Note: In the 23 years of advising CEOs, presidents and business owners, I am often asked about how best to finance a business; what are the options available to finance the business through its various stages from startup to expansion? Especially in the constrained economic environment business people are currently experiencing, these questions are even more important to find answers for.
That’s why I’ve invited Tom Gazaway of Hawkeye Management to be a guest on my Blog Talk Radio show, Talk Business With Howard this Wednesday, August 8th at 11 AM/ET. The blog post Tom has written includes a link to get more information about making the right decisions when it comes to business financing. Thank you, Tom, for writing this blog post and being on the show this week. -Howard-
Small business owners work hard. They work long hours. They innovate. They create jobs. They are the backbone of our economy. Then why can’t we support them by making credit available so they can build and grow their businesses?
That’s what we want to talk about. The small business credit and lending space is not what it used to be. It’s daunting. It’s confusing. It doesn’t make sense. The fact of the matter is that the credit and lending terrain has become nearly as big and confusing as the legal landscape. Most of us agree that if we were sued and faced a legal challenge that we would look for a lawyer. Not only that but we would want that lawyer to be experienced in that particular area of the law. We probably don’t want a criminal attorney to help us with a corporate employment lawsuit.
Well, the small business credit and lending terrain isn’t much different. With over 7000 banks across the country, do you know which one is the best fit for you based on your credit file, industry, location, and so on? Do you know how those banks are with their CRA limits and if that’s impacting their desire and ability to lend positively or negatively? And that’s just if you’re one of the estimated 10% who is “bankable” and can even get a bank loan. If you are part of the 90% who can’t get a bank loan then do you know all the different non-bank options that are out there, what they are, and how to take advantage of them? And are you prepared to avoid pledging collateral or, if that’s not possible, do you know how to avoid pledging “too much” collateral? It’s called over-collateralization and it works for banks because they’ve got all your collateral but it also completely cripples your ability to obtain additional financing as your company grows.
Let’s start at the beginning by getting the knowledge of where to begin. Here is a free eBook about knowing your options when you need financing to start, build, or grow your business. You can get it here.
Tom Gazaway is the founder and President of Hawkeye Management. Tom is widely known as the foremost expert in unsecured lending solutions for small business owners. Formed in 2001, his company specializes in unsecured business lines of credit and small business loan solutions for new and established businesses.
In addition to smallbusinessloans.com, Tom also blogs for Small Business Trends, and on his Small Business Lending blog. You can follow him on Twitter or his company, Hawkeye Management on Twitter, as well as connect with Tom on LinkedIn.
Be sure to join Tom and me on Wednesday for the live broadcast or return to this page to listen to the replay of the show later on Wednesday, August 8th.