Posts Tagged ‘Small’
Wooing Small Business With Business Credit Cards
March 5th, 2010 | 
Author: A few weeks ago (April 18, 2007), Discover Financial Services launched a new business credit card that offers frequent flier miles to small business owners. Among the credit card brands, Discover was one of the last to start offering business credit cards to the small business sector. Reportedly, this is only the latest in a virtual avalanche of business credit cards designed for small business.
One cannot but wonder at the sudden interest.
Perhaps a glance at recent research material will offer some clues. Data shows that in 2006, the small business sector spent $4.9 trillion; but only one-twentieth (5%) of that money was paid through business credit cards in any form (credit or debit card). The credit card companies now want in on that huge market, and believe they can induce small business owners to not only make use of their business credit cards but also to spend more on their cards.
To achieve this, the credit card companies will have to convince the small business owners to use business credit cards in less traditional ways. Traditionally, business credit cards have largely been used to cover travel and entertainment expenses. What card companies want is for businesses to use their business credit cards for everyday spend.
This is the reason behind the new cash back rewards business credit cards. These cards offer 5% discounts on purchases of office supplies, gasoline, courier services and other essential business needs. MasterCard even went as far as launching a business credit card targeted at a specific industry: contractors and construction companies. MasterCard was also the first card company to provide zero-liability protection to small business credit card holders.
Discover’s recently launched business credit cards offer small business the chance to purchase checkbooks. This enables small business owners to pay for purchases from vendors that don’t accept business credit cards. These checkbooks tap into the spending limit on their Discover business credit cards. Visa offers a directly competing program.
American Express sponsors various networking events for small business credit card holders. It also features one of the most extensive business resource databases to help users of its business credit cards to address and resolve their everyday business management problems and concerns.
How big is the potential market for business credit cards, you may ask? If you take the $4.9 trillion small business spending in 2006 and double the current business credit card spend from 5% ($245 billion) to 10%, you have $490 billion. If you charge 15% interest on that, you have a $74 billion potential contribution to profits. In fact, market research companies forecast double-digit growth in small business credit cards between now and 2010, and total charges are projected to reach $740.2 billion by that year. That is a lot of profit.
It has been an uphill climb to get small business owners to subscribe to an expanded use of business credit cards. It takes time, but eventually business owners will respond. One issue that business credit card issuers will have to address is the marked preference of small businesses to pay their full balance for the month as and when it falls due. Card companies do not earn from such transactions. That should be food enough for thought.
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Small Business Finance Basics – Financial Ideas and Tips for Your Home Business
I’m not an Economics Major! What do I need to know about Small Business Finance?
No, you don’t need to be an economics major, but you do need to understand the basics of small business finance and good financial management. And if you are an economics major, Great! You have a big head start.
Do you need a bunch of spreadsheets? Not today, but as you plan your business and it begins to grow, you’ll know how to use these! When you’re starting out, there are five basics areas where you need to learn as much as you can:
Bookkeeping:
In very simple terms you need to keep track of the money that comes in and the money that goes out. It may sound a simple, and it might be in the beginning, but you’re not starting this business to run for a month. Hopefully you’re starting this business to last for a long time.
It’s a very good idea to put a smart small business finance accounting system into place from the beginning, and get it set up to grow with your business. You will find a resource page below with some very good basic accounting systems that are affordable and easy to use for small business finance.
Credit and Collections:
You need to make sure you get paid for your product or service. How this happens can vary greatly based on the type of business you run. If you’re just starting out, you will probably not offer your customers credit terms, more likely it will be cash on delivery.
For this you need a payment tool that your customers trust (always look at your customer’s point of view first) and one that will allow you immediate access to your cash. There are many online payment tools and gateways, like PayPal.
One important note, it is an extremely smart idea to use a payment tool or gateway that also offers you the ability to download transaction details into your accounting package. This saves you loads of time manually entering information into your small business finance software package, and has many additional upside advantages.
Cash Flow:
This is where most people have problems with small business finance, and the largest reason for business failures. Let me explain it this way.
Can a profitable business fail? YES, and many do! Cash is KING!
You must have enough cash coming in to pay your expenses. In the beginning this will be from your own pocket or from your small business finance loan or credit facilities. But eventually, and in most cases sooner rather than later, the start-up funding will run out. You need to be focusing on cash flow from Day ZERO, and eventually when the business is running on its own income you can focus more and more on profitability.
Purchasing:
You will need to buy things for your business. In the beginning it’s important to focus on how you pay for these items. If you’re using your credit card, no problem, but watch the finance charges. Try and keep the outstanding balance on your card down to a minimum.
If your making most of your purchases online, then find a good payment tool or gateway that you can use to pay for purchases while at the same time collecting money from your customers.
Financial Analysis:
Don’t worry, this is not a huge issue in the beginning, because if you’re like most new businesses there will be very little to analyze.
But keep in mind; this will become more and more important as your business begins to grow and you have less and less time to dedicate to finance. You will need to again select an accounting package that can grow and expand with your business giving you easy reports to understand.
In the beginning you really just need the ability to watch your finances and do short range forecasts of your cash flow. Most accounting packages have this as a basic part of the package, if not; keep looking for a system that offers this from the beginning.
Get the Small Business Finance Basics right, and the rest will follow with much greater ease. Ignore the basics, or do them wrong, and you’re asking for problems later on that will distract you from your main function as a business owner which is finding and keeping customers!
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Posted in finance credit | 
Tags: Basics, Business, Finance, Financial, Home, Ideas, Small, Tips | 
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Compare Small Business Credit Cards
Small business credit cards are perfect for the small or large business owner. Whether it is a large or small business, having a line of credit is crucial and business owners need to compare small business credit cards to determine whether or not they fit their business needs.
For some business owners, determining what type of small business credit card fits the needs of their business may be a daunting task. What’s most important to keep in mind is that sitting down and brainstorming is better than finding out later that a bad decision was made and it could quickly become a very costly mistake.
The business owner should be aware that if a small business credit card offers major traveler’s benefits, like travel points and traveler’s insurance,Once the business owner determines what best suits the needs of his or her business, then follows the process of research, the best credit card choice can be made.
Credit card companies offering business credit cards pride themselves on showcasing what the company is offering. With great advertising effort,These cards use words like “Earn Points” that can be used to purchase supplies at selected vendor locations. “No Spending Limit” allows cardholders to have no pre-set limit, which means they are not bound to a strict purchase limit. “Low interest rates” allow business owners to pay only minimal interest rate fees. ‘Pay back’ guidelines may be either the next month or account payments may be stretched out to let business owners have the luxury of not worrying about paying the balance on their business credit cards. Comparing business cards can sometimes be a daunting experience but for the most part it is a needed task because making educated choices is necessary when self employed in order to avoid business failure.
Comparing small business credit cards can lead to determining what suits the needs of your business. The types of business cards vary and each offers incentives to business owners in order to maintain or create long lasting business relationships and respectability. There are, however, certain types of business credit cards that all business owners, large or small, should take advantage of.
It is best to look for the type of credit card that offers attractive low interest rates that are not only implemented temporarily, but that will stay low for the life of the business credit card. Make certain the low interest rate is not advertised for just the first month of the business credit card or for the first year of the business credit card. Compare business credit cards and determine which fits this case. small Business credit cards with an introductory 0.00% APR can, however, be great for a business owner that anticipates being able to pay the balance in full every month after the introductory period is complete.
Some small business credit cards have phenomenal cash back rebates programs, but have a limit to the number of cash back awards the business credit card receives. Look for the credit card that has a no limit on its cash back program. There are also some business credit cards that give business owners the option to pay over time or pay balance in full. It is important to decide on business needs before choosing the business credit card that has these options. Paying over an extended time period can be helpful when making large purchases with a small business credit card, but the interest rate can have a large impact on the final amount paid. The bottom line is to compare business credit cards in order to choose the right one to meet all of the business’ needs.
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Bank of America: Banking on Small Business With Business Credit Cards
Business caution about the economy has not managed to dampen the dynamic growth in the small business credit card market. Having banked on small business for some time now and having a big credit card operation under its wing, Bank of America is looking up their activities through small business credit cards.
Their business credit card package affords small businesses the opportunity to schedule electronic payments ahead of time, thereby freeing up a time consuming administrative task on the part of the business owner. Business credit card holders also get purchase protection, which doubles the manufacturer’s warranty period on purchases made by up to an additional year.
Credit lines for business credit card holders are flexible, and can go up to $25,000. The business’ everyday business purchases earn discounts and cash backs too.
The bank has taken line of credit for business credit cards one step further. The small business credit card holders can now link their checking accounts in the bank with their business credit card. In the event that your checking account suffers an overdraft, the bank automatically extends its overdraft protection benefit. This means they will transfer funds, in multiples of $100, from your business credit card account to cover the overdraft.
This automatic loan against the business credit cards’ line of credit should save small business owners a lot of embarrassment. The bank will extend this protection provided that there is sufficient credit remaining in the business credit card account and if the account is not in default under the Business Credit Card Agreement.
If your business credit card account cannot cover the overdraft, you may still have a problem though. To address that possibility, the bank will release sufficient funds even if it will cause your business credit card account to breach the pre-set credit limit. The business will be expected to settle this loan during the next payment period, but this facility can lift a heavy load from the business owner’s shoulders.
You may be concerned about financial charges. First of all, after the zero percent APR during the 9-month introductory period, your business credit card will be imposed a regular rate of prime rate plus either 6.99% or 9.99% APR (some other versions of the Bank of America business credit cards impose variable APR of either 15.24% or 18.24%).
Business credit card cash advances are subject to prime rate plus 15.99% APR, with a minimum of 19.99%, plus a cash advance fee of 3%, with a minimum $10 fee. If the cash advance causes the business credit card account to exceed the credit limit, you will be levied an over-credit limit fee, as specified in your Business Credit Card agreement.
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Posted in business credit |
Tags: America, Bank, Banking, Business, Cards, Credit, Small |
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