Business Plans

As a business broker I am frequently discussing with clients and prospective buyers methods of small business financing. Once a buyer and seller agree on price and terms, it all boils down to due diligence and financing.

A lot of factors can determine how lenders will view your deal. It will depend on the type of lender, type of business, and what kind of assets does the business own that can be used as collateral. Is there real estate involved in the transaction?

A commercial banker or loan broker will show you what factors matter most and get your deal funded with their products.

Cash and Equity

Of course, if you’re paying all cash, none of this is your concern, however 100% cash deals are not the norm.

Every business is unique and different, but one thing is certain before you seriously consider pursuing a business for sale: You or one of your partners will need sufficient liquid capital or equity for anyone to finance your deal.

Bank Financing

The stories of a “no money down” deals and 90% seller financing are rare and I have personally never seen one that was legitimate.

Again, depending on various factors, when acquiring small business financing through a commercial lender, there is a good chance you’ll need 20-40% cash/equity down on the business, financing the balance with debt capital.

You will probably pay “prime + 2″ in interest, meaning if the prime rate is 8%, your interest will probably pay 10%.

The term of the loan will probably be 5-10 years. Many of the commercial loans I’ve seen are 7 year terms.

Business with Real Estate

If you are acquiring real estate in addition to the business, many products are available as “Blended Loans”. These loans are “blended” with the standard “real estate loan” (10% down, 30 years).

You end up with roughly a 15% down payment, and a term of 18 – 22 years, which is great for keeping your debt service down and increasing your Cash Flow.

On the other hand, 15% of business and real estate can still be a sizable down payment.

The cost on the “blended loan” will likely be more favorable as well with the real estate as collateral.

Seller Financing

Most small and mid size companies will involve a portion of seller financing.

It is appropriate to amortize the financing over a period of time and have a balloon after 2 or 3 years.

This way the financing serves two purposes: Funds the deal and shows that the seller has confidence in the business – and the buyer.

There are many different categories when it comes to the areas of business, law & finance. These would include accounting, careers, economics, management, personal finance, professional finance, sales & marketing and even small business & entrepreneurship. Each one of these sub-categories has their own rules and obstacles that you need to face and overcome. But, you may be wondering:

o What types of books can I find about these categories?
o Are there books on biographies and the history of business, law & finance?
o Can I get information on e-commerce?

You can get all of this information and so much more. You will find that there are also books available for reference and education as well. A few examples are Memoirs of a Radical Lawyer, Outliers: The Story of Success, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism and O C R Law for A S. These are all available plus many more for your educational and knowledge purpose. Of course, there are great authors that you can look for as well such as Steven D. Levitt, Richard H. Thaler, Larry McDonald and Glen Hutton. They have each written material in what they specialize in.

Looking At Your Personal Finances

Personal finance has a wide range of topics that could be of interest to you. Of course, this could be for either personal use or if you are trying to get into a profession to help people. There are many books that are at your disposal to help you learn how to manage your money better. This could be to plan for your retirement, get out of debt or just to learn how to invest to make some extra money. This could leave you asking questions.

o How do I learn about financial planning?
o Is there a way to organize for retirement planning?
o What is the best way to learn about stocks and shares?

Then there are other topics in this field that may interest you as well. Several books that are available are The Intelligent Investor, The Richest Man in Babylon, The Naked Trader: How Anyone Can Make Money Trading Shares, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, I Can Make You Rich and Currency Trading. These can all be great resources for information on learning how to do something in a specific field. They have all been written by authors that feel they have something special to say. Other authors that have written great material are John Maynard Keynes, Catherine Dawson, Roger Lowenstein and Barbara Rockefeller. They talk about property development and day trading as well.

The Many Faces of Law

Learning the law can seem like an endless road that never has a stop sign. However, there are a few specific categories that people are interested in when it comes to law. These include but are not limited to General AAS, English, International, European Union (EU), Scots Law and For the Layperson. Of course, you will also be able to find encyclopedias as well that can help with the definition of certain terms and aspects that have you stumped.

o What types of books can I find?
o There are several different ones that I can get?
o Are there people that I can talk to about the information available?

You may be wondering these things and many more. There are several different books that are available on this topic. These include but are not limited to The Idea of Justice, EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials, The English Legal System, Water Regulations Guide and A Q A Law for AS (A Level Law). There are also wonderful authors on these topics as well. These include Hughes, Jacqueline Martin, Guy Blundell and Nicholas J McBride. These are people that have experience in their field of choice.

As you can see, there is an extensive list of categories and sub-categories for each subject when it comes to the wonderful world of law. Whether you are new to the field, student or a professional, you can have the opportunity to be able to learn from others during a group discussion on a book that everyone has read.

This gives you the opportunity to be able to ask questions, give answers to something that you know and to just share your opinion on something that you have read. Being able to participate in a group discussion is the perfect opportunity to be able to learn from others and get answers to something that you may have not understood in the book. Getting the opportunity to participate like this is a great way for people to share. Think of it as a group study like you did in high school or college. It can be a lot of fun while at the same time you are getting the chance to learn from others and maybe even teach something that you know about as well.

It is also the perfect opportunity to be able to learn about other books that you can read in your field of choice. Once you read one of those, you may be able to once again join in on a group discussion about that one as well and repeat the entire learning process. This can actually make the learning process a lot easier and simpler. It can also become something that you enjoy and want to participate in on a regular basis.

Joining in on a book club can also bring you new friends. It is a great way to meet people that have the same type of interest that you do so you have something in common and something to talk about. Who knows, it could be the new dating service. So, with all of the questions that you probably have on your desired topic, consider speaking with others that may have some of the same questions as you and will have other questions that may be of interest to you and others as well. It could be a lot of fun.

When applying for business finance loans, the money you receive can be used on a variety of options. One item can be the property for which the business will be located. If the building you are going to be leasing needs improvement, you can use the funds for that. The funds can also be used for any renovation or construction that needs to be done. The business will need supplies that you can use the loan towards. For instance, the purchase of furniture, electronics, machinery you might need, and fixtures.

Getting Approval for Business Finance

Prior to applying for business finance you will want to check your business credit score. Ask the lending institution what is the minimum business credit score is needed to be approved. You will want to know this information, so you do not apply at the lending institution that your score does not meet the requirements.

If three lenders do the check of the score and you are not approved, then the chances another lender will approve it are slim. Different lenders might require different criteria to met, before you apply, ask for this information. You may also do a search online at different lenders to see what they require.

Different Types of Business Loans Available

There is more than one business loan that you may apply for. You will want to research each of them to make sure you try the one that best fits your businesses needs. Some of these loans include a micro loan. With this loan, you can receive anywhere from $5,000 to $35,000. This loan can be used towards any purpose of the business.

Another loan is called development financing. This loan can be used towards improvements of a building that already exists or purchasing land. It can also be used for building new facilities, landscaping, parking lots, and utilities. You may also buy equipment and machinery. For an existing building, you may renovate or modernize. These are just a few loans that are available to you as a business owner. You can search online for all the different loans available to you.

Many owners of failed businesses will tell you that finding the right funding at the right time can be a critical factor in business survival, and ultimately success. It’s a process that is fraught with problems, is never easy, and has only gotten worse since the global credit crunch, but is the wrong type of finance worse than no finance at all?

Many developing businesses go through several different stages of funding as the business grows, and may who’ve been through the process are firm believers in the old adage “you need to kiss a few frogs to find your prince”.

We know from the statistics that many small businesses fail with the first few years of trading, but we also know that sometimes the initial owner’s investment, of perhaps just a few pounds to kick start an idea will eventually lead to a stock exchange listing.

From personal experience I know that a large proportion of businesses can suffer through having the ‘wrong’ type of finance at the wrong time, or poor advice, so here’s a quick guide to help you through the maze and to see what type of funds might be right for your aspirations. (At least you won’t face humiliation with an audience of millions!)

Owner’s funds: Easily accessible, used at start-up and during early expansion.

Friends and associates: Beware of mixing family/friends and business, consider all possible outcomes and what impact that may have on your personal life. Ideal for start-up, early stage/pre-trading and expansion.

Clearing banks: Overdraft and short/medium term loans, mostly to finance short term acquisitions such as office equipment and support irregular trading patterns and cash flow shortfalls. All the news may be about the banks not lending to business, but if you don’t ask you don’t get!

Factoring/invoice discounting: Alternative cash flow management tools, consider the potential impact on your relationship with your clients, there are potential positives and negatives associated with having a third party involved in the accounts receivable process.

Leasing/HP: Further support for short term capital acquisitions, a good potential source of leverage but consider all the taxation implications of each form of leasing/HP finance.

Merchant banks: Medium/long term loans – usually for larger sums, and often more a case of who you know…

Grants and other government support: Usually restricted geographically, by time or for specific industries or purposes, another potential case of who you know not what you know, and likely to exponentially diminish with government cut-backs.

Corporate venturing: Backers will be looking for a return and this may impact upon your commercial decisions, again this can have both positive and negative implications but go into it with your eyes open, you may end up feeling like your working for someone else again!

Most business owners will be all too familiar with many of the common forms of funding and will be comfortable with approaching the recognised sources for support when it’s needed. It’s the next two that set the pulse racing, sometimes seen as the holy grail of SME funding – visible to all, but impossible to reach.

Business Angels: Usually (but not exclusively) for start-up or early stage funding in relatively small amounts, but relatively small amounts of the right type of finance can have a huge impact on the fortunes of a small business, never underestimate the potential positive influence that an experienced angel could have (apart from the purely financial impact).

Private equity/venture capital: Development funding provided for a share of the equity and usually requiring significant growth within 3-5 years, can produce serious amounts of money, but can again be a case of who you know – so get networking in the right circles!

Depending on whose view you believe, angel funding and venture capital are generally seen as:

Requiring a ridiculous rate of return Demanding a majority shareholding or Not interested in deals below £5m

By the nature of the investment, more successful investors will often be looking for larger opportunities as they experience a law of diminishing returns, Warren Buffet for example is constantly on the lookout for potential opportunities to invest in family run businesses but it’s not worth his while unless they’re $1 billion+ opportunities.

In my experience, however, although growth is a prerequisite to enable everyone concerned to benefit from a good return on effort and capital employed, generally funds are available if you have a credible plan, a presentable team and a skip load of enthusiasm.

It’s also true that angels and private equity firms see hundreds of business plans and are only able to invest in a few, but funding is usually available for dynamic businesses with genuinely well prepared plans. Consequently, approaching those who are actually interested in your product, service or sector and presenting your proposal in an acceptable manner does help your chances of success – as does having the right advisers. Do not underestimate the power of investing in some good “direct response” style copywriting to give your presentation the best chance of standing out. Those poor people dragged through the Dragon’s Den on television would all have fared far better with a little help and preparation from experienced corporate consultants, and a little bit of that magic salesmanship.

Generally, borrowing funds from alternative debt financing sources is more expensive than taking out a traditional bank loan. However, many times companies either do not qualify for a traditional bank loan or credit line or must pay very high interest rates, include a co-signer/co-borrower, and/or attach communal assets. In that case, these alternative sources are excellent financing sources. Remember, banks determine the interest rate charged based on risk. The highest credit grade corporate customers are charged prime. All other businesses are charged prime + a risk factor. If a bank will not provide financing, the perceived associated risk is higher. These alternative funding sources mitigate their risks by specializing in a particular industry or asset class and compensate for this risk by charging higher fees and/or interest rates.

‘Example- SBA loan.

A data housing firm, Acme Technologies, made the decision to spin off its data management operations in preparation for its strategic acquisition by a larger corporation. The data management division had largely gone unnoticed despite its successful management by the division’s management. Needing to recoup some value from the division, which Acme’s CFO suspected might be terminated by Acme’s acquirer, Acme’s CFO made the offer to sell the business to the division’s management.

Although the division’s management team was skilled in a number of functional areas including sales, operations, and cash management, they had no experience handling complex financial transactions. They needed guidance so they used their network to find an advisor. They approached a U.S. Department of Commerce-sponsored Minority Business Enterprise Center (MBEC) located at a renowned university for assistance. The MBEC assigned a business advisor to help them.

The business advisor advised the management team to create a company to buy the assets of their employer. She then found a lawyer that completed their incorporation documents and successfully registered the company within three business days. Next, she spent hours requesting and compiling documentation to create an Executive Summary, pro-forma financials, and management team resumes to present to banks and direct lenders. Finally, she used her relationships with financial institutions to locate three entities that financed acquisitions and worked rapidly.

The CFO initially gave management six weeks from the time the offer was made to complete the transaction. The business advisor pushed back in conversations with the CFO and wrangled an extension. Several issues arose which the business advisor worked through quickly with the management team.

Two institutions, one direct lender and one community bank, emerged as the front runners. Both were highly responsive and flexible and recommended the use of an SBA loan. The community bank met face-to-face with the management team and championed the other banking functions it could provide, along with the long-term benefits of working with them. Subsequently, the management team opted to obtain financing from the bank.

Five weeks after meeting with the business advisor, the community bank provided a Letter of Commitment (LOC) to finance the acquisition. Three weeks after obtaining the LOC, the management team closed on the financing and the purchase of the division and began operating under the new company name, Acton Technologies.