Start a Restaurant

To achieve financial independence, experts encourage even currently employed individuals to consider entrepreneurship. Setting up your own business, no matter how small, is touted as one of the best ways toward building the foundation for wealth. Those who are concerned about having a safety net need not take the plunge recklessly. One can start setting up a small business even while employed.  

Of crucial use to small businesses are credit card services and small business loans. The entrepreneur needs to know how to avail of these tools and how to effectively wield them for maximum business growth.

Credit Card Services

A small business would do well to get reputable credit card services in order to prosper in the current business climate. Availing of credit card services will enable it to accept both credit card and debit card payments. This is true either for brick-and-mortar businesses or internet based online businesses. After all, most consumers nowadays routinely use credit cards or debit cards for payment purposes. It only makes good business sense to be well-equipped for the needs of credit card users and debit card users as well as for the needs of customers who pay in cash.

Merchant services provide credit card services covering a wide range of solutions for the processing of credit cards and debit cards as payment options. These credit card services include traditional terminal equipment at point of sale, where credit cards or debit cards are swiped. It also includes software and high speed IP solutions for both traditional commerce and e-commerce. Credit card and debit card payments can, therefore, be accepted in person or through the internet, by phone or by fax.     

Small Business Loans

Any business â?? whether a small start-up business, a medium-scaled one or a big business company â?? will be needing an infusion of additional capital sooner or later. Additional capital is always needed for expansion, additional inventory, additional manpower, new systems, new equipment or a new physical layout.

Capital is not always easy to come by, though. The original investorsâ?? personal coffers may have been emptied by the earlier outlays. Prospective investors may not be keen on shelling out funds in times of crisis. Businesses, therefore, have no choice but to seek business loans.

Getting business loans is a difficult process. Even small business loans are not readily approved. Be prepared to present a lot of documentation and paperwork. For small business loans, the proprietorâ??s personal credit history is taken into account and related references need to be submitted. Of course, the companyâ??s financial statements are just as important in proving the feasibility of the business and its capacity to repay its business loans. Having a detailed business plan will show your business strategies and projections, demonstrating your business acumen.

Unfortunately, even with all the requirements completed, applications for business loans â?? including small business loans â?? are, more often than not, disapproved.

Solutions

Some merchant services provide a comprehensive solution for the needs of small businesses in relation to credit card services and small business loans. The set up is elegantly simple. A small business need only avail of the companyâ??s credit card services to be eligible for merchant cash advances. These cash advances are actually small business loans, except that there is no need to go through the complicated application process for business loans. Repayment is made very easy and worry-free, too. A certain small percentage is built into the credit card processing rates to take care of the advances. This way, repayment is actually done automatically in a very affordable manner and according to income flow.

Small business owners would, indeed, be wise to look into these timely business solutions.

Finding a restaurant loan to cover expenses after you have opened your restaurant or when you are opening a new restaurant can be difficult.

You may find that with economic situations and the uncertainty of the restaurant industry, that you may have a hard time finding the funding you need to open a restaurant. That is why it is important to consider alternative financing methods when you are looking for funding for a food service business.

These methods can help bypass things like excessive wait times when looking for a loan. These alternatives are not difficult to find when looking for a restaurant loan, in fact they can be quite easy to locate, apply for, and be approved for making them perfect for franchise holders and people who are opening their first restaurant or just a single location.

This type of restaurant loan alternative takes a cut or percentage of future sales done with credit or debit cards and uses these to pay back the cash advance. It is called a merchant cash advance and obtaining approval is not difficult at all. There are unsecured small business loans, unsecured business lines of credit, but still not as easy to get as a restaurant business cash advance!

If you are looking into getting a unsecured business loan, or unsecured business line of credit and have been denied for either one, the business cash product does not ask for collateral so it is a unsecured working capital advance to you.

This cash advance product is a perfect business loan alternative for owners of pizza, diners, fine dining or casual dining restaurants, that are having difficulty getting financing or just don’t have the time for the long approval and funding process from your bank and need the money quickly.

To qualify you will need to accept credit cards, have at least $2,500 a month in sales with Master card and Visa. Your credit either business or personal does not have to be perfect but you will need a few other things.

You will need to have been open at least 5-6 months and turn in a lease on your location, if you do not own it. You also have to produce 4 months of statements for both credit card processing and bank statements. You also must be free of open judgments, bankruptcies, and open tax liens for this type of advance.

Getting a restaurant loan can be difficult at any stage of the process, before you open a restaurant, for start up unexpected costs, building costs, as well as after you open for equipment or even to expand. The restaurant industry can be a difficult one to break into. There is an extensive amount of competition and small or family owned can often find it difficult to make ends meet. It is because of this that banks and other traditional and formal lending institutions provide strict guidelines for these types of loans.

For those that have less than perfect credit it can be nearly impossible, but with this business cash advance product your credit score is not a big issue with certain cash advance financing companies.

This is why finding alternatives for a restaurant loan is essential when you need financing quickly. You can receive a business cash advance within 10-14 days and have the money you need to upgrade your business, get new equipment or just maintain operation during a down time in the economy.

When opening a restaurant there is always the chance that you are going to need extra financing and always the chance that the bank is going to turn you down. This is when you need to look into alternative financing sources and other ways of obtaining the restaurant loan you need to get your business started, maintain your business or upgrade and expand.

Copyright@2008

Author: Edwin De Leon
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Humorous photo captions

Owners looking for a restaurant loan have limited options and the credit crisis is giving a “beating” on all special purpose properties; such as restaurants. Although borrowers still have three main sources for financing, including conventional bank loans, CMBS lenders and SBA programs, borrowers are encourage to take a hard look at the SBA programs first due to their reliability of closing and strong benefits.

SBA 7a loan has many benefits on both purchase AND refinances, despite the notorious reputation it has with some borrowers. Most of these earlier issues have been ironed out in the last 5 years though borrowers should be careful who they work with, as bank that are inexperienced with the SBA can quickly complicate the process.

Examples of the benefits include 85% financing and low rates at prime + 1-2% for most borrowers. Right now Prime is at 5%. An effective rate of 6% from a historical stand point on a special use property such as a restaurant is exceptional. In addition, most 7a loans are amortized over 25 years helping the borrower spread out their loan and thereby increasing cash flow as compared to most traditional bank loans of 15 or 20 year amortizations. Working lines of credit, equipment, and construction/renovation loans can easily be tied into the loan.

One of the other huge benefits is the flexibility this program has for cash flow analysis aka debt coverage ratios. Most sources want to see a 1.3 on this type of building while the SBA 7a loan only needs a 1.1. In other words, the business needs to show that for every $1. of proposed mortgage payments that the restaurant has $1.30 of net income to cover the proposed loan. So after all expenses have been paid including the mortgage the restaurant should have $.30 left over. With the 7a it would only have to be $.10 left over which can be a big difference for most business that have tight cash flow.

Further, the borrower is allowed to use future business projections as well, to supplement any existing short falls in cash flow. This is not possible with 99% of the other options out there as they will only look at historical statements like your tax returns, balance sheet or profit and loss statements.

The negative with the 7a loan is that the rate typically floats and the SBA has a guarantee fee of 2.75% of 75% of the loan balance. However this is not always the case. For example, we have a source that offers this as a 5 year fixed, 25 year amortization loan. And there are banks out there that will absorb or pay for the guarantee fee themselves.

The short of it is if you’re looking for a restaurant loan keep you eye on the 7a loan.

Author: Jeff Rauth
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Creditcard Currency Conversion Fee