I just learned that Sam's Club will begin offering their members SBA loans up to $25,000. How is that for unconventional financing!

another often overlooked option for many businesses is using debt consolidation loans proactively. The key here is to get the loan before you actually start getting hurt by mssing payment due to siffled cashflow. Many small businesses use credit cards or unsecured loans as a means of generating start up capital or to cover cashflow bumps - the problem is that once the payments become due on these types of borrowing the interest on them makes repayment difficult and rather than being a solution to cashflow issues, these types of high interest borrowings actually make the problem worse long term - you may have avoided the intial probelem but you've potentially created a bigger one in the future. This is where a DC loan can help IF you take it out BEFORE you start missing repayments on the other loans. Once you start missing payments your credit is going to be affected and it'll be harder to get a consolidation loan at decent rates. If you get a copnsolidation loan and use it to pay off your high interest debt, you effectively end up with the best of both worlds - you get the benefit of the convenience of using your instant credit when you need it, but without the additional interest burden. Forward planning and good budgeting are the keys to success with this - you have to act while you still have good credit. If done well you'll actually improve your credit this way as you'll create a history of sucessfully repaying loans. If you have an asset (such as premisses or plant machinery) that yopu can secure the Consolidation loan against, so much the better as this will keep the interest rate lower.

The real problem with equity financing is that many (most) businesses do not qualify. Investors what large returns and local or small regional businesses cannot provide those types of returns - that is why mainy work in the technology or life science industries or their equivalent. There are a few exceptions like SBICs - some will fund (usually with convertible debt) companies not in the Technology or Life Sciences industries. A/R factoring is a good way to speed up your cash flow. Many businesses offer their customers financing by letting them have 30, 60, 90 days or more to pay - which keeps their customers happy but wrecks havoc on cash flow. Accounts receivable factoring can help these businesses smooth out their cash flow needs - just know that these should only be used for short-term financing. On the flip side, there is purchase order financing - if your business has orders in hand but not the capital to complete the job - these orders can be factored. A financing company will advance up to 100% of what the business needs to complete the job - funds that can be used for material and labor. Then, when your business gets paid - it pays off the advance and keeps the profits. Lastly, businesses can factor future sales - termed Business Cash Advances. If your business accepts credit cards as payments - these cash advance companies will advance capital - based on your volume of receipts (some up to $300,000 per location). Then, as you make future sales, the advance company takes a small portion - around 5% - until the advance is paid back. These are all great options for businesses needing capital for growth - but all are short-term and should be used that way as most all of these options also have some draw backs as well.

Is there an accounts payable equivalent to factoing recivables?  I've seen it mentioned some where before and I'd really like to know if anyone offers it.   You can sometime shave big obne off expenses that really impact on your cashflow if they need to be paid in one hit, kind of like having to suddenly pay for a childs marriage out of the blue!   If there's a company out there that could take a bunch of your payable invoices, pay them for you, then recover the total amount + fees and interest over a preiod of say 6 months that'd be really helpful for many people struggling to maintain cashflow.