A lot of people can find themselves in a very difficult situation simply because they made some financial mistakes in the past. A lot of prime financial institutions require you to have high credit score and spotless credit file to be eligible for low interest lines of credit or even for a credit card. But what about consumers that made bad financial decisions, overextended their ability to pay back their creditors and had to file for bankruptcy? Even if you had to go through credit counselling services and paid back your debts, but did not fulfill your contractual obligations with your creditors, you credit worthiness is ruined.If you’ve gone through a bankruptcy and credit counselling program, you will have to rebuild your credit before any kind of credit will be extended to you. Rebuilding your credit can be a lengthy process and requires time and patience. First thing that you should do is to obtain your credit file from main credit reporting agencies. There are two main credit reporting agencies which are: Equifax and Trans Union. Obtaining your credit report is not a very difficult procedure and can be done instantly online for a fee between $15-$40 dollars or free of charge by mail. In order to obtain you credit report by mail you will need to fill out an application form (that can be downloaded from transunion.ca and equfax.com) and attach 2 pieces of id and a utility bill. You can either mail or fax your application to credit bureaus. It usually takes 7-10 business days to receive a copy of your credit file by mail. Once you get a copy of your credit file you should look for any discrepancies. If you declared bankruptcy and were discharged, all former creditors have to stop reporting to the credit bureaus after the discharge date.The same should happen to any collection items if any have been reported on your credit file. If you find any discrepancies you can download and fill out a dispute form from transunion.ca and equifax.com and submit it to the credit bureaus. Credit bureaus have to investigate your dispute and make appropriate corrections in your credit profile. Once all the discrepancies are eliminated, you will have to wait some time before all previous activity is removed from your credit file so you can start rebuilding your credit from scratch. If you went through a credit counselling program, it will take about 4 years after your program is completed for all the R7 accounts to be removed from your file. If you filed for bankruptcy it might take up to 10 years for the bankruptcy to be dropped from your credit file.Once your bankruptcy has been discharged you should get a secured credit card and make your monthly payments on time. After a year or two you bank might release you security deposit. However for the next 7-10 years you will not qualify for car loans, mortgages or lines of credit with prime financial institutions and will have to use services of subprime lenders. If you need quick cash advance (up to $1000) to pay an unexpected expense you can apply for a Payday loans are short term loans that are available to consumers in cases of emergency and at times when there are no other financial options available. Those type of lenders have high interest rates but if you do not have perfect credit rating you can still qualify for a loan with them. Some subprime lender report your timely loan payments to Credit Bureaus and some not (payday loans companies do not usually report to credit bureaus). You should double check with lenders before you apply for a loan. It is better to get financing trough a lender that will report your timely payments to the Credit Bureau as it will positively impact your credit score. Do not apply for a loan with numerous institutions at the same time. Numerous inquiries on your credit file will alert lenders and will lower you credit rating even more. Everything has a price and you will be paying for your past mistakes by having to pay high interest rates.
How to Rebuild Your Credit Using Services of Subprime Lenders and Payday Loan Companies?
US Markets in green on Friday; Dow 30 up over 345 points, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 up nearly 1%
US Markets were trading in the green on Friday with Dow 30 trading at 30,678.80, up by 1.14%. While S&P 500 was trading at 3,701.66, up by 0.98% and Nasdaq Composite 10,690.60 was also up by 0.71 per cent
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US Markets in green on Friday; Dow 30 up over 345 points, Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500 up nearly 1%
Earlier today, Indian stock markets ended the week on a winning note. It was the sixth straight gains for equity markets. Source: Reuters
US Markets were trading in the green on Friday with Dow 30 trading at 30,678.80, up by 345.25 points or1.14 per cent. While S&P 500 was trading at 3,701.66, up by 35.88 points or 0.98 per cent and Nasdaq Composite 10,690.60 was also up 75.75 points or 0.71 per cent. A Reuters report said that today’s strength was on the back of a report which said the Federal Reserve will likely debate on signaling plans for a smaller interest rate hike in December, reversing declines set off by social media firms after Snap Inc’s ad warning.
Source: Comex
Nasdaq Top Gainers and Losers
Source: Nasdaq
Earlier today, Indian stock markets ended the week on a winning note. It was the sixth straight gains for equity markets. The BSE Sensex ended at 59,307.15, up by 104.25 points or 0.18 per cent from the Thursday closing level. Meanwhile, the Nifty50 index closed at 17,590.00, higher by 26.05 points or 0.15 per cent. In the 30-share Sensex, 13 stocks gained while the remaining 17 ended on the losing side. In the 50-stock Nifty50, 21 stocks advanced while 29 declined.
Alternative Financing Vs. Venture Capital: Which Option Is Best for Boosting Working Capital?
There are several potential financing options available to cash-strapped businesses that need a healthy dose of working capital. A bank loan or line of credit is often the first option that owners think of – and for businesses that qualify, this may be the best option.
In today’s uncertain business, economic and regulatory environment, qualifying for a bank loan can be difficult – especially for start-up companies and those that have experienced any type of financial difficulty. Sometimes, owners of businesses that don’t qualify for a bank loan decide that seeking venture capital or bringing on equity investors are other viable options.
But are they really? While there are some potential benefits to bringing venture capital and so-called “angel” investors into your business, there are drawbacks as well. Unfortunately, owners sometimes don’t think about these drawbacks until the ink has dried on a contract with a venture capitalist or angel investor – and it’s too late to back out of the deal.
Different Types of Financing
One problem with bringing in equity investors to help provide a working capital boost is that working capital and equity are really two different types of financing.
Working capital – or the money that is used to pay business expenses incurred during the time lag until cash from sales (or accounts receivable) is collected – is short-term in nature, so it should be financed via a short-term financing tool. Equity, however, should generally be used to finance rapid growth, business expansion, acquisitions or the purchase of long-term assets, which are defined as assets that are repaid over more than one 12-month business cycle.
But the biggest drawback to bringing equity investors into your business is a potential loss of control. When you sell equity (or shares) in your business to venture capitalists or angels, you are giving up a percentage of ownership in your business, and you may be doing so at an inopportune time. With this dilution of ownership most often comes a loss of control over some or all of the most important business decisions that must be made.
Sometimes, owners are enticed to sell equity by the fact that there is little (if any) out-of-pocket expense. Unlike debt financing, you don’t usually pay interest with equity financing. The equity investor gains its return via the ownership stake gained in your business. But the long-term “cost” of selling equity is always much higher than the short-term cost of debt, in terms of both actual cash cost as well as soft costs like the loss of control and stewardship of your company and the potential future value of the ownership shares that are sold.
Alternative Financing Solutions
But what if your business needs working capital and you don’t qualify for a bank loan or line of credit? Alternative financing solutions are often appropriate for injecting working capital into businesses in this situation. Three of the most common types of alternative financing used by such businesses are:
1. Full-Service Factoring – Businesses sell outstanding accounts receivable on an ongoing basis to a commercial finance (or factoring) company at a discount. The factoring company then manages the receivable until it is paid. Factoring is a well-established and accepted method of temporary alternative finance that is especially well-suited for rapidly growing companies and those with customer concentrations.
2. Accounts Receivable (A/R) Financing – A/R financing is an ideal solution for companies that are not yet bankable but have a stable financial condition and a more diverse customer base. Here, the business provides details on all accounts receivable and pledges those assets as collateral. The proceeds of those receivables are sent to a lockbox while the finance company calculates a borrowing base to determine the amount the company can borrow. When the borrower needs money, it makes an advance request and the finance company advances money using a percentage of the accounts receivable.
3. Asset-Based Lending (ABL) – This is a credit facility secured by all of a company’s assets, which may include A/R, equipment and inventory. Unlike with factoring, the business continues to manage and collect its own receivables and submits collateral reports on an ongoing basis to the finance company, which will review and periodically audit the reports.
In addition to providing working capital and enabling owners to maintain business control, alternative financing may provide other benefits as well:
It’s easy to determine the exact cost of financing and obtain an increase.
Professional collateral management can be included depending on the facility type and the lender.
Real-time, online interactive reporting is often available.
It may provide the business with access to more capital.
It’s flexible – financing ebbs and flows with the business’ needs.
It’s important to note that there are some circumstances in which equity is a viable and attractive financing solution. This is especially true in cases of business expansion and acquisition and new product launches – these are capital needs that are not generally well suited to debt financing. However, equity is not usually the appropriate financing solution to solve a working capital problem or help plug a cash-flow gap.
A Precious Commodity
Remember that business equity is a precious commodity that should only be considered under the right circumstances and at the right time. When equity financing is sought, ideally this should be done at a time when the company has good growth prospects and a significant cash need for this growth. Ideally, majority ownership (and thus, absolute control) should remain with the company founder(s).
Alternative financing solutions like factoring, A/R financing and ABL can provide the working capital boost many cash-strapped businesses that don’t qualify for bank financing need – without diluting ownership and possibly giving up business control at an inopportune time for the owner. If and when these companies become bankable later, it’s often an easy transition to a traditional bank line of credit. Your banker may be able to refer you to a commercial finance company that can offer the right type of alternative financing solution for your particular situation.
Taking the time to understand all the different financing options available to your business, and the pros and cons of each, is the best way to make sure you choose the best option for your business. The use of alternative financing can help your company grow without diluting your ownership. After all, it’s your business – shouldn’t you keep as much of it as possible?