Being a profitable small business owner who is starting their journey to success is not easy. As a first step, you need to have a financial plan to get capital for your business.
Financial planning is key to the success of a small business.
Good credit scores can help you get the best financial loan deals. That’s why it is important to ensure your credit score is as good as it can get. There are many things that can affect or improve your credit score and how it works. If you are struggling with your credit scores, you may hire the services of credit repair professionals. A low credit score affects your peace of mind because you are unable to do what you want or need to do.
Credit repair is a lot easier than it sounds. It’s not like you have to go out and find a job or anything. Credit repair professionals with experties in credit repair services can help you with your credit score, which will make it easier for you to get the financing you need.
When you are trying to find the best way to increase your credit score but with hard work and a little luck, you can raise your scores and open new doors of opportunity.
We’ve created this guide to help you understand what a great credit score is and how you can achieve the perfect credit score possible.
Write a Business Plan
Business plans are for everyone. People often see it as being linked to investors and funding, but a business plan isn’t just for when you’re looking for capital to launch or grow your startup.
Knowing your credit score is a milestone. Many people look for their first credit score and then check their credit score every few months. If you are interested in checking your credit score, there are ways to manage your credit that will affect your credit report and thus your credit score.
A business plan can be used at any stage of your company’s life cycle. Regardless of how long you’ve been around, how much money you’ve raised, or how important you think your business is, there’s always room for improvement.
How to Pitch Your Business Plan
Before you begin to write your business plan, it is important to get the financial aspects straight. Pitching your business is no different than pitching your product. You want your business plan to sell and you can do that with help from this summary of tips from experts around the world.
What do you need to know about pitching your business plan?
1. Include a cover page that has your company’s name, a description of the business, and contact information.
2. Use a table of contents to help readers easily find the information they need.
3. Use bullet points instead of paragraphs when possible to make it easier for readers to skim your document and get the gist of what you’re trying to say.
4. Keep in mind that your business plan should be clear, concise, and understandable to someone who doesn’t know much about your business or industry.
A well-executed financial plan is essential to the success of any business. Understanding and presenting your financial plan will enable potential investors, bankers, or grantors to better understand the potential for obtaining capital.
Financial Statements for Business Plans and Startup
The financial statements are crucial for assessing your long-term financial and operational viability. This can help you secure funding from banks and investors.
Here are the most commonly used financial statements.
1. Balance Sheet
A balance sheet is a snapshot of your company’s financial health at a particular point in time. It shows the value of all your assets and liabilities; how much you owe to others and how much is owed to you, as well as a calculation of how much cash you currently have on hand.
2. Income Statement
An income statement shows how much money your business made or lost during a specific period of time, often called a financial year. The most important section here is your revenue, which will indicate whether or not your business made any money during that time period.
3. Cash Flow Statement
The cash flow statement shows where all of the money went during a specific period (often one month). The main elements of a cash flow statement include cash flow from investments, cash flow from financings, and cash flow from operations.
Using Financial Ratios to Assess Your Business Performance
When you are a small business owner, it’s important to make sure that you’re using the best tools to help your business succeed. One of these tools is financial ratios for assessing your company’s performance.
The three main financial ratios are:
1) Profitability Ratio – Measures how much profit is made from sales. This can be calculated as net profit divided by sales or as gross profit (sales minus cost of goods sold) divided by total assets.
2) Liquidity Ratio – Measures how easily a business can pay its bills. It is calculated by dividing current assets by current liabilities.
3) Leverage Ratio – Measures how much debt a company uses in order to generate its income.
A financial ratio is a mathematical formula that uses one or more numbers from the income statement, balance sheet, and/or cash flow statement to calculate a meaningful number about your business’s financial performance. Financial ratios can be used to measure your company’s efficiency, profitability, liquidity, and solvency.
How Do I Manage My Credit Score?
Credit is a necessary part of a good financial plan. However, having lots of credit cards and high balances doesn’t do you much good if you can’t afford to pay the accounts down each month.
If you want to fix your credit score, then it’s time to get started.
Here’s how:
1. Get a prepaid credit card that reports to the credit bureau.
2. Pay off your bill on time every month.
3. Use it for emergencies only and don’t use it for everyday purchases, as this will damage your credit score even more.
Credit score management is something that a lot of people do not understand fully. When you have a higher score you may get a lower interest rate when buying a house, getting a credit card. Improving your credit score can also help you get a job when you need to provide pay stubs.
How Do I Get My Credit Report for Free?
A free credit report is the beginning of your credit repair. Credit reports are an important way to gauge a person’s financial history and performance. When you apply for a loan, a landlord or other lender will often look at your credit report to determine whether they should offer you the loan.
There are a few ways to get your credit report for free:
1. Order it directly from one of the three major credit reporting agencies. This can be done online or by phone. You can also order a copy by mail.
2. Request one from an affiliate or partner agency. Credit Professionals International offers a service called Procredit, which you can use to get your reports from all three major bureaus without having to go through each individually. The cost is $20 per bureau, but if you have more than one report that needs work this may be worth it because it saves time and hassle!
3. Use an online tool like a credit report checker tool that allows users to get their reports without paying any fees upfront—you only pay if there are errors on the report.
Your credit report is the key to understanding your financial situation, and it can be a useful tool when you’re starting a business. If you’re trying to secure financing, getting your hands on your credit report is a great place to start.
Key Financial Terms Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know
When you’re starting your own business, it’s important to understand the financial terms that will help you make smart decisions. Here are some of the most important terms you need to know:
1. Asset:
Some lenders of small company loans demand that the business or its owner own something valuable. This can serve as collateral for specific secured loan facilities.
2. Cash advance
A financing product with a fixed cost to access the money, flexible payback terms, and less onerous eligibility requirements.
3. Cash flow
This refers to the money that enters and exits a firm to maintain it. Positive cash flow indicates that the company has enough money on hand to pay for continuing expenses. This necessitates careful balance management and is frequently an entrepreneur’s lifeline to support growth and adjust to constantly shifting circumstances.
4. Credit score
Funding companies frequently perform a “credit check” on the business owners who will be liable for repaying the amount borrowed in unsecured cash advances and loans. Your credit score’s height and the terms you receive on the facility you qualify for are positively correlated.
5. Collateral
An applicant uses this asset to meet the requirements for a secured loan. In a secured loan arrangement, the lender has the right to seize these assets in the event that the borrower defaults on the agreement. A cash advance does not require collateral because it is usually an unsecured product.
6. Default
This is used to describe breaking the terms of a loan or financial advance.
7. Gross profit
This is the overall profit from selling your products, usually expressed as a percentage, after deducting the costs of goods sold.
8. Fixed cost
An expense like this is constant. This is the fee for the funding when requesting a cash advance.
9. Interest rate
This is the rate, which is due on an amount lent over a set term and is also stated as a percentage.
10. Secured loan
A type of loan that demands collateral from the borrower in order to prevent default by the borrower.
11. Split processing
This one-of-a-kind technology-based repayment mechanism divides point-of-sale/card payments between two parties in literal terms. As a percentage of each card swipe, the borrower is able to repay an advance (directly to the lender) using this method. This is a crucial component of a cash advance and an alternative to standard debit order payback.
12. Stacking
When a single lender grants an additional cash advance (or similar lending kind) on top of an already approved cash advance.
13. Unsecured loan
This is a type of loan where the borrower is not required to put up any assets as security but frequently agrees to serve as their own personal surety for the amount borrowed. Additionally, the interest rate is higher than with a secured alternative.
Financial terms are essential for any business owner to understand. In fact, your ability to read, understand, and use financial terms can help you take your business to the next level.
Final Thoughts: The Key to a Healthy Business is to Implement Practical Financial Planning
Financial planning is extremely important, but it can also be rather complicated. However, there are some things that you can do to keep it simple and on track.
To make sure that your business financial plan is practical and achievable, stay aware of all the moving parts, but don’t get too bogged down in the details. Make sure that your financial plan isn’t too rigid or detailed either.
Avoid making financial predictions based on assumptions; instead, use real numbers and make a plan around them. Try to keep things as simple as possible so you can remain clear-headed and properly assess each situation that comes your way.
It is a good practice to start from the above checklist and we advise you to complete each and every section so that you can develop a good business plan for your financial support for the start-up.
