Alternative Financing Vs. Venture Capital: Which Option Is Best for Boosting Working Capital?

There are several potential financing options available to cash-strapped businesses that need a healthy dose of working capital. A bank loan or line of credit is often the first option that owners think of – and for businesses that qualify, this may be the best option.

In today’s uncertain business, economic and regulatory environment, qualifying for a bank loan can be difficult – especially for start-up companies and those that have experienced any type of financial difficulty. Sometimes, owners of businesses that don’t qualify for a bank loan decide that seeking venture capital or bringing on equity investors are other viable options.

But are they really? While there are some potential benefits to bringing venture capital and so-called “angel” investors into your business, there are drawbacks as well. Unfortunately, owners sometimes don’t think about these drawbacks until the ink has dried on a contract with a venture capitalist or angel investor – and it’s too late to back out of the deal.

Different Types of Financing

One problem with bringing in equity investors to help provide a working capital boost is that working capital and equity are really two different types of financing.

Working capital – or the money that is used to pay business expenses incurred during the time lag until cash from sales (or accounts receivable) is collected – is short-term in nature, so it should be financed via a short-term financing tool. Equity, however, should generally be used to finance rapid growth, business expansion, acquisitions or the purchase of long-term assets, which are defined as assets that are repaid over more than one 12-month business cycle.

But the biggest drawback to bringing equity investors into your business is a potential loss of control. When you sell equity (or shares) in your business to venture capitalists or angels, you are giving up a percentage of ownership in your business, and you may be doing so at an inopportune time. With this dilution of ownership most often comes a loss of control over some or all of the most important business decisions that must be made.

Sometimes, owners are enticed to sell equity by the fact that there is little (if any) out-of-pocket expense. Unlike debt financing, you don’t usually pay interest with equity financing. The equity investor gains its return via the ownership stake gained in your business. But the long-term “cost” of selling equity is always much higher than the short-term cost of debt, in terms of both actual cash cost as well as soft costs like the loss of control and stewardship of your company and the potential future value of the ownership shares that are sold.

Alternative Financing Solutions

But what if your business needs working capital and you don’t qualify for a bank loan or line of credit? Alternative financing solutions are often appropriate for injecting working capital into businesses in this situation. Three of the most common types of alternative financing used by such businesses are:

1. Full-Service Factoring – Businesses sell outstanding accounts receivable on an ongoing basis to a commercial finance (or factoring) company at a discount. The factoring company then manages the receivable until it is paid. Factoring is a well-established and accepted method of temporary alternative finance that is especially well-suited for rapidly growing companies and those with customer concentrations.

2. Accounts Receivable (A/R) Financing – A/R financing is an ideal solution for companies that are not yet bankable but have a stable financial condition and a more diverse customer base. Here, the business provides details on all accounts receivable and pledges those assets as collateral. The proceeds of those receivables are sent to a lockbox while the finance company calculates a borrowing base to determine the amount the company can borrow. When the borrower needs money, it makes an advance request and the finance company advances money using a percentage of the accounts receivable.

3. Asset-Based Lending (ABL) – This is a credit facility secured by all of a company’s assets, which may include A/R, equipment and inventory. Unlike with factoring, the business continues to manage and collect its own receivables and submits collateral reports on an ongoing basis to the finance company, which will review and periodically audit the reports.

In addition to providing working capital and enabling owners to maintain business control, alternative financing may provide other benefits as well:

It’s easy to determine the exact cost of financing and obtain an increase.
Professional collateral management can be included depending on the facility type and the lender.
Real-time, online interactive reporting is often available.
It may provide the business with access to more capital.
It’s flexible – financing ebbs and flows with the business’ needs.
It’s important to note that there are some circumstances in which equity is a viable and attractive financing solution. This is especially true in cases of business expansion and acquisition and new product launches – these are capital needs that are not generally well suited to debt financing. However, equity is not usually the appropriate financing solution to solve a working capital problem or help plug a cash-flow gap.

A Precious Commodity

Remember that business equity is a precious commodity that should only be considered under the right circumstances and at the right time. When equity financing is sought, ideally this should be done at a time when the company has good growth prospects and a significant cash need for this growth. Ideally, majority ownership (and thus, absolute control) should remain with the company founder(s).

Alternative financing solutions like factoring, A/R financing and ABL can provide the working capital boost many cash-strapped businesses that don’t qualify for bank financing need – without diluting ownership and possibly giving up business control at an inopportune time for the owner. If and when these companies become bankable later, it’s often an easy transition to a traditional bank line of credit. Your banker may be able to refer you to a commercial finance company that can offer the right type of alternative financing solution for your particular situation.

Taking the time to understand all the different financing options available to your business, and the pros and cons of each, is the best way to make sure you choose the best option for your business. The use of alternative financing can help your company grow without diluting your ownership. After all, it’s your business – shouldn’t you keep as much of it as possible?

Importance Of Investment Diversification

“It is best not to put all of one’s eggs into one basket!” This is most likely a statement that you may have heard many times throughout your life and when it comes to investing, this statement is a reality. Diversifying one’s investments is the main factor in making a success when it comes to investing. All of the people who have made great returns from their monies have been seen to develop investment portfolios that operate in different market sectors and we advise that you should do the same too!Developing a varied investment portfolio might include purchasing various shares and stocks that come from companies that operate in different business sectors. Methods used to achieve the desired objective may consist of buying government bonds, putting funds in money market accounts or maybe even into property i.e. buy to lets, houses of multiple occupancy [HMOs] and also the standard buying and renting out homes. The key is to invest in different market sectors.Over time all of the data shows that those who savvy investors who take the time to develop investment portfolios that are well diversified on average experience more stable & consistent returns on their investments this is when compared to those investors who happen to put their monies in one investment vehicle. By investing in those companies that operate in different market sectors [industrial, retail, consumer, business to business etc, etc] will mean that your risk factor is lower too.For example if you have invested all of your money in one company and that company’s shares goes down, you will lose some, a lot or all worst case all of your funds. Looking at this from another perspective if you happen to have invested in say shares from ten different companies and nine are doing well while one plunges averages say that you will still make some money or your losses will be minimized..A good investment diversification portfolio will include a number of fundamentals e.g. they will include stocks & shares, bonds, property and of course cash!! It may take time to develop a fully diversified investment portfolio. Depending on how much you have to invest at the outset you may have to start small say only investing in cash and then go onto invest in maybe property over times.This methodology may prove to be fine – however if you can split the investments that you make at the start – it will be a fact that your risk of losing your money will be much lower and as time passes you will see increasingly more attractive returns from your monies.The finance experts also say that you should spread your investment monies evenly among your chosen investments targets. Put another way – if you happen to start with an investment fund of £100000 & invest £25000 in stocks and shares, £25000 in property, £25000 in bonds & then decide to invest the other £25000 in a savings account that pays a decent amount of interest.This is the foundation to building a long term diversified investment portfolio and we see property to be one of the most tried to tested methods for delivering outstanding returns on ones investment funds.

History and Developments in Internet Advertising

Internet advertising is growing at a rapid pace, and is growing faster than any of the traditional methods. Even though it has been around since 1994, and is 18 years old, Internet advertising has gained immense popularity, and today it has become a necessity for every business owner to use it as a means of advertising, promoting and selling their products and services online. Let us take a look at the history and developments in Internet advertising that took place in these 18 years.History of Internet advertising:• Internet advertising or online advertising started in the year 1994.• In mid 1990s, when the Internet was new to people, there was a misconception that it is only useful to the scientists and students who are pursuing computer related academics.• The Internet became very common and easily available to people during 1996 and 1997. Then, slowly people started understanding that, the Internet can also be used in various ways.• In 1994, HotWired first sold spaces on its website for advertisements to many businesses. This was the start of the Internet advertising.• Advertisers began buying spaces on the popular websites where their company’s brand would get noticed by the visitors.• Number of websites started growing in thousands and millions, and advertisers felt that it was not good to stick to one popular website. Then the advertisers started buying spaces from many popular websites, and made their brands visible to many audiences.Developments in Internet advertising:• During early 2000s, Internet users started identifying the benefits of commercial services on the Internet. This lead to the craze of having a website for businesses/organization, so that the presence of their company is felt in the Internet.• Since the start of Internet advertising, there was a constant growth till 1998 ($1.9 billion in annual revenue). But there was a huge growth in 1999 ($7.6 billion in annual revenue) and the momentum is still continuing. The revenue is increasing every year.• But the companies were not sure whether the user would visit the company’s website directly. Then came the concept of “banners” or “banner ads”.• A banner is a small note located at one side of the website with some information and link to the company’s website. When clicked on that link, the user goes directly to the company’s website.• Internet advertising actually got noticed by the common people in 2007 with the help of Google. Google in 2007, brought a revolution of Internet advertising.• As years passed on, developments in technology and animation advertisements increased, where the use of technologies like flash player, etc. came into existence.• Animated advertisements are small videos or movies that attract the user easily.• Animated advertisements make banner ads more lively and attractive.• After 2010, with the introduction of smart phones and advanced mobile phones in the market, it became easier for businesses to promote their products/services to the people. These high end phones provided access to the Internet, and this is how Internet advertising market grew further.• Social networking sites made targeted audiences closer to the companies and the interaction between them has become more simple.Online advertising has become a global phenomenon, and in the years to come, there are a lot of surprises in store that will make online advertising platform easier to use.