The SMB NOW Blog

money

What not to tell a banker (or other financial institution)

April 6, 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

The big day has finally arrived for your small business, and you are to meet with “financial people.” It hardly needs to be mentioned that this is probably one of the most important meetings you will ever attend. Of course the financial institution will have copious paper work for you to fill out and have verified by accountants and lawyers. These people (accountants and lawyers) are great assets and can help a great deal, but you as the business owner will have to carry the day. I have been in a great number of these meetings, and I have seen some of them go very well, but I have seen other business owners sink themselves. It was almost like they were piloting the Titanic and went looking for ice bergs! Here are some mistakes that you as a business owner do not want to make!

Do not lament your business situation! I had set up a meeting with a banker for an asset based loan. This owner had rolling stock and mineral rights as assets; these were very valuable and well secured assets. As soon as we were on the conference call, the owner went on to lament his business situation-how his competition had increased (going as far as to name off his competitors whose situation was so much better than his), how the last season was very poor and the outlook for the next season was much the same or maybe a little worse! I could not even walk out of the office before the bank was on the phone advising me that they wanted no part of this deal! The business owner was stunned when I told him the bank was not interested. I gave him some advice (again-I told him the same thing before the call) just tell the bank, “I need capital to meet rising competition and the changing business environment.”

A second idea is not to be overaggressive. I set up a meeting with a venture capital association. The owner was hard charging –maybe it was the many years in retail sales. He was ready to make a buying trip to Madagascar, but he had very little of his own money invested. I had set up a meeting with two of a Venture Capital company’s officers (it was a restaurant meeting), and one took an immediate dislike to owner, stuck the business owner with the check, and walked out. The other, the more analytical of the officers, patiently listened, courteously asked for the financials, but called me right after saying he had no interest in the deal. He didn’t think the owner was analytical enough to succeed. He said, “This guy is so aggressive he will go from hunter to hunted in a very short time!”

Lastly, don’t appear needy. If you are asking a rich relative for seed money, you might be able to appear with hat in hand asking for money, but for business dealings you have to sell your businesses success! It’s all right to be nervous, most financial people expect that you might be a little nervous. Business lenders lend money as a business, and they are concerned with two things-getting their money back (it’s their only commodity to sell), and making a profit. You as a business owner have to show them how they can participate in your businesses success.

Avoid these three pitfalls: lamentation, over aggression, and neediness, and you will go a long way in securing your companies first big loan package, and good luck!


Looking for a GeoVison Security Camera System to help secure your small or medium business? Call www.CameraSecurityNow.com today at 877-422-1907 for a free phone consultation. Ask about the new Hybrid DVR/NVR surveillance solutions.

Tagged: Business Presentations, Entrepreneurship, money

Mint Money Management on the Move

July 17, 2009 by Etha Walters Leave a Comment

Mint Logo
I hesitated writing a review about Mint.com because when it comes to money in times like these you simply cannot afford to fall prey to another internet fly by night; but after researching my little review, I have discovered that Mint.com is a quiet and steady freight train that could completely evolve the way we handle our money.

Mint is a money management website where you can view all your accounts in one spot. All you have to do is answer a few questions and give information for each account that you have and then Mint connects to all your accounts and brings all that information to one place where you can generate reports, plan a budget and access where all of your money is going and where to make cutbacks. I know what you’re thinking, giving all your personal account information to a website does sound like a security risk. However, after Mint gathers all your account information and creates a secure, encrypted connection to your account, they no longer keep that information on file.

Mint.com has also partnered with Yahoo! to give you at-a-glance views of your spending, budgets and investments, plus timely alerts, delivered right to your My Yahoo! personalized homepage; and for privacy reasons, your actual account balances are never displayed.

Mint has a little ways to go before its concept is fully functional, for example not all banks or creditors have joined mint yet; but for the most part I do recommend checking it out. We just might be seeing a development that is going to change the way we handle our finances online.

Tagged: accounts, finances, Mint, money

Follow Us On Social Media:

RSS
Follow by Email
Facebook
Facebook
fb-share-icon
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
Tweet
Pinterest
fb-share-icon
LinkedIn
Share
Subscribe to Email Updates:

Recent Posts

  • How the Buy American Movement supports American Businesses
  • Getting Started with Google My Business
  • Celebrate National Small Business Week with Us
  • Service and Etiquette Tips for SMBs
  • How Visa Issues Can Impact Your SMB
  • New Year’s Resolutions for Small Businesses
  • The Role of Social Media for Small and Mid-Size Businesses
  • How to be authentic in business
  • 5-Step Financial Checklist To Complete Before The End Of 2016
  • Why SMB’s Have to Switch to HTTPS

Blogroll

  • SMB News Now

SMB Technology Sites

  • A Computer BLog
  • A Copier BLog
  • A Laptop Blog
  • A Projector Blog
  • A Server Blog
  • A Tablet Blog
  • Projector Rental Rates
  • SMB Audio Visual Rentals
  • SMB Computer Rental
  • SMB File Server Rentals
  • SMB Laptop Rentals
  • SMB Tablet Rentals

Archives

Contact Us:

Have a story to contribute or a question about our site? Email us at web@xponex.com.

Copyright © 2023 The SMB NOW Blog.

Theme by themehall.com.