Other SBA Business Loan Programs

While the primary focus of our discussions has been regarding the 7a SBA Loan, there are a number of other types of loans that are guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. These include the SBA 504 loan program, the Microloan program (which has some overlapping features with the SBA 7a loan), and the disaster assistance loan program.

The foremost guarantee program besides the 7a is the SBA 504 program, which is also known as the CDC loan (“Certified Development Companies). This highly specialized lending program is specific for providing long term and fixed rate financing to acquire large assets such as real estate or equipment. It is specifically designed for traditional businesses that operate “brick and mortar” type facilities. For instance, this type of loan would be most appropriate for a small scale manufacturer that needs a large fixed rate loan to purchase a new piece of manufacturing machinery. If this is the primary need of your financing then you may want to look at this program as an alterative to the 7a SBA loan. The maximum loan amount via the SBA 504 program is $1.5 million or $2 million if the business conducts business with the federal government or a state government.

The Microloan programs provided by the SBA provide financing for businesses that need less than $35,000. These loans are primarily used for ongoing inventory purposes, cash flow management purposes, or inventory acquisition purchases. This is also one of the small business lending programs that is available to not for profit foundations (although they can only be used for purposes the benefit the community).

Finally, there is the disaster assistance loan program. Unlike other aspects of SBA programs, this loan can be used by individuals. However, this is not a frequently used program as it is specific only to when major disasters occur.

As we have stated before, the SBA provides a tremendous amount of flexibility when seeking business financing. Despite the fact that this site is dedicated primarily to the 7a SBA loan, there may be a number of other financing options that would be well suited for you needs.

Initial Public Offerings and Sales of Businesses

Ultimately, venture capital firms are looking to make a divestiture of their share of your business within a three to seven year time line. This is not always the steadfast rule, but you need to remember that venture capital firms are in the business of providing their investors with significant returns through their pooled capital funds. When looking for venture capital is imperative to discuss the exit strategy wanted by a potential VC firm.

Many people feel that all venture capital firms are seeking to grow your business with the intent of having an initial public offering (or “IPO”). However, this is not often the case. Many venture capital firms, after a three to five year period, will seek to divest the profitable business to a larger firm that is seeking to consolidate or remove a competitor. With the recent economic downturn, the demand for new initial public offerings has waned among individual and institutional investors. As such, many venture capital firms have begun to act like their private equity counterparts by focusing on selling the business to a third party.

However, taking a company public often provides a much higher return on investment than selling the business to a third party. Additionally, publicly traded firms have a certain prestige attached to their name once this process is complete. Finally, and IPO produces additional visibility for your brand name as more people (mostly individual investors) become aware of your business. The drawbacks of engaging an initial public offering is that despite the higher return on investment, the senior officers are typically required to stay on for at least one to three years after the IPO is complete. While this is not a law, most investors will not purchase IPO shares if they know that the person that runs the business intends to leave very quickly. Much like venture capital firms, individual investors are looking for strong growth from your company.

Choose credit card application for better life

Why you should use credit cards to trade? The sophistication of technology demands all very practical. So did his thing in the deal. You can not carry large amounts of money to buy goods or services at a great price. You need a credit card for it. Just as the Turks say that they must submit kredi kartı başvurusu, then this proves that the credit card is very important wherever you are. You can say that credit cards are a new form of money. Therefore it you can buy anything using your credit card. You will get everything you want and you can buy all the goods online by credit card.
If you know there are many benefits that you get from credit card applications, then why are you still doubt to use a credit card? Maybe this is because of your trauma you have great credit card debt problems. You live under the threat of debt collectors. This will not happen if you are careful in choosing a credit card provider and use your credit card. You will not get the debt problem if you can hold your consumptive life. Credit card basically serves to simplify your transaction. You must be wise in using your credit card. Transactions do you need and do not spend your money for purposes that are in vain.

Blackberry Bold 9700 for business

Blackberry bold 2 9700

With the reports of flagging Android sales this week and with RIM updating their flagship model with a sleeker and more powerful model – the Blackberry Bold 2 9700 – will we see Blackberry regain the market share of the business mobile phone market that they enjoyed for so long prior to the i-phones and other smartphone releases?
Featuring an improved processor and latest UI, can this phone really take the i-phone for a run for it’s money? And also from my personal view point – the HTC Desire?

With the bold, Blackberry tried to produce a model that was a viable cross over between the business and consumer user and it has worked well, but in this market there is a constant need for progression and that’s where the new BlackBerry Bold 2 9700 comes in.

The first thing that RIM have improved is the size – this phone is not only faster than its predecessor but it is lighter and smaller – 5mm shorter and nearly 1cm thinner – obviously an incredibly noticable difference.

The Blackberry Bold 2 9700 then has a smaller keyboard as it is a still endowed with a QWERTY. so can you still type effectively? hmm, i’ll come to that.

There is no doubt that the Blackberry 9700 is a more classy Bold – it looks like the Storm but with the keyboard. On the top of the phone there are two buttons; one to mute the phone and one to lock it. This is great for business users who privately need to check on something with others – just quickly press mute during your call to converse in private with your colleagues.

Blackberry bold 2 9700

The screen has an incredibly high resolution and is ridiculously clear – I just started wearing glasses this week so it may have been amplified but compared to our other Blackberry phones this is a high res screen!

There is a volume key on the right hand side. On the left there is the function key, which can be used to perform various functions; the default is voice control.

On the edge there is also the 3.5mm headphone input which means that you can use your own headphones as well as the standard supplied ones; a small gripe is that the headphone plug sticks out a little from the phone. This sat flush on the older Bold version but there didn’t seem to be any performance issues so it is just a visual problem.

As previously suggested the keyboard is pretty small but with the new more pyramidal keys typing is actually not too bad – not as easy as with the HTC Desire but definitely an effective keyboard that you could easily get used to.

This phone has an optical trackpad instead of the trackball which has previously been used on the BlackBerry Curve 8520. This gives a different, and more stylish look to the front of the mobile phone.

The back of the phone has that nicely nicely I am a classy phone kinda touchy feely leather back as well as a relatively good 3.2 mega pixel camera.

The Bold 9700 has a nice chrome outline like some of the earlier Blackberry models, but this does look classier – perhaps due to the reduced width of the phone.

The BlackBerry Bold 2 9700 is a more powerful and intuitive device than its predecessors.

There are the supplied shortcuts but most navigation can be done through the optical trackpad with ease, it is also easy to switch the phone to vibrate only for meetings and important client meetings.

The optical trackpad has a variable setting that you can adjust at any time and is the main way to navigate the main menu.

The processor is very proficient but if you are having issues then holding down the trackpad opens up the running tasks menu so that you can see what is using up the phone’s memory – very similar to the windows task manager on a PC.

Actually, the performance in both the BlackBerry 2 9700 and the Storm 2 has been speeded up considerably, with both of them reacting to inputs and opening applications much faster than before.

You can unlock/lock the phone using the star key in combination with the call button – Nokia stylee.

As always with Blackberry the UI interface is very simple, this is why we like the Blackberry. It’s good that they have stuck to this style rather than try to go for something different.

When you go into the profile of your contacts you can see the photo, details and more of each of them so quite good for managing business contacts and personal friends alike.

It’s pretty handy that you can scroll down with the trackpad and select an option such as a text message without having to go through a long message menu.

The BlackBerry series is primarily designed for the business user and this comes through load and clear with the Bold 9700 as the options during a call include the ability to add a caller to the conversation (with the phone opening up the contacts list to do so) and you can transfer it on to another person using the same function.

The call coverage seemed to be good although in all honestly we didn’t make it to the top of Snowdon.

As always with the Blackberry email is brilliant and with a simple plug in you can connect to your online accounts quickly and easily and also text messaging is a breeze – Blackberry are known for this functionality and they do it well.

OK, typing as we mentioned earlier is not quite as easy due to the compressed keyboard but the new ridged keys do help.

BlackBerry Messenger is included as well, so you can type the PIN of your colleagues or clients into the device and away you go.

The BlackBerry Browser on the BlackBerry Bold 2 9700 is not the best to put it mildly – a little slow and wieldy and not particularly intuitive. You can connect on both Wi-fi and 3G, sometimes which were perfect but at other times less consistent.

Browsing simply does not measure up to the i-phone – too many of us have got used to the pinch and scroll way of browsing so find it frustrating when you have to move the cursor left and right to see the site properly on a mobile phone.

In normal daylight, the phone really does capture images well, picking out a good level of detail (although colours aren’t as well formed as they could be).

The Bold 9700 is not great at night time photography but Blackberry phones are predominantly designed for business users so the camera is not normally key so overall it is fine.

And that’s all you really need in a phone like this – there are some new basic functions but generally it is a phone for taking pictures that will just sit on the phone or on your PC and will probably not be used for anything serious. RIM has added simple cropping (for contact profile use) and renaming functions to the photograph review pane, before you can send it off to Facebook or email or even through MMS.

The Blackberry Bold 9700 is simple and fast – we got through images quickly and simply – the thumbnails show up quickly and they are easy and quick to expand.

Video too is mediocre but does the basic job. With the converged media sector on the new 2 9700 there seems to be a definitive move towards a handset that is suitable for both work and play.

The screen is a little small for video but the resolution is good so it is possible to watch a film on this phone but the 2.5 inch screen may kill your eye sight before the film is over.

Listening to music on the blackberry Bold 9700 is a pleasure – the sound is at a good volume and obviously the memory is sufficient. and the 3.5mm headphone jack allowing for better quality headphones makes the phone more accessible as a music player.

Other nice features in the media section include a voice recorder with apparently no limit on how much sound can be recorded in one sitting, and voice notes so you don’t have to write down the notes from that incredibly interesting monologue that your boss just reeled off.
The battery was good and survived a 2 day business trip without a recharge which included browsing, email and quite a few calls and texts.

There is a good range of commuter games to keep the businessperson who likes a fun mobile phone occupied on long train journeys.

The Word, Excel and Powerpoint viewers are fine but a shame that you cannot edit and create.

There is the Blackberry maps but we recommend the Google maps app from Blackberry Apps World as the Blackberry one is still not quite up to the job.

The Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 3G are all present and correct and working well apart from on big websites.

We very much like the fast switching between Wi-Fi and 3G – if you’ve got the battery life available (and you should have) then you can leave Wi-Fi on and let it connect to your trusted networks whenever you come in range of them.

With BlackBerry Desktop manager you can back up all your files to your computer to make sure they’re safe if you lose the phone.

Overall I liked the smaller size but this also gave the phone issues with the typing. The design is fine and works well for business users, I cannot fault Blackberry for sticking with this format although some may accuse them of being boring and not taking the necessary risks to move forward in this market – this remains to be seen.

The best thing about this phone is it’s speed! Again, it is great for business mobile phone users but possibly not achieving their goal of bridging the business-consumer market. I am not sure if this can be done with a QWERTY keyboard based phone.

The Nokia E72 for business users

The Nokia E72 is basically a straight upgrade of the Nokia E71 including a faster processor and a better camera. The E71 has been out in the UK since  June 2008 and is one of the best selling mobile phones for business users in the UK and overseas, so how does it size up to it’s older brother?

Nokia E72 business mobile Phone

It looks very similar to a typical Blackberry in terms of size, shape and the QWERTY keyboard but how does it really measure up to the other Smartphones on the market.

It is a very pretty phone as you will see from the video below, mind you, it’s not as nice as the new HTC Desire or for that matter the i-phone but i guess that is a matter of opinion; if you are a fan of the front facing QWERTY keyboard then you will probably find it quite a geeky turn on. It looks pretty business like with the silver rim running around the edge and simple style.

As with all of the Nokia E range there are the four short cut buttons under the screen for the home, calendar, contacts and email. Under these four are the call and end call buttons.

Between the short-cut buttons is a nice optical track pad for general navigation around the menu which is relatively responsive and nice to use.

The QWERTY keyboard keys are slightly tougher and more pronounced than on the Nokia E71 which makes for more accurate and quicker typing so a good improvement on its predecessor, the keys are softer than on the BlackBerry Bold 9700 as they are made of plastic but are not quite as pronounced so although an improvement on the E71 they are not as easy to use as the latest Blackberry QWERTY keys.

The Nokia E72 runs on the Symbian Series S60 third addition operating system and business mobile phone users will find the the office section within the menu is excellent as you can create notes, view AND create excel and word files with the Quickoffice, view PDFs, use a dictionary and calculator.
The home screen on the device gives quick access to a lot of features.

The media tab within the main menu takes you through to a further ten functions including a radio, media player, music store, recorder, gallery, camera, share online, realplayer, video centre and music search.

The media player can be used for listening to music and the new 3.5 mm headphone socket means that a larger number of standard headphones can be used with this mobile phone than with the Nokia E71. The sound quality is good and the supplied headphones are absolutely fine, but obviously not as good as specialist headphones – the sound goes up to a good volume, at least enough to drown out the goings on on the train to the office in the morning.

The video formats are a little limited but you can download a divx player to give you more choice.

The browser is fair; pages loaded quickly enough apart from a couple of the larger sites that i visited which took a good 5 to 10 seconds which, if you are on the phone to a client is not ideal and a little disappointing after having my hands on the HTC Desire.However, you can scroll down the page nice and easily.

The phone comes with both 3G and Wi-Fi so download speeds are pretty good. The main downer is the 2.4 inch screen which means that you cannot see the full web page on most screens so have to keep scrolling from right to left – this is my pet hate with web browsing on mobile phones so a big cross mark on this one.

Messaging and emailing is nice and easy with the QWERTY keyboard, when you first go into the email function you will be prompted to connect your accounts.It is not really comparable to many of the other Smartphones out there but is pretty good none the less.

One function that i really liked was that you could have 2 profiles running on the phone; one for business mobile use and one for when you leave the office.

You can have your email with Microsoft exchange at work and then on hotmail or whatever you use in the evening. you can also have a diary for business and one for your social life. It’s always good to have a clear definition between the two sides to your life so a great feature – nice one!

The cameras on Nokia phones are usually pretty good and they have done so again with the nokia E72 as it is a 5 mega pixel camera so pretty good quality – the LED flash was basic but had OK results – as with most mobile phones it performs best outside in good light.

The Nokia E72 can be had for free on a £20-per-month, 24-month contract, or for around £300 SIM-free so pretty cheap as business mobile phones go for small numbers of users.

Using a Small Bank to Obtain a Business Line of Credit

In today’s lending world, many people have flocked to smaller banks or community based credit unions when seeking to obtain a business LOC or business line of credit. This is because, while still very scientific and numbers driven, the people that are ultimately making credit decisions are people located within your area. Unlike large money center banks that have thousands of branches, the bankers in your community can see your success in person. Of course, this does not delineate from the fact that you must still have the appropriate collateral and credit in place in order to obtain a business line of credit. However, small banks tend to be more lenient in their credit decisions when determining whether or not to extend a business a line of credit.

Small banks, despite the news of major bank failures and bailouts over the past three years, have thrived in this environment. While many have dealt with the same issues as large sized banks, small banks typically did not make complicated investments that included credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, and use of other exotic financial instruments. As such, their capital levels and profitability did not take nearly the same hit as their major money center bank counterparts.

As such, if you have been turned down by a traditional large bank for a business line of credit then it may be in your best interest to give your small local bank a shot. Additionally, if this is the route that you want to take then you may want to offer to transfer all of your business banking operations to that bank. This will assist you in ensuring your bank that you want to have an ongoing and fruitful relationship with them over an extended period of time. Many small banks are very keen to have your business not only in a lending capacity, but also in regards to checking accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, and money market funds. The more business you can offer your bank – the more credit they will be willing to extend to you over the long run.

Manhattan Virtual Offices ? Making Your Business Look Bigger!

It’s no secret that small business operators often try to make themselves look bigger. It’s a matter of survival really. Corporate clients are often reluctant to deal with a one person business, particularly one that appears to be run from home or purely online.

Many online and home based business operators have only a post office box at best – and this can raise doubt as to their credibility – no one works out of a box. Prospective clients who find your business online will often first look to see if you have a street address. If you don’t, it raises the concern in their mind that if you don’t do the right thing by them, you can ignore their communications and they have no means of getting hold of you. It’s enough to make them leave your site and search for competitors who do have a street address.

There’s no doubt about it – having a street address gives your business credibility.

Likewise, corporate folk can be reluctant to deal with a one-person business because there’s a perception that if you were successful, surely you’d be bigger!

If you don’t want to work from a professional office address or you simply can’t justify the expense of renting city office space, but you need the credibility of having an office address then a virtual office in a major city can be the perfect answer.

A Manhattan virtual office from VH International Business Solutions can give you the appearance and credibility of a larger business at a cost of less than $30 a month. And you can still work from home, wherever that may be! Your virtual office will forward mail and telephone messages to you.

If your business is based in the country – or even overseas – and you already have a street address, you can give your business a boost by adding a New York City office address.

When the cost of a Manhattan virtual office for an entire month is about the same as one good meal, and it could improve your business turnover, it’s difficult to come up with a reason not to give it a go!  Contact VH International Business Solutions today!

Get a Virtual Office for Your Cayman Islands Business

It’s very common nowadays for businesses in the Cayman Islands, big and small, to do business with Americans. The Internet and other communication technology have facilitated easy international communication and inexpensive global marketing. Even so, when you’re dealing with an overseas company you like to establish their credibility before you place your order. When dealing with American companies, many overseas buyers are careful to check that they’re dealing with a legitimate company – preferably one with a verifiable street address. Americans are just as careful when buying from overseas firms.

If your main business location is in the Cayman Islands and you’re not in a financial position to open your own office overseas, there’s no reason for you to miss out on tapping into one of the biggest marketplaces in the world. Obtaining a legitimate and verifiable virtual office address and telephone number is easy.

Having a virtual office with VH International Business Solutions, in a major business center isn’t as expensive as you might think. For just $25 a month you can have a virtual office address in Manhattan for your business cards and website. Should anyone stop in at your office address they’ll be greeted by staff at our reception and a message will be taken.

You can choose from other services too – like mail forwarding and a local Manhattan telephone number with a messaging service or live answering. Mail and telephone messages can be forwarded to you promptly and should you need anything faxed in the US, our staff will be happy to help you. Your clients will never imagine you are working from the Cayman Islands.

If you’re at a level where you travel internationally to meet clients, your virtual office can become your physical office space too. We have meeting spaces and private office space that are available at a low cost for temporary usage – so you can meet your prospective American clients at your New York virtual office!

Having a virtual office address overseas can enhance your international business prospects and give you increased credibility. If you’re planning on expanding in 2010, why not dip your toe into international waters with a New York office from VH International Business Solutions? At $25 a month, there’s little to lose and much to gain!

Give Your Home Based Business a Boost with a Manhattan Virtual Office

Having a successful home based business is a truly wonderful experience and most home based business operators have no desire to move into office space at all – but the fact is that having an office address can give your business greater credibility and the illusion of being a more professional operation, and boost your turnover. Most home business operators could use a little of that!

The good news is that you can have it all. For less than $30 a month you can have a Manhattan virtual office from VH International Business Solutions at a fabulous street address that you’ll never have to go to. For a little extra you can have a Manhattan telephone number that will divert to the comfort of your home or a message service from which you can collect your messages when it suits you.

Imagine having a prestigious Manhattan office address, a Manhattan “presence” for your home based business – and still being able to slide out of bed just when you like, eat a leisurely breakfast then stroll into your home office dressed just as casually as you like. You’ll check for messages from your Manhattan office, then get to work!

You’ll be able to use your Manhattan business address on your cards and website, giving prospective clients an excellent impression.

If you have prospective clients in Manhattan you can even arrange to meet them at your office address! Simply book an office for the nominated time and set yourself up comfortably in there – your clients will be greeted at our reception area and escorted to your office. When you’re done, it’s back home to the casual clothes and flexible time schedule you’ve come to love!

Seriously, who’d want to work in an office full time when you can have a home based business and a Manhattan virtual office from VH International Business Solutions?

Scalability: Why Small Businesses Outsource

Mature industries like banking, pharmaceuticals and insurance have been outsourcing for decades – even before the term became popular. These verticals have standardized processes in their industries which enable them to easily scale – based on the economy and market conditions.

Because outsourcing has become available to small business owners and online professionals, you can now expect the same level of scalability, efficiency and cost savings that exists in other well-managed businesses that leverage outsourcing.

According to a report titled “Global Sourcing Trends in 2009” by U.S.-based law firm Morrison and Foerster:  Most outsourcing transactions intend to produce immediate improvements to the bottom line for businesses. While this is a common reason to outsource, with fluctuating economic times like we have been experiencing lately, the flexibility to scale up or scale down (based on the business’s needs) has been the determining factor to outsource.

Smart executives are using outsourcing to build flexibility and scalability into their businesses—and to gain access to a global pool of skills at competitive cost.

The recent economic downturn led many companies, especially those who don’t have existing outsourcing contracts, to consider outsourcing. But companies who already have outsourcing agreements are re-evaluating their outsourcing decisions to find providers that offer more business continuity and integration.

In an environment where Fortune 500 companies have disappeared overnight, a successfully executed outsourcing partnership could make the difference in a company’s ability to ride out these challenging times. The flexibility to bring on needed help and expertise in times of growth – without committing to a project contract or adding people to the payroll, has been an invaluable solution to the small business owner and online professional. In addition to providing scalability, this also allows the owner to focus on core competencies of the business.

Outsourcing provides businesses with instant scalability and service flexibility, as well as reducing overhead costs.  One of the major advantages of outsourcing is that companies can now get the best from new developments without the expense.

In terms of new technologies, new processes and new ways of doing things, you don’t have to invest to do that in-house.  Outsourcing is also particularly beneficial for new businesses, or those looking to expand their operation. This includes those who do not necessarily know what hardware or software they will need.

Outsourcing providers with more experience should be able to advise companies about where to spend their money, so that they do not waste time and resources.

Any hesitation to outsource may be affecting your company’s chances to effectively scale for growth in this highly competitive business environment. As a small business owner or online professional, carefully consider your outsourcing partner when looking to expand your business and make it globally competitive.  When considering a company for outsourcing, make certain that they are equipped to handle the ebb and flow needs of your business when scaling up, and when scaling down!