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Small business today generally refers to businesses generating under $3 million in annual sales. That's not so small to most people. And big business was small business at one time. The challenge is "how do you get there from here"? The financing community is about to get some real financial assistance-and it's called Factoring. Traditionally, start-ups use the Small Business Loan as seed capital, and this still remains the ideal, lowest risk choice.

Once up and running however, the issues of cash flow, funding growth, dealing with seasonal slumps and the like, become the day to day issues that determine the financial stability and future potential of the company.

The present financing options available to serve these purposes are (1) traditional bank financing, and (2) additional private investment. Each of these options achieves the goal of providing funds to your business but as is always true, there are associated costs.

Bank financing has the nasty side effect of burdening your business with additional debt, not only capital repayment but additional debt by way of interest.

If the goal is to fund growth, taking on additional debt certainly takes a chunk out of the disposable funds available to finance that growth and affects the financial position of the company for years to come. The application process is long and cumbersome. The delay between the time of submission of the application to disbursement is substantial as well, putting extra constraints on the timing of your financing needs. And...what if traditional bank financing is not an option for you? In some cases, you may not be creditworthy, many have used up your available credit limit, or be in violation of debt/equity ratios.

The other common route is private investment. In these cases, the injection of capital is given in return for an equity interest in the business. There are a variety of forms this can take but suffice it to say, that the end result is a dilution of your equity in the company that you have built. While often a great choice for large corporations, the effects are more widely experienced in small companies, especially family run or owner operated businesses.

Diluting equity, or granting an ownership interest to an outside party generally waters down the value of all shares and creates a situation where one shareholder has a preferred status and priority in payment over the original investors. As well, it often creates a loss of control over the decision making processes depending on the clout of the private investor and the amount of money invested. These are serious hidden costs.

So, what now? You can't go to the bank because you are at your credit limit and you don't' want a private investor, but you just got this huge $10 million dollar deal and you need to build a warehouse. Well, there's a new financial hero to the rescue and its name is "Factoring". To say it's new is really a mistake since it has been around since the days of the Roman Empire. The United States factors 50 times as many transactions as Canada and over $1 trillion in sales is factored worldwide annually. In the United States, many banks even have factoring divisions. Some scandals in the United States have left factoring with a undeserved tarnished reputation. In fact, it is a champion of small business and an essential tool in the arsenal of financing options.

Factoring involves the sale of accounts receivable at a discount. Essentially, you sell the receivables that are due to you by your customers to a "factor", who discounts the value of them and pays you in advance. The discount depends on many factors but is generally between 3-6% for a pre-negotiated period of time and a fraction of that thereafter. In essence you are raising funds not on the basis of your creditworthiness but that of your customers. So you may not be able to get credit but as long as your customers are creditworthy you can leverage that to raise funds for your own business.

For example, you may do home stereo installations and work from your truck, but your customer could be Future Shop! BUT, here's the beauty, you have not created the extra burden of debt, nor have you diluted your equity. Yes, you have taken a hit up-front, but, the money did not come out of your pocket and is a cost of doing business. The important thing is that it allowed you to fulfill your main goal of getting financing in a timely manner and being able to take advantage of a growth opportunity that would have otherwise evaded you.

The same line of reasoning works for seasonal businesses who need to maintain a continual cash flow to fund operations. This is a great tool for that! Now, I must confess that I came upon this discovery because I have a client in this field, but sincerely (and morally), this is no sales pitch, it's an honest opinion, because the beauty of this little known source of financing was like a secret that was too good not to share.

The legalities of this financing are equally as simple. If bank financing is in place then all that is required is that the bank give up its first ranking security on the receivable being factored. The bank is generally amenable to as it still has security on everything else. The factor then takes the place of the bank on that receivable and takes security much in the same the bank would. Furthermore, because there are no interest charges on your money, none of the banking legislation is applicable, making the entire transaction simpler all around. The charges you pay are discount fees, the cost of having your money now and avoiding all the burdens of other methods of financing. Second mortgage anyone?

I think what you will find most surprising is that factoring is highly endorsed by financial professionals, including banks. It makes a lot of sense though that they should. Business clients have many needs and professionals, be it lawyers, accountants or bankers need to respond to them. Banks like that it keeps their clients financially afloat when they cannot help them. Small and medium businesses often fail because of short term cash flow problems, not because business is bad!

Traditional bank financing and private investment can never be replaced. They are the cornerstones of corporate finance. The problem is getting to the point where you can truly benefit from their value. Small business to medium, and medium to large, factoring is fulfilling an untapped niche in the financial industry.

While it takes a lot of (paper) work away from us lawyers, I am still all for it. I guess the secret's out of the bag!

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The term "Factoring" has gotten a bad reputation in the world of small business credit over the years.

Many small business owners view it as financing of a "last resort" and worry about what their employees or customers will think about the longevity of the business once they learn their employer/supplier has entered into such a financing arrangement.

While business owners should be concerned about how their customers perceive their business, entering into a factoring arrangement is rarely the "red flag" that many fear it will be due to the fact that factoring has become a much more common means of providing a company with access to working capital. The odds are excellent many of your customers are RIGHT NOW paying many of their invoices to factoring companies in lieu of their suppliers who have taken advantage of this valuable financing tool.

Since access to credit for small business owners has contracted over the last several years, it has become more challenging for small businesses to obtain traditional credit lines. Many lenders reserve these facilities for only their "best" customers, which are often defined as those who have strong profits, increasing revenue trends and high balances on deposit.

Financing may still be available to these strong companies who also have "hard assets" to pledge as collateral. These are often defined as property, plant and equipment. In other words, if you own a business with good profits and stable revenue trends and have equity in a commercial building filled with valuable equipment, you may qualify for a small business loan. However, if a business owner operates out of rented space and provides a product or service which does not require much in the way of equipment, small business loans can be elusive.

Factoring can be a convenient alternative to businesses which cannot meet today's stringent criteria for small business loans but have a strong base of customers. Under most factoring arrangements, the factoring company ignores the financial condition of the client and strictly focuses on the credit quality of their customers.

If the customers are creditworthy, there is an strong likelihood a factor will be interested in "factoring" the accounts receivable. When factoring a receivable, a business sells the right to be paid by their customer to the factoring company in order to receive the bulk of the amount due (usually 75%) shortly after issuing the invoice, with the balance, less a factoring fee, remitted to the business once their customer makes payment to the factoring company.

Fees can range from 2% - 5% of the invoice amount for each 30 days an invoice is outstanding. In other words, if a customer typically pays their invoices in about 40 days, the business would take on average about a 3% discount on their invoices in exchange for the factoring company advancing 75% of the invoice amount shortly after it is issued.

Like any industry, there are also unscrupulous factoring companies out there. It is important to ask for references and to Google the name of the factoring company you select to see what, if any, complaints are out there. Many factoring companies are run by long-time veterans of the business and are often the best choice with which to develop a financing relationship.

While many business owners fear what they do not understanding, the truth is that factoring can provide businesses which cannot yet qualify traditional bank financing with the working capital bridge they need until they can meet the standards for traditional business credit lines.

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Chris Lehnes is a 20 year veteran of the small business lending industry. He has held positions in commercial loan documentation, credit analysis, operations management and business development at one of the country's largest small business lenders. Currently, Chris is a Business Development Officer at Versant Funding where he provides non-recourse factoring to businesses in a wide variety of industries with annual revenue from $1 - $50 Million. You can reach Chris at 203-493-1663, [email protected], or www.ChrisLehnes.com

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