Stimulus Money You Need to Know About

SBA chief says administration is asking Congress to extend loan guarantees

Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Karen Mills was at International Franchise Association Convention Monday to discuss ways both the agency and the Obama administration are working on to further encourage lending to small businesses.These efforts, Mills says, include asking Congress for additional funding for its loan programs.In February of 2009, the SBA received $730 million in federal stimulus funding as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. However, this wasn’t enough to meet the loan demand and in December, the SBA received an additional $125 million from Congress.

“We immediately were able to get that out as well. (But) it will run out at the end of this month,” Mills says, adding that the president has asked Congress for another extension in funding.

SBA spokesman Jonathan Swain says the president called for extending the recovery act provisions for the SBA’s 7a and 504 Certified Development Company loan programs through Sept. 30, 2010. The House passed legislation that would do so and it included $323 million to fund the extension. The U.S. Senate has not yet acted on the proposal.

“We are continuing to discuss it with the Senate and are hopeful we will see the extension move forward soon,” Swain says.

If granted, Mills says, the additional funds will be used to increase the loan limit for its 7(a) and 504 loan programs from $2 million to $5 million. Mills says about 10 percent or 12 percent of the loans made with recovery funds have gone to franchisees. Many of these franchisees, she says, have expressed the need for larger loan limits in order to purchase buildings or to make acquisitions.

“So, we’ve proposed to Congress that we increase these loans,” she says.

Other things the SBA is looking to do is extend the 90 percent guarantee on its 7(a) loan program.

The Recovery Act, among other things, temporarily raised the guarantee on the 7(a) loan program up to 90 percent through the end of the calendar year 2009, or until funds set aside for the program were exhausted.

Prior to the enactment of the law, the guarantee on the 7(a) loan program was between 75 percent and 85 percent.

The act also temporarily eliminated fees for borrowers on the 7(a) loans as well as fees for both borrowers and lenders on the 504 loans through the end of the year or until funding for the enhanced programs are exhausted.

The 504 CDC loans are principally used for land, new building construction, acquisition and rehab of existing buildings, long-term machinery and equipment purchases, and debt refinancing.

Interestingly, Mills says, the agency is also seeking to use its 504 loan program to refinance owner-occupied commercial real estate mortgages.

Mills says that in this present economic environment, in an effort to get commercial mortgages off their books, some banks may be unwilling to renew commercial real estate mortgages even if the owners have never missed a payment.

Using the 504 loan program in this capacity temporarily, she says, could benefit these business owners.

Mills says the agency has been meeting with small and large banks as well as small businesses and community leaders around the country to develop the measures that it is seeking from Congress. And, she says she believes these measures are ones that will be easy to implement.

“We can do those things quickly within the programmatic structure that we already have (in place) at very cost-effective rates,” she says.

Latest Unemployment Figures

The unemployment rate dropped from 10% in December 2009 to 9.7% in January 2010 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The news isn’t as good as it sounds, however. In January 2010, 20,000 jobs were lost when economists had anticipated a gain in jobs.

Employment fell in warehousing, transportation, and construction. However, there was an uptick in employment in retail and temporary help services. The good news is that usually when an increase is seen in temporary help services is seen, it is a leading indicator for a good job picture in the future. There was also an increase in jobs in the health care sector.

The interesting thing is that even with a drop in unemployment, the economy still lost jobs.

Some economists, according to a recent articles think that only 1.5 million jobs will be regained during 2010 and that it may take 3-4 years for the job market to return to anything approaching normal. This recession is truly earning its nickname of the Great Recession. Don”t take a risk on your customers call me today to help your bottom line 469-368-6410

8 Small Business Trends

Running a small business requires a focus on the present daily operations. With time restraints looking ahead becomes difficult. However, in order to succeed you need to know what’s ahead to better plan and avert danger. The 21st century presents plenty of changes that will impact your small business in the future. Here are 8 small business trends for the 21st century:

The Small Business Revolution: The face of entrepreneurship is changing from the white middle-aged college educated male to a new class consisting of immigrants, women, baby boomers, and the younger digital generation. These groups are better prepared for success.

The boomers have a vast repertoire of skills and experiences while the youth possess a risk-taking attitude with very few financial commitments. According to the Kauffman Foundation, Americans aged 55 to 64 start a business at the highest rate of any age group—28% higher than the adult average. A growing number of employees will value the path to entrepreneurship continuing the small business revolution. Look for greater political clout and financing for small business.

An Empire of One: Forget the hiring headaches, managing problems, and added paperwork of running a business with employees. According to the Census Bureau, small business without payroll makes up more than 70 percent of America’s 27 million companies, with annual sales of $887 billion.

An empire of one can operate in a low-cost of location such as the home office and be more nimble than larger companies. One-person businesses can take advantage of outsourcing many functions while focusing on core strengths. The empire of one model will be appealing to more and more corporate employees leaving behind big companies with limited pensions and job security. Small businesses built around the empire of one model will be able to weather the perfect talent storm on the horizon.

The Perfect Talent Storm: A fast aging population, a rapid declining pool of younger workers combined with global competition creates the perfect storm for a serious labor shortage. Unlike past labor shortages, this is a global phenomenon impacting workers in many areas and businesses of all types. It will continue for much of the future regardless of economic cycles.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. is heading for a shortage of 3 to 6 million workers by 2012. Immigration provides little comfort with other countries facing similar talent crunches; retaining citizens will be a top priority. This storm means small businesses will have to compete aggressively for talent and learn how to fully engage the hearts and minds of employees.

The Innovation Age: The most important asset that will be fully realized in the future is the 3-pound creative universe in our heads. Our true competitive advantage is our ability to create and execute new business ideas. Although we have mastered the fundamentals of business such as sales or marketing, we have yet to grasp the concept of innovation. Smarter companies will leap ahead with the understanding that innovation is a process dependent system as opposed to a flash of genius.

Cash IS King

Don't Take "No" for an Answer - Cash is King

“You can survive decreased profits if you have cash flow, but… if cash flow takes a dive, you’re in trouble While most business know the above to be true, most have been told by their financial “partners” that they do not meet the criteria for additional capital, even though their financials are strong and their ability to repay is not in question. The past 18 months demonstrated that even financially healthy companies were hamstrung when it came to accessing capital. Every company should have multiple sources of liquidity – in good times and bad. It is your fiduciary responsibility to be “cash prepared.” Look for ways to optimize your balance sheet and alleviate your cash flow management concerns. Seek out reliable partners that will help you to finance your growth on your terms and, ultimately, work with you to reduce your cost of capital. For example, Burt & Associates allows you to decrease your DSO and improve your financial performance by allowing you to set terms that work for you. Like we said, Cash is King!

Raising Capital Though Bad Debt

An important decision for a business wanting to raise capital is that of choosing among the various ways to structure financing. Bankers and investment bankers may offer a number of possibilities besides straightforward bank debt, which is basically a loan that can be a fixed term loan or a revolving line of credit. Other possibilities bankers may offer include convertible debt, which is debt that may be converted into equity at some predetermined price per share. Mezzanine debt, which is senior to equity but subordinate to convertible debt, typically has a term of three to five years and often requires warrants or stock options in addition to substantial interest rates on the notes. Equity financing includes preferred equity and common equity. Preferred equity is stock that has certain preferential rights higher than common equity, which in turn is the sale of ownership of the company that issues the equity. for more information check Burt & Associates

Six Components at Burt & Associates

The Six Components of Leadership

There are six main factors that contribute to successful leadership, including vision, motivation, strategy, faith, values and responsibilities at Burt & Associates in Dallas Texas.Vision is a picture of the future that a leader wants to achieve, while motivation involves getting commitments from others to share that vision. Leaders must outline a strategy to achieve their visions and have a firm faith that they can overcome obstacles in reaching their goals. Values, with moral values coming ahead of economic ones, are important to make clear to employees at Burt & Associates in Dallas Texas Finally, leaders must take responsibility for any mistakes that occur on the way to achieving a vision.

Salesman Personalities - Burt & Associates Videos

Can you tell if a business account is to far gone

In some instances, you can tell if a company might be irreparable. If a troubled company no longer has an addressable market that is ready to embrace its products or services, that company may be to far gone to turnaround of commercial collections. Moreover, if the company has no clear understanding regarding why it needs to clearly communicate its product’s return to the marketing place or if it can not quantify it product’s value, the hope of any “quick fix” for that troubled firm may be beyond consideration. And just as important an indicator is if the leadership of a troubled firm does not have the ability to become systematic and entrepreneurial-minded. Trying to fix such a company may be throwing good money after bad let Burt & Associates help you with the answers you need in troubles time so that you don”t have to lose your money on bad debt.

Solving Business Bad Debt Problems

If you already have a business and have operated it successfully – congratulations! You know you have had to overcome many obstacles to succeed. But as time passes and conditions change your business may need to adjust – and you may be seeking new ideas, new solutions to help you with commerercial collection bad debtYou may need: to develop new markets; new marketing strategies; to update and organize and your collection procedures; to change your legal structure; – or any other of a number of different issues which arise periodically.

At times like these,burt & associates can help you – and its all free!

Come and visit www.burtcollect.com for assistance, call jerry curtis today 1-877-740-7839

TO CASH OR NOT CASH BUSINESS CHECKS

If you receive a payment from a debtor on business account and the words “acceptance of this check denotes payment in full” should you cash the check? The answer differs depending on the state law and the facts of the situation. One of the main issues in determining whether a satisfaction of a debt exists is whether there is a “bona fide” dispute between the parties regarding the amount owed. Generally, when there is a bona fide dispute between the parties as to the amount of a balance owing, one party can offer to pay a specific amount in full payment of that debt. The other party can accept the offer in cash or check — which is referred to as “accord and satisfaction”. This is essentially like a new contract. It should be noted that a dispute does not have to be based on a solid foundation but there must be some justification to it.

Note, however, that a business who receives such a check may not simply cross out the language and write “under protest” in order to get around the “accord and satisfaction” concept.

It should also be noted that while some companies process thousands of checks, nevertheless, some courts have held that when a creditor’s accounting department cashes a debtor’s check in ignorance that it was an attempt to “accord and satisfaction”, a subsequent timely protest by the creditor defeated a finding of that “accord and satisfaction”. In some states, however, where a claim is disputed and a check is offered for settlement, the retention of a check constitutes an “accord and satisfaction” settlement regardless of any protest by the creditor. Also, under Uniform Commercial Code 3-311 a creditor has the right to revoke an “accord and satisfaction”.