast learner in this job market. In sales, a winning move is to differentiate yourself from the competition. The idea is not really that different when it comes to recruiting or retaining employees in a tight market. What makes you better than someone else? Why should someone want to work for you? When you come up with the answer for that, you’re ready to start competitively searching for workers.

Come Up with a Winning Job Ad – When jobs were scarce, employers could create fanciful job ads and descriptions few candidates could actually qualify for (leading to the term “unicorn applicant”). These included ads that wanted two years of experience for an entry-level job. Nowadays, candidates avoid such placements, not wanting to waste time on an interview with such an unrealistic employer. The same goes for poorly-worded ads. If you’re not sure what you want in a candidate or can’t describe it, what makes you think the applicant is going to know? Spend some time crafting an ad that will not only attract qualified candidates that can help you succeed but that sells them on your company as well.

Expand Your Search – Having trouble finding applicants? You’re not alone. You may be looking hard, but are you looking smart – or far enough afield? Job boards are one of the worst places for job seekers to look for a job… and they’re among the worst for employers to find applicants as well. Networking is one of the best ways to find new talent. You can use your own employees as one recruiting network, for example. Or your customers, and LinkedIn or other social media contacts. Other places to seek candidates are trade groups and professional associations. Many of these allow you to contact members about job opportunities.

Don’t Dawdle – The average job hiring process has grown increasingly longer over the years. If you follow that example, you’re likely to lose. Applicants have their choice now. We’re not suggesting you not do background checks or employment verifications or any other activity that might put you or your business at risk. But if you find the right candidate, act quickly to secure their services. They’re most assuredly not going to be waiting on you. Not in this market. Once you’ve identified a great fit, express your interest, work your process and most of all, keep them informed of where they stand in that process. If you keep the right candidate in the dark, they will likely assume they are not in the running and move on to the next interview.

Using these tips could help you to not only survive but thrive in a full-employment job market. The next time you’re hiring, they could mean the difference between people seeing your “Help Wanted” sign and stopping by and expressing interest in you and your company, or moving on.

September 13, 2018
Still Looking For Financing?

Many Small and mid-sized companies that are looking to grow are still running into difficulties when looking for financing: Loans are still hard to come by and can be more costly than before the recession. Commercial lending is still weak and small business lending remains flat. This indicates that securing a lending source is as difficult as it has ever been.

One study suggests that less than a third of small businesses that desire credit would qualify for traditional or SBA-backed loans. In the wake of a devastating financial downturn, banks have continued to tighten their lending practices in order to lower risk levels and comply with tougher regulations. This leaves millions of small and mid-sized businesses without a source of financing to grow or add new employees.

As the economy continues to struggle toward recovery, it is increasingly important for small and mid-sized businesses bolster their finances. Since it is well known that small and mid-sized businesses power the economy, it is possible that an increase in lending to this market segment could help further improve economic conditions and job growth.

Even if we are in the beginning of a period of economic growth, the fact remains that any rebound from the recession may be muted and difficult to see in real terms. Even though economists see recovery, it is still not strong enough to have any real impact on small businesses today.

Companies that are still looking for some form traditional bank financing are better off looking for private asset-based funding. During times like these, asset-based financing (such as invoice factoring) has come to the aid of the small business sector many times by providing the badly needed financing that traditional lenders are currently unable to consider.

Dealing with an uncertain economy is never easy, especially for small businesses. Unlike their larger counterparts, small businesses rarely have the resources to monitor and take corrective action for every trend and issue. And even those owners who have weathered numerous business cycles may be faced with new circumstances that confound their otherwise successful instincts and knowledge. But a predictable source of financing can certainly ease this pressure.

September 9, 2018
Solutions for Small Business Bankers 2022

Charter Capital is a non-bank provider of working capital funds and accounts receivable factoring services to small businesses. Commercial bankers regularly refer to Charter Capital their small businesses customers constrained in their ability to qualify for conventional financing. By employing its factoring services, Charter Capital quickly becomes a predictable source of working capital for many such referrals.

The lending and funding problems that have beset retail banking are spreading into small-business banking as well. Overextended on credit lines that often were based on home equity, small businesses are increasingly hard-pressed to service debt in an atmosphere of slowing sales. Working capital, often held in bank deposits, is coming under strain as well.

Shifting into protective mode, banks are ratcheting up the emphasis on credit quality and core funding in their small-business portfolios. And this has created a particular problem for small-business banking officers, who are being redirected from a former bull market for loans to what increasingly is a bear market for deposits.

Small Business Bankers Problem Solved –

Charter Capital provides incentives to small businesses to maintain their deposit relationship with the referring bank. The banker helps the small business establish an alternative source of funding and preserves the deposit business it would otherwise most certainly lose to the competition.

September 8, 2018
Space and Small Business – the Final Frontier of Profits?

Space and small business – the final frontier. There practically isn’t a person alive today who doesn’t know this famous opening line from the original Star Trek series. When first uttered on American televisions in September 1966, space seemed like a faraway, exotic place full of wonder and excitement. But could it also be a place for small business?

If you had asked viewers back then where they thought the U.S. would be in 50 years as far as space exploration and exploitation, many no doubt would have given answers straight from a science fiction book. Well, now we are more than 50 years since Star Trek’s debut. Where are we in terms of utilizing space, particularly when it comes to small businesses?

Space and Small Business

First off, America has explored the outer reaches of the Solar System with unmanned probes. These probes have transmitted stunning pictures of each of the gas giants as well as given us close-up glimpses of Pluto and Saturn’s intriguing moon, Titan. However, manned spaceflight seems to have stood still. Yes, we’ve had an orbiting International Space Station (ISS) for more than 20 years, but we never reached Mars or even returned to the Moon. NASA hasn’t had a manned spaceflight launch since 2011 – U.S. astronauts have to hitch a ride to the ISS on other countries’ rockets.

In the 1960s and early 70s, critics charged NASA with wasting billions on space that could have been better spent on Earth. NASA pointed out all the innovations developed for space flight that have been adapted for use by and for the benefit of ordinary people. In contrast, in recent years, NASA has seemed to dissipate like a comet’s tail in the solar wind, seldom appearing in the headlines. And civilians’ interest in space has also apparently waned.

Does that mean America has essentially dropped out of the space race?

Not at all. The focus has merely shifted away from big-budget government programs like Apollo and the ISS. NASA is still trying to develop rockets and manned spacecraft, but much of its energy is devoted to smaller, more budget-friendly unmanned missions, to explore outer space as well as our Earth.

Not only have America’s space priorities changed, but the players in orbit are now different as well.

In the 1960s, reaching space was so monumentally expensive it was believed only a national government had the resources to get there. Private enterprise simply didn’t have the money, the tools or the wherewithal to put up a satellite, let alone a manned mission. Not that it really mattered… privatized space travel was illegal up to 2004!

In the late 2010s, that is simply no longer the case. Private space travel is now not only legal, it’s even being encouraged. Why? Because many policymakers now believe government’s role is space is to do those things the free market can’t support but that are still beneficial. All other opportunities are open for the private sector.

As a result, rather than government-funded agencies pushing the envelope, it’s private enterprise making headlines. Space entrepreneurs are now proposing all sorts of grandiose plans to make commercial use of space. These ideas range from space hotels, to privately sponsored trips to the Moon and Mars, to industrial space-based manufacturing.

As recently as June 2018, NASA and the Trump Administration floated the idea of privatizing at least a portion of the ISS. Part of the rationale is to cut maintenance and upkeep costs to the federal space agency. However, privatization would also help push the commercialization of space by providing a ready-made private sector experimental and manufacturing base without the startup costs.

So where does small business fit in with the privatization and commercialization of the final frontier? Elon Musk and SpaceX have shown private companies can launch their own spacecraft and carve out a nice existence doing for NASA what NASA used to do for itself. Still, mom-and-pop rocket companies are probably decades in the future. But there are places where small business can get a slice of the Moon’s green cheese today.

Space manufacturing has come a long way in a very short time. Microgravity environments are ideal for making many types of materials, such as crystals and pharmaceuticals. NASA recently has selected more than 100 ideas submitted by businesses to develop technologies and pursue research in space as part of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. Should the ISS be privatized in whole or part, that initiative could grow exponentially.

However, taking advantage of space commerce doesn’t mean a small company actually has to go into space. More and more government programs are becoming increasingly privatized. And more large companies are seeking partners to help defray costs. This opens many opportunities to supply products and services to NASA and private companies involved in space commercialization.

This is not limited to high tech. For example, a small business that supplies offshore oil and gas companies, platforms and rigs might not have that hard a time transitioning to supplying materials, products and services for a space company. Oil & gas platforms and space stations, after all, are hazardous environments.

Ready to rocket off to the final frontier for fun and profit? The U.S. government has established an office to help companies explore doing business in space. The futuristic-sounding Office of Space Commerce could be your ticket to the stars… and profits.

September 8, 2018
Women Entrepreneurs Make Big Strides in the World of Small Business

In 1968, a national cigarette company launched a famous ad campaign targeting women. Every ad prominently featured the tagline, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” The tagline and campaign are intended to celebrate the growing influence and success of modern women in the political, economic and social arenas.

Fifty years later, more than ever, women play a large and vital role in our society. There have been women, astronauts, women serving in the military, they’ve been professional race car drivers and even won political offices across the country in both parties. Name any endeavour or enterprise and you won’t have to look hard to discover there is a strong female presence. Many large corporations, including General Motors and other Fortune 500 companies, have female CEOs. But what about in the small business world? Have they come a long way there?

The answer is a definite yes. Women make up 40 per cent of new entrepreneurs in America, the highest rate since 1996. There were more than 11.6 million women-owned businesses in the United States in 2017. These businesses employed nine million people and generated $1.7 trillion in sales that year. They also make up nearly 40 per cent of all businesses in the country and employ eight per cent of the total workforce. Clearly, women have become a force in the small business world.

According to one recent survey of more than 3,000 women small business owners, other than gender, there are not many differences between male and female entrepreneurs in terms of the passion they have or the industries they choose. Men and women small business owners tend to select industries in about the same numbers to save for three, this study asserts. Four times as many men tend to start software/internet/computer/electronics companies. However, nearly twice as many women start health/pharmaceutical companies or art/design firms.

Another survey of 1,200 female business owners found that women entrepreneurs are quite optimistic and foresee few barriers to their future business success. This optimism may be well-founded – one university recently held a roundtable touting that now is the time for women entrepreneurs to strike out on their own and follow their passions.

Despite the glowing stats and positive poll results, women entrepreneurs do face burdens. Studies have shown that even though women-owned small businesses make up a sizeable and growing collective chunk of the American business landscape, very few individual firms make a “high economic impact” on their own. This means they do not generate more than $500,000 or more in revenue. Fewer women-owned small businesses ever “scale up” and grow into medium-sized businesses. In general, they start small and stay small.

As with any small business, no matter who owns them, women-owned businesses face funding challenges. However, big businesses and venture capitalists have joined forces to provide valuable seed money for women to start their own firms. Other financial giants have begun offering educational programs and initiatives on how to start a small business, as well as giving mentoring and networking opportunities. Websites feature inspiring stories about women entrepreneurs who have taken a risk and found success. The world has recognized women small business owners have a lot to contribute to the economy.

In 1968, the advertising tagline told aspiring women, “You’ve come a long way.” In 2018, perhaps an updated tagline would add this for female entrepreneurs aiming to make their mark in the business world, “And keep it going, you’re doing great.”

August 21, 2018