The first thing that is evident is that there is less choice available when looking for finance. This is because several of the banks, which were actively lending to foreign investors have stopped doing so, these would include BBVA and BCP. That said, there are still other banks that remain in the market, just less of them.The banks that remain however have more stringent terms for their lending. Products, which were available at 75% loan to value in 2007, are now reduced to 60%. Banks are looking for high net worth clients and interest rates are far higher. Lenders are seeking to improve the quality of their lending books and this is reflected in their policy.With certain lenders, it used to be the case that if you managed to negotiate a price well below the market value, you could achieve a 100% loan against the price, as the lenders would allow the loan percentage to be a reflection of the valuation. This is no longer the case, far more conservative lending policy now no longer allows this and even if you get a discount you’ll be restricted to a percentage of the purchase price.Although these changes to lending criteria have restricted the availability of lending, there has been a positive side to this. The market is now far more realistically priced that it was 4 years ago, this is reflected in the valuations that are coming back from surveyors. Judith Price at Caixa Geral de Depositos told me last week “in my experience valuations are all coming in at purchase price or slightly above”. Realism in any market is a good thing as it leads to stability and confidence.There are of course still over riding factors which could destabilise everything, you only have to look eastwards to Greece to see where these originate. In September there were some purchases that fell away over the Greek problems and the IMF moving in. The cost of money went up and these increases are passed on to the end borrower.As far as actual development finance is concerned, the picture is even bleaker. Weak demand and falling prices have meant that there are many projects already at a stand still and lenders are of the view “why lend on more?”So are there any good bits of news and what should investors consider?To start with, variable rate loans in Portugal are usually linked to Euribor, When looking at 6 month Euribor, in March 2011 it stood at 1.352%, in September 1.755% but now stands at 1.505%, so it is possible that barring other financial shocks, rates may have passed their peak.Bank loan margins are still high though, because of the cost of money, so it may be better to consider a fixed rate product for the next few years.Portugal still offers good value for money and with Sterling’s recent strengthening against the Euro this has again improved. Investors should also consider whether they could raise finance in their own country at a cheaper rate than those available in Portugal, although this needs to be weighed against having Euro debt against a Euro based property if their own currency is outside the Euro zone.Remember that finance is more difficult to obtain across Europe. Portugal remains a wonderful country with far better value in the property market, than a few years ago. Whilst the economy still has a large debt overhang, the government has taken strong steps to try and bring this under control.
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.
How To Have Success In An Online Business
Developing an online business mindset is critical to the success of an online business. Your online business mindset truly sets the course of your business from day one.People join an online business expecting HUGE results in 2 point 3 seconds and that is NOT how a business of ANY kind is started and grown. A true business takes time to grow and build. There are no shortcuts of ANY kind. So in order to develop the right online business mindset, you have to take a step back and see the grand picture, especially online. Not developing their business mindset causes a lot of errorsWhat you see a lot are people who join an online business, they begin marketing it, and find no success. So then a couple weeks later, they quit that business and join another business, to find the same result. Those I call jumpers. The go from one business to another, only finding pretty much the same result. Maybe the have limited success with one business. But that was not the goal they wanted to achieve.But is that really what the problem is?Not only could it be that your online mindset is out of skew, but it also could be that one does not have the proper skills, know enough marketing methods or the strategies to use them. But rest assured that all comes from your core philosophies about online business.There is a psychological flow of how a mindset is developed, and it goes a little like this. Your core values or philosophies dictate your attitudes, how you feel or react to certain situations. Your attitudes then control what you do, or your actions. Then the actions you take control the results you find out of those action. Then your results dictate your lifestyle or your goals.Philosophy > Attitudes > Actions > Results > LifestyleMost times people jump in mid stream at the actions step and short circuit the entire mindset flow. Why, because they are too eager to get what they want…a different lifestyle. So they get in at the actions step and expect certain results. But as any business person knows there are bumps in the road that will derail you from growing your business. And because of that, eventually, because of bad results, they fall out of the online business entirely.What really has to happen is that they have to take a couple steps back and change their philosophies, their core values, to follow the flow properly. If you do not have your philosophies in the proper format, everything else that follows will fail.When you come into the flow at the actions stage, and you hit a bump in the road, and trust me there will be difficulties in an online business; the step before that, attitude, will dictate how you handle that situation.For instance, if you get in a business and you don’t get the results you want, based on your attitude, how likely are you to stay in the business, let alone be active at all?And that is the reason you see the “jumpers” out on the internet.So one has to get back to their philosophies or core values in order to have online success. Core values could be….Treat this like a business. This is not the lottery. Building an online business takes time, just like any other “real” business.Or since this is a online business, maybe I need to learn more about how to market online properly. Because online business is very much different than a “tangible” business. There are different ways to grow it for success.So if you do not see results in 2 seconds online, that does not mean that the entire online business industry is a scam. That attitude is a result of your core values or philosophies. If one had their philosophies in order, they would know that it takes time to build a business.So if things are not working right in your online business, don’t be to quick to jump to conclusions. Step back, analyze and re-tune your philosophies to get back on the success track.