Finance/Capital Access

By Michelle Black –

No matter how smart you are or how great your product may be, your business needs one very important ingredient if it’s going to thrive — the right equipment. The right equipment can help optimize performance and take your business to the next level, but it might be out of reach.

Thankfully, an equipment lease may be able to help you get the specialized machinery or technology your company needs now, even if you don’t have all the money you need to pay for ownership of the equipment up front or you’re not interested in equipment loans.

With an equipment lease, you get the right to use the equipment while you’re making monthly payments to a leasing company or financial institution.

What is an Equipment Lease?

Essentially, equipment leasing can be viewed as an alternative form of small business financing — most notably equipment loans. It’s a way to help you get what your business needs now with less money out of your pocket on the front end. However, you’ll generally need a decent personal credit score to qualify for the most attractive rates and terms. (more…)

By Meghan Ott, Venturize –

In celebration of our new partnership with America’s SBDC, Venturize co-hosted a Twitter chat during National Small Business Week to talk about the top tips and resources to help small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs become loan ready.

We were happy to be joined by our friends at Intuit QuickBooks, the New Jersey Business Action Center, Small Business Majority, BIGG Success, and BizBuySell. There were also a number of SBDCs that participated, including the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, New York SBDC, University of Minnesota Center for Economic Development, and Temple University SBDC. (more…)

By Linsey Knerl –

Almost every modern company runs on some form of credit these days. Even the most profitable businesses benefit from having a line of credit available for emergencies, well-planned purchases for perks, or improving their credit score. According to the Small Business Administration, 65 percent of small businesses rely on credit cards, but just 50 percent use business cards in the name of their company. This strategy can potentially harm a business owner’s personal credit, and it limits the opportunities to get business funding in the future.

If a business credit card is the wiser choice, why doesn’t everyone get one? For being a very astute business move, cards have their drawbacks. Here are some of the ways that business credit cards can do more harm than good and keep you from achieving the most important growth goals. (more…)

By Connor Wilson –

You don’t need a new year to resolve to work on your credit. It’s a common goal, and as people look to buy a home or a new car or get out of debt, credit monitoring becomes a hot topic. If you’re a small business owner, you might be surprised to know that you don’t just have a personal credit score, you also have a business credit score to think about. In a Nav survey, 45% of responding small business owners did not realize they had a business credit score, 72% didn’t know where to find information on their business credit score, and 82% had no idea how to interpret their score. If you fall under any of those categories, it’s definitely time to learn more about your business credit score.

Running a business means time is at a premium, so why should you invest time in monitoring your business credit? Here are 4 benefits of keeping an eye on your business credit score. (more…)