Small Business Support System

Do you sell products or services to commercial or government customers? If you do, then you must be very familiar with having to wait 30, 40 or even 60 days to get paid by your clients.

Most large businesses can afford to wait. Unfortunately, few small business owners can afford to wait – and worse – most small business owners do not take into account that they will have to wait to get paid when they first start their businesses.

But what if you can’t afford to wait 60 days to get paid? The best solution is to factor your invoices.

Factoring is a financial tool (similar to a line of credit) that eliminates waiting to get paid by your clients. Factoring financing provides you with money for your invoices, usually 24 hours after you submit them. It provides you with the necessary cash to pay rent, expenses and take on new opportunities.

Invoice factoring is an ideal tool for cash intensive businesses such as trucking, staffing, business services, medical offices and IT. It works as follows:

1. You deliver a product or a service and generate an invoice

2. You submit the invoice to your client and send a copy to the factoring company

3. The factoring company advances you up to 85% of your invoice

4. The remaining 15% is held as a reserve to cover charge backs and credits

5. Once your client pays the factor, the transaction is settled and the reserve is rebated (less a small fee)

And how much does factoring cost? It varies on your business volume, how long your clients take to pay and their credit worthiness. Most factors will charge a fee of anywhere between 1% and 2.3% for every 10 days that an invoice is outstanding. However, fees vary and can usually be customized to fit your needs.

The biggest difference between invoice factoring financing and a bank loan is that factoring is easy to obtain. Since the factor is financing your invoices, their biggest concern is that you do business with strong credit worthy businesses. This means that factoring is available to small and new businesses, provided that you have good clients. And as opposed to a bank, a factoring company will not ask you for endless financial reports and three years worth of audited financials.

Are you considering hiring a new administrative or executive assistant?  Maybe you should think twice.
The online service industry boom may be a viable alternative for your apparent human resource needs.  More and more small businesses and even larger companies are turning to virtual office assistants to handle their administrative tasks.

Does it sound too complicated or new-fangled?  Well, there are good reasons to at least consider the option.

Let’s take a look at a few of the benefits that a cyber employee has over their in-office counterpart.

-Insurance, taxes, and other benefits do not apply to most online service providers.  They provide services as a contractor or freelance provider.

-Your relationship with the provider you choose is just that: service provider to client.  Imagine having all your employees treating you as their favorite client all the time, doing their best work each time to ensure your repeat business! Conversely, have you ever been dissatisfied with a project you asked your assistant to complete.  It probably, wasn’t feasible(or legal) for you to fire that person on the spot. Online you determine whether to continue that relationship by allowing them to work on future projects for you or not.

-It may not seem like a lot, but take a moment to think of all the capital you invest in each new employee you hire.  Every extra phone line, data port, software license, cubic foot of office space, furniture, and anything else a person would need to sit in your office and conduct business reduces your bottom line.

Obviously, virtual assistants have some limitations.  Online providers can handle just about any need that could arise.   Consider that you may miss the personal aspects of working side by side with someone you know and trust.  It’s the human and spatial aspects that are difficult to duplicate online.  Extraordinary technology exists for communication and collaboration.  However, none of that can ever guarantee you that if you stick your head around the corner and ask for an opinion or some help, you’ll get it immediately. Most likely they won’t attend your office holiday party or join the softball team!

There are many different types of companies online that can help you run your business more efficiently.  You can hire on a project basis.  You can put an assistant on retainer. If you have administrative needs that aren’t being met, you may want to consider your options before running into your local classifieds office, ad in hand.