by Bold Growth Solutions | Aug 31, 2021 | Blog
When you are building a successful company, you’ll have many difficult choices to make. One of the first things you’ll need to decide is where to locate your business. Choosing the right location can make a huge impact on the future growth of your company.
But along with choosing the location itself, you’ll also need to decide whether to buy or lease your commercial space. Here are some things to consider before you make your decision.
Leasing a Property for Your Business
There are pros and cons of leasing your commercial space.
One of the most important benefits of leasing a property for your business is that it is simply easier to qualify for a lease than it is to buy a property.
If you are a new business then you may have limited capital, cash flow and creditworthiness, making it difficult to qualify for a mortgage. Most new small businesses lease their property for the first few years or more.
Another benefit of leasing is that you are not locked into that property long term. If the location ends up being a problem, you’re only locked in for the term of your lease and can move to a better spot later.
Drawbacks of leasing are that the owner can raise rent every time you go to renew your lease. They can also choose not to renew your lease, leaving your business without a home base.
Buying a Property for your Business
As with leasing, there are also pros and cons of buying a commercial space for your business.
The major benefit of owning is that you have complete freedom over that property. If you want to knock out a wall and expand, do it. If you want to repaint inside and out, do it. If you only need half the property now and want to rent out the other half, do it.
You can also borrow against your equity in the property to improve cash flow or expand your business, if needed.
And if you outgrow the property completely, you can sell – hopefully at a profit – and have plenty of cash to invest back into a new property or into another aspect of your company.
Disadvantages of buying are that it ties up a lot of your capital in equity, and you also are locked into a long-term mortgage. You’ll need strong cash flow and stability to make this option work to your advantage.
Also, if you purchase in an economically depressed area, selling can be difficult. You could even have to take a loss, just to unlock your equity for other purposes.
If you’re looking for a location for your business – either as a startup or as an expanding company – contact Bold Growth Solutions today and explore financing options to help you secure the best location for your business.
by Bold Growth Solutions | Aug 24, 2021 | Blog
Loans are an inevitable and very important part of real estate investing; the costs associated with property acquisition are considerable, and few people have the hard cash necessary to build a real estate portfolio. Here, we will give you the basics of financing multifamily apartments even if you are a beginner to this particular type of real estate investing.
The Available Loan Types
One of the most important aspects of a loan of any kind is how much you are paying to secure it. As an example, the short term loan is a viable option for financing multifamily apartments; however, you should be aware of the higher interest rates associated with it. Usually, the loan matures in 3 months, a year or up to 3 years. As is always the case, the true value of the interest is dependent on your creditworthiness (FICO score, mainly).
The more common loan type is longer, spanning from 15 to 30 years of repayment. The interest is commensurately lower as a result of this significantly longer repayment period. The final conventional type of available financing for multifamily apartments comes from your very own federal government – the period of repayment is longer overall at 5 to 35+ years. These loans are given under the auspices of the FHA (Federal Housing Administration).
The Process of Securing a Loan
This will be specific to multifamily apartments – but very similar steps are required for securing a real estate loan in general. First, you will need to specify the total number of units on the property, as well as the occupancy rate to date. Next, your credit score and debt to service ratio must be submitted to the prospective lender (whether federal government or private or public). Your experience in managing multifamily properties is also required, as is how much cash you possess on hand that can be applied to the principal and interest payments.
You can obtain a list of multifamily apartment lenders apart from the options that the federal loan route provides. They include Capital One Bank, Wells Fargo, Greystone and others.
by Bold Growth Solutions | Aug 17, 2021 | Blog
Countless business decisions are made around the reality of cash flow; if you’re in the negative, then loans and restructuring become a stark reality, whereas if you’re in the positive, business expansion often becomes a reality. Because of its importance, here we provide five tips to help you shore up your cash flow.
1 Financing Options
Basically, there are two general options when it comes to financing: short-term and long-term. The former is often used to make up the difference between payables and receivables, and the latter is employed for big acquisitions so as to help preserve your working capital (cash flow). To bolster the short-term financing option, you can also offer discounts or use factoring to expedite the maturation of your receivables.
2 Asset Liquidation
If your business has assets that are more or less languishing, then one way to significantly improve cash flow is to liquidate these. In particular, machinery and equipment are the most common assets that companies liquidate for this purpose. Although tax-deductible donations are possible, you’re in need of cash so the latter is preferable. With Murphy’s Law, computer equipment doubles in ability every couple of years so it behooves you to liquidate as soon as possible.
3 Take an Accounting of Business Risks
This allows you to factor the risks into your long-term plans. Can you handle a large order if it is placed suddenly? Do you have the funds necessary to keep the business going in case a client defaults? Take the time to make a spreadsheet in Google Workspace (or other) and factor in possibilities to see what the financial outcome would be.
4 Optimize Your Cash Flow System
Sometimes, you may be losing money simply through inefficiency. Streamline your invoice acceptance/delivery process manually or with accounting software.
5 Implement a Bank Account Exclusively for Business
Do not mix your personal account with your business account; this can give you an incomplete picture of the actual cash you have on hand.
To learn more about cash flow solutions for your business, contact the team at Bold Growth Solutions.
by Bold Growth Solutions | Aug 12, 2021 | Blog
Search Engine Optimization is a set of tools and techniques designed to raise your website in the results list for relevant keyword searches. The SEO toolbox includes relevant and quality content designed to attract the attention of search engine algorithms as well as quality graphics and web design. The quality of your website design has more to do with your SEO efforts than you might initially think with factors such as poor navigation, multiple pop ups and images heavy with text taking away from your efforts elsewhere.
Website Navigation
When confusing or complicated navigation, or malfunctioning menu and search tools, cause users to back out of your website it can affect your marketing conversion rates as well as send a negative message about your site to search engine algorithms. This will negatively impact your ratings for relevant search results and send even less traffic to your shop. You can counteract this by working with a web designer to streamline navigation and checking that the tools are working on a regular basis.
Pop Ups
While the field of web design has been steadily moving away from the use of pop up advertisements and notices, they are still useful when used effectively. Sites with too many pop ups can interfere with user experience or slow loading times for your site, both things which cause users to leave the site quickly and negatively impact your search engine rankings. When your design includes the use of pop up windows, it is important to use them strategically and to limit the number per session to avoid affecting user experience.
Text in Images
The web crawlers used by search engines to gather information about your site cannot read the text included in images, making it useless in SEO. Including alt texts, however, can boost your rankings by giving the crawlers access to relevant information they can read. Alt text or alt tags can also help screen readers tell visually impaired people your messaging, making your website more accessible to your customers.
Web design is one of the many tools and techniques included in Search Engine Optimization because the better your site’s user experience is, the higher your rankings can climb. Easy navigation and few interruptions from pop ups make users more likely to stay on your pages and having effective alt text for images, rather than text included in them, can give web crawlers and screen readers better access to everything your site has to offer.
Title: c
Search Engine Optimization is a set of tools and techniques designed to raise your website in the results list for relevant keyword searches. The SEO toolbox includes relevant and quality content designed to attract the attention of search engine algorithms as well as quality graphics and web design. The quality of your website design has more to do with your SEO efforts than you might initially think with factors such as poor navigation, multiple pop ups and images heavy with text taking away from your efforts elsewhere.
Website Navigation
When confusing or complicated navigation, or malfunctioning menu and search tools, cause users to back out of your website it can affect your marketing conversion rates as well as send a negative message about your site to search engine algorithms. This will negatively impact your ratings for relevant search results and send even less traffic to your shop. You can counteract this by working with a web designer to streamline navigation and checking that the tools are working on a regular basis.
Pop Ups
While the field of web design has been steadily moving away from the use of pop up advertisements and notices, they are still useful when used effectively. Sites with too many pop ups can interfere with user experience or slow loading times for your site, both things which cause users to leave the site quickly and negatively impact your search engine rankings. When your design includes the use of pop up windows, it is important to use them strategically and to limit the number per session to avoid affecting user experience.
Text in Images
The web crawlers used by search engines to gather information about your site cannot read the text included in images, making it useless in SEO. Including alt texts, however, can boost your rankings by giving the crawlers access to relevant information they can read. Alt text or alt tags can also help screen readers tell visually impaired people your messaging, making your website more accessible to your customers.
Web design is one of the many tools and techniques included in Search Engine Optimization because the better your site’s user experience is, the higher your rankings can climb. Easy navigation and few interruptions from pop ups make users more likely to stay on your pages and having effective alt text for images, rather than text included in them, can give web crawlers and screen readers better access to everything your site has to offer.
by Bold Growth Solutions | Aug 10, 2021 | Blog
Good business accounting is probably not the coolest part of a small business enterprise. But it is fundamental to success and essential in keeping out of trouble with the IRS.
What Are the Purposes of Business Accounting?
Business accounting primarily exists to keep track of financial numbers, so it requires a systematic, complete, and accurate recording of all the financial transactions of a business. It supplies the information needed by business owners to budget, plan, and make financial decisions. It enables good business performance management. It facilitates good financial management, including liquidity management and the use of financial controls. It helps to detect theft and fraud. And it enables a business to meet legal requirements. Good business accounting creates confidence in employees, suppliers, and financial institutions.
12 Steps to Get Your Business Accounting on Track
Follow these 12 steps to protect your business interests and keep your anticipated success on track:
Open a business bank account and a business credit card. Separating one’s personal and business finances is essential for good bookkeeping and clean tax reporting.
Create a solid business plan and a budget for the business.
Develop a reliable bookkeeping system.
Use your bookkeeping system to track all business expenses. These include meals and entertainment, business travel, vehicle expenses, and receipts for business gifts.
Establish a payroll system. That will include a payroll schedule and determining the correct withholdings.
Don’t forget to determine how and when to pay the owners of a business.
Establish proper sales tax procedures.
Determine the business’ income tax obligations.
Calculate gross margins and carefully determine pricing.
Apply for needed funding.
Find an experienced CPA to assist you.
Regularly re-examine your business accounting processes.
Seek Expert Financing and Marketing Assistance
Contact Bold Growth Solutions, based in San Francisco, CA. Running a small business is challenging. We’re your extended team and can take on some of those challenges. Leave your business financing, digital optimization, and performance marketing to us. Now you can focus on what matters.
by Bold Growth Solutions | Jul 27, 2021 | Blog
For business or personal construction, you may want to purchase undeveloped property. If you are short on cash the best way to do this is to take out a land loan. There are different loans you can apply for, depending on if you are purchasing property to build a house or have a commercial property built.
There are three common types of land loans; improved, unimproved, and raw land. An improved land loan is the biggest of the three loans. The benefit to getting one is that you will pay less for your down payment, and lower interest rates, than you would on any other type of land. Improved land is defined as having access to running water, electricity, and public roads. The process for acquiring this type of loan is similar to the process of acquiring a mortgage. However, most lenders consider an improved land loan to be a bigger risk than any other loan type.
An unimproved loan is slightly less risky for the lender than improved or raw land loans. Unimproved land is defined as developed, with access to certain amenities and utilities, but at the same time has no gas or electric meter. To qualify for this type of loan you will need a very good credit score and enough money for a significant down payment.
If you plan to purchase a plain piece of land to have a house constructed on raw land loan is what you will need. In order to get this type of loan you will need to devise a plan for the house you want built. Like with an unimproved land loan, you will need to have a high enough credit score and a large amount of money for the down payment. Expect to pay high interest rates on a raw land loan.
When it comes time to obtain one of these loans, you can get a credit union or bank loan. But your other options include regular USDA loans and USDA construction loans. These are the best loans to get if your income is not large enough to qualify for other loan types.
For more information on purchasing undeveloped property, please contact Bold Growth.
by Bold Growth Solutions | Jul 20, 2021 | Blog
Trade finance is common in the business world. In order to remain competitive, most businesses understand the importance of letting customers make purchases with credit. But this means that managing trade credit is a big part of the job, which is both good and bad for businesses.
The Good
Perhaps the biggest advantage of accepting credit purchases is that it helps increase sales numbers. When purchasing products from a supplier, most customers need a large amount. Using credit gives them up to 30 days to pay off the full amount they owe for the products.
Customer loyalty is another big advantage of trade finance. Just the fact that your business extends credit to customers shows that it is trustworthy. This level of trust will spur customers to keep purchasing the products they need from your business, rather than from your competitors. The trade off for you is that the customers will feel a sense of loyalty and will ensure the products are paid for in full by the time the payment is due. This sense of loyalty and promise of quality merchandise will help you beat the competition every time.
However, another reason trade finance is good for business is that you can entice your customers to pay their balance before it is due. This can be as easy as promising customers that if they pay the balance back in less than 30 days they’ll receive a discount on their purchases. Many customers will do this to avoid having to pay interest on their purchases.
The Bad
But for as beneficial as trade finance can be, there are also some downsides to it. One of them is that it temporarily leaves your business with a negative cash flow. Another is that for this to work, your customers must be credit worthy. You may choose to do the legwork to find out yourself, or you may prefer to hire someone who has experience with credit analysis.
In the event that a customer is extended credit and doesn’t pay it back, you have to reach out to them to make the payments or simply take the financial loss.
For more advice on the pros and cons of trade finance, please contact Bold Growth.
by Bold Growth Solutions | Jul 13, 2021 | Blog
One of the greatest benefits of entrepreneurship is the personal freedom to make decisions. However, since there is nobody else spurring them on to do their best, entrepreneurs sometimes find it difficult to remain inspired, disciplined, and organized. Here are some tips on how entrepreneurs can find and maintain motivation.
Remain Positive
It is imperative to stay positive despite the stress and hard work that entrepreneurship entails. Often all it takes to improve your mood and exude positivity is to make a conscious decision and manifest a happy demeanor.
Create a Mission Statement
Organizations create mission statements to define their values, culture, and goals, and so should entrepreneurs. Write a personal mission statement and review it often to remind you of your vision.
Plan Ahead
Once your mission statement is ready, outline a plan with specific steps on how to accomplish it. This plan should include both short and long term goals.
Set Reminders
Because some of the details in your plan will be time-related, set reminders such as alarms and marks on your calendar so you don’t forget them. Time blocking, which involves marking off periods of time to accomplish specific tasks, is also useful.
Have a Morning Routine
A regular morning routine helps you start the day off inspired and energized. Part of the routine should involve going over your plans and goals for the day.
Set Aside Personal Time
Entrepreneurs put in long hours at work during which they handle a constant array of problems, dilemmas, and challenges. It is crucial to step back from the business and take time to drink plenty of water, eat nutritious food, exercise, think or meditate, and enjoy yourself.
Absorb Motivational Materials
Use the time during your commute, daily walks, or other personal time to derive inspiration from outside sources. These may include inspirational podcasts, TED talks, or movies.
Get Enough Rest
As an entrepreneur, there is no end to your duties and responsibilities. However, don’t let your busy schedule prevent you from getting a good sleep every night. Sufficient rest will help you remain motivated.
Reward Yourself
The motivational incentive of rewards cannot be underestimated. Be sure to reward yourself regularly for maintaining disciplined habits and reaching periodic milestones.
Use Peer Pressure
Arrange with your colleagues and friends to help motivate you to reach your goals. Challenge one another to do your best. There are numerous apps available that make this fun.
For more advice on motivation for entrepreneurs, contact Bold Growth Solutions.
by Bold Growth Solutions | Jul 8, 2021 | Blog
These days, there are many important angles to focus on when it comes to the success of your brand online. In order for you to see the results you’re after, you need to think about how you are using content. Curating the right media for use on your site and social channels is about a lot more than placing some pictures online and walking away. Take a moment to look over these tips on how you can create a practical strategy. With a little research, you’ll be ready to get started.
Consider Your Audience
First and foremost, you want to take your audience into consideration. The people who visit your site and follow your accounts on various social platforms are the people who will determine the success of every post you make. If you’re sharing posts and images that are not appealing to your target audience, then you are likely not going to see much engagement. By focusing on what your followers are most likely to respond favorably to, you will boost your odds of success with every post that you share.
Automate Your Processes
Another key step to making a content strategy that yields results is learning how to automate a number of your regular processes. When you’re constantly doing everything manually in relation to posting online, you’re wasting a good amount of time on tasks that could be handled via a program or application. Automate posts ahead of time and you can guarantee regular engagement and adhere to a calendar that is planned well in advance. Plus, you’ll have extra time to tackle the other demands related to your digital marketing.
Look at New Ad Options
A lot of money goes into posting ads online. However, there are ways to work sensible advertising tactics into your marketing strategy. If you take advantage of pay-per-click ads, you can start to manage your budget in a more productive way and see improved results. With PPC ads, you pay when your ads are clicked by a consumer. This helps you spend less on ad tactics that are not producing any results. You’ll also start to gain more perspective on which sites your target audience frequent the most.
The beauty of content is that it can be used in a variety of ways to market your business on the internet. Work a number of different angles into your plan and you can devise a strategy that helps you see the attention you’re after online.
by Bold Growth Solutions | Jul 6, 2021 | Blog
Entrepreneurship has always been big in the U.S. and there is a size-able wave of startups rolling right now. Yet, it isn’t easy to start a company. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and passion along with many skills. And there is never guaranteed success. Startup owners, no matter how smart, are bound to make some mistakes.
What Are the Biggest Challenges That Startup Owners Face?
Startup owners find that there is a learning curve and overcoming challenges as quickly as possible helps them achieve success. Challenges include setting unrealistic expectations, knowing that results take time, and having the patience to deal with that timing, building good planning and management skills, securing necessary funds, managing finances, dealing with competition, and striking a balance between progress and perfection. Those are some of the challenges, but the list shouldn’t be daunting for determined startup owners. The key is to avoid serious mistakes and to learn quickly when natural mistakes occur.
Here are the biggest mistakes that startup owners make, mistakes that should be avoided to achieve the dream of success:
Not spending enough time planning or skimping on a business plan. A thorough business plan is key to set the right direction for the business as well as securing the necessary funding.
Not understanding the funding process and the time that funding requires.
Handling money and accounting records incorrectly, and not paying adequate attention to the numbers.
Taking missteps in hiring. Those include making the wrong hires, hiring too soon, or hiring too late for your needs.
Not creating a strong business culture and not creating internal alignment.
Choosing the wrong startup time or the wrong business location.
Seek Expert Financing and Marketing Assistance
Contact Bold Growth Solutions, based in San Francisco, CA. Running a small business is challenging. We’re your extended team and can take on some of those challenges. Leave your business financing, digital optimization, and performance marketing to us. Now you can focus on what matters.
