Business Loans In Canada: Financing Solutions Via Alternative Finance & Traditional Funding

Business loans and finance for a business just may have gotten good again? The pursuit of credit and funding of cash flow solutions for your business often seems like an eternal challenge, even in the best of times, let alone any industry or economic crisis. Let’s dig in.

Since the 2008 financial crisis there’s been a lot of change in finance options from lenders for corporate loans. Canadian business owners and financial managers have excess from everything from peer-to-peer company loans, varied alternative finance solutions, as well of course as the traditional financing offered by Canadian chartered banks.

Those online business loans referenced above are popular and arose out of the merchant cash advance programs in the United States. Loans are based on a percentage of your annual sales, typically in the 15-20% range. The loans are certainly expensive but are viewed as easy to obtain by many small businesses, including retailers who sell on a cash or credit card basis.

Depending on your firm’s circumstances and your ability to truly understand the different choices available to firms searching for SME COMMERCIAL FINANCE options. Those small to medium sized companies ( the definition of ‘ small business ‘ certainly varies as to what is small – often defined as businesses with less than 500 employees! )

How then do we create our road map for external financing techniques and solutions? A simpler way to look at it is to categorize these different financing options under:

Debt / Loans

Asset Based Financing

Alternative Hybrid type solutions

Many top experts maintain that the alternative financing solutions currently available to your firm, in fact are on par with Canadian chartered bank financing when it comes to a full spectrum of funding. The alternative lender is typically a private commercial finance company with a niche in one of the various asset finance areas

If there is one significant trend that’s ‘ sticking ‘it’s Asset Based Finance. The ability of firms to obtain funding via assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets with no major emphasis on balance sheet structure and profits and cash flow ( those three elements drive bank financing approval in no small measure ) is the key to success in ABL ( Asset Based Lending ).

Factoring, aka ‘ Receivable Finance ‘ is the other huge driver in trade finance in Canada. In some cases, it’s the only way for firms to be able to sell and finance clients in other geographies/countries.

The rise of ‘ online finance ‘ also can’t be diminished. Whether it’s accessing ‘ crowdfunding’ or sourcing working capital term loans, the technological pace continues at what seems a feverish pace. One only has to read a business daily such as the Globe & Mail or Financial Post to understand the challenge of small business accessing business capital.

Business owners/financial mgrs often find their company at a ‘ turning point ‘ in their history – that time when financing is needed or opportunities and risks can’t be taken. While putting or getting new equity in the business is often impossible, the reality is that the majority of businesses with SME commercial finance needs aren’t, shall we say, ‘ suited’ to this type of funding and capital raising. Business loan interest rates vary with non-traditional financing but offer more flexibility and ease of access to capital.

We’re also the first to remind clients that they should not forget govt solutions in business capital. Two of the best programs are the GovernmentSmall Business Loan Canada (maximum availability = $ 1,000,000.00) as well as the SR&ED program which allows business owners to recapture R&D capital costs. Sred credits can also be financed once they are filed.

Those latter two finance alternatives are often very well suited to business start up loans. We should not forget that asset finance, often called ‘ ABL ‘ by those Bay Street guys, can even be used as a loan to buy a business.

If you’re looking to get the right balance of liquidity and risk coupled with the flexibility to grow your business seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor with a track record of business finance success who can assist you with your funding needs.

Become a Certified Pharmacy Technician

When you finish your pharmacy technician course, you would still need to go through one more step before you can work as one. You need to become a certified pharmacy technician, often abbreviated as CPhT. The PTCB exam is given three times every year for those who want to aspire to be full pledged pharmacy techs. Only a few states in America require pharmacy techs to get certified but it pays to undergo the exam in case you get a job elsewhere that will require you to be a certified pharmacy technician. You will realize that many employers prefer certified pharmacy technicians over non certified ones because they possess official recognition that they are qualified to do the job.The purpose of the exam is to make sure that anyone who will be pursuing a career in pharmacy technology will have the basic knowledge required in this field. The exam will also make sure that you have the foundation as well as the proper training in order to meet the daily requirements of the job. The exam tackles the core knowledge and skills that are expected from a good pharmacy technician. The certification exam also is a regulatory procedure by the government to make sure that the health professionals who give health care to the patients all around the country are all qualified to do so. It ensures the safety of the citizens of the country.There are a few requirements before taking the certification exam for pharmacy techs. First, you must possess a high school diploma, GED or its equivalent if you are from another country, and you must be clear of any drug related cases in the FBI, or its foreign equivalent. Furthermore, you must no be under any form of limitation from any State Board of Pharmacy.If you have satisfied the prerequisites above, then you are eligible to take the exam. You need to pass the PTCB exam to be able to be awarded the pharmacy technician certification status. It is best that you review your past courses in your pharmacy technician programs and concentrate on getting the basics and foundation memorized by heart. This is a very important exam that can be the start of your career.Certifications are renewed every two years. For each recertification that a pharmacy technician undergoes, there is a required 20 hours of further education within the two year period prior to the certification exam day. This means that the candidate must be able to take refresher courses from the desired college, organization, associations or pharmacy technician programs, with at least one hour pertaining to pharmacy law. Ten of the 20 hour requirement can also be earned under direct supervision of a pharmacist. The continuing education requirement is a great opportunity for the candidate to refresh his memory about the core knowledge and skills needed by a pharmacy technician and it is also a chance to be updated with the developments in the field.The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board exam will be taken using a computer and not a paper and pen, as it was previously administered a few decades ago. It has 90 multiple choice questions that cover the basics in pharmacy technology such as assisting pharmacists in providing service to various patients,maintenance of medication and systems that concern inventory control, and role and participation in the administration and management of good pharmacy practice. These are the topics that the Board feels are essential to having a well rounded pharmacy technician who is fit to serve the vast group of patients all over the United States of America.

Innovative Internet Marketing Ideas – Advantages and Disadvantages

If you are a business owner or even if you are about to become one, there is a good chance that you have heard of innovative internet marketing ideas before. Although you may have heard of these ideas before, do you know what they are? Do you know what they can do for you and your business? Are you using the same old marketing techniques used by everyone else in the industry and struggling for traffic and business? Lets examine the advantages and disadvantages of using innovative internet marketing ideas to promote your business.Before you start to examine the advantages and disadvantages of innovative Internet marketing, it may be a good idea to examine exactly what it is. As a business owner or a soon to be business owner, you likely already know what Internet marketing is. Marketing is getting your business out into the general public; it is done by targeting your intended audience, your customers. That targeting is done by way of the internet; thus the title, internet marketing. It is also important to understand how to be innovative and how that ties into internet marketing. Innovation is another word that is often used to describe something new; therefore, innovative Internet marketing ideas are relatively new ideas, particularly ideas that have just recently been developed.When it comes to innovative internet marketing ideas and your business, you will find that there are a number of benefits. One of those benefits is the ease of use. Even if you do not have a large amount of computer experience, you will often find the internet easy to use. Whether you are interested in making your business an online website, starting a business newsletter, or conducting a demographic analysis online, you should easily be able to do so. Even if you do not know how to start up your own newsletter, do an online poll, or make your own website, you should be able to learn, often in no time at all. The internet offers information on starting all kinds of businesses.Once you have chosen your niche, or specific area or product that you would like to promote or sell, try searching the internet for similar products or services. In this way, you can determine any potential competition. If competition exists, you can decide if you want to compete, or find a complimentary product or service to promote. If competition doesn’t exist, and there is a market looking for answers to a question, this would be a perfect niche market to begin a business in.In addition to using the Internet to put your innovative marketing ideas to into motion, you can also use the Internet to find those ideas. Using the Internet to find innovative Internet marketing ideas is a relatively quick and easy process. By staying up-to-date on the latest business and marketing news or by performing a standard Internet search, you can easily be kept in the loop, when it comes to Internet marketing ideas, particularly new ones. If you have a niche that you are interested in, often signing up for related newsletters or chat rooms can lead to the discovery of a new business idea or marketing technique. If you put those ideas into motion, as soon as you hear about them, your business may be given an edge above the rest of its competition. In fact, a new innovative Internet marketing idea may be just what you need to get your business up and running.What is also nice about innovative Internet marketing is that, although it is relatively easy to develop your own marketing ideas and execute them, you don’t necessarily have to. For example, there are a large number of individuals who specialize in Internet marketing. Those individuals, who are often referred to as internet marketing specialists, can be found online. An internet marketing specialist is a trained professional who can not only come up with new ways to market your internet business online, but they can also execute those ideas for you, for a reasonable fee. Whether you don’t have the time to develop an effective marketing plan or if you want to avoid the hassle of doing so, an internet marketing specialist may be able to offer you assistance.Although there are a large number of advantages to using innovative marketing ideas to promote your business, there are also a few disadvantages to doing so as well. One of those disadvantages is the fact that innovative marketing ideas are new. With new marketing ideas, they have sometimes yet to be tested or proven; therefore, you are really given no guarantees that a new, innovative Internet marketing idea really will work. Of course, it is important to remember that with business, there are always risks. Trying a new innovative internet marketing idea may not work out to your advantage, but it may also be the best thing that has ever happened to your business.