Check out Four Alternative Lending Options for Entrepreneurs...

There is much talk these days about the rise in alternative lending sources since the credit crunch really started to squeeze small businesses in late 2008... here is a great explanation of four of those alternatives...

Four Alternative Lending Options for Entrepreneurs

www.smallbusiness.foxbusiness.com
Published August 14, 2012

When the credit crunch begain in late 2008, traditional banks tightened the spigots on funding for small businesses. When the big banks said no, small banks and non-bank lenders increasingly said yes. While big banks reject loan applications almost nine out of ten times, and smaller banks approved less than half of small business funding requests, alternative lenders filled the void.

According to Biz2Credit Small Business Lending Index (figures for the July 2012), big banks (insitutions with more than $10 billion in assets) approved 11.3% of small business loan requests, while smaller banks gave the green light to 47.4%. Meanwhile, non-bank lenders picked up the slack. Credit unions approved 54.6% of requests, while alternative lenders, such as Cash Advance Network (CAN) and accounts receivable financers, okayed 61.4% of requests for funding from small companies.

So who are the alternative lenders? They are comprised of non-banks, such as credit unions, CDFIs, micro lenders and accounts receivable financers.

To read a full explanation of each alternative lender... click here to read the full article.

Great news for the craft beer brewing industry... continued growth!

Brewer's Association Reports 2012 Mid-year Growth for U.S. Craft Brewers

www.brewersassociation.org
Boulder, CO  *  August 6, 2012

Dollar growth up 14% in first six months of 2012; Total brewery count hits 125-year high

The Brewers Association (BA), the trade association representing the majority of U.S. Brewing companies, has released strong mid-year numbers for America's small and independent craft brewers. Dollar sales were up 14 percent in the first half of 2012, while volume of craft brewed beer sold jumped during that same time period.

Barrels sold by craft brewerd for the first six months of 2012 are an estimated 6.0 million barrels. Despite a number of challenges, including decreased overall beer sales, the mid-year numbers show signs of continued growth for craft breweries. The industry currently provides an estimated 104,000 full-time and part-time jobs, contributing significantly to the U.S. economy.

To read the full article... click here.

Check out Top 5 Social Media Fails from Inc.com

If your business keeps you  busy like mine does me, then you hardly have time to learn let alone utilize social media effectively... and the last thing you want is negative impact from it... here is a great article from Inc.com that gives you just a few things that you can concentrate on to upgrade your social media strategy.
- Business Sherpa

Top 5 Social Media Fails

Think you're pretty great at Twitter? A pro at Facebook? Fact is, your social media strategy could use an upgrade. Here are five ways to fix the little things you're messing up.

The White House does it, the world's biggest media outlets do it, and your business looks out-of-date without it: Social media. And it's widely beloved for providing some of the best word-of-mouth style maketing just a bit of money can buy.

To read the full article... click here.

Interesting... "10 Things Food Trucks Won't Say" by SmartMoney.com

Great article about the food truck phenomena...

"10 Things Food Trucks Won't Say"
SmartMoney.com
By Jonelle Marte
August 1, 2012

What's not on the menu at mobile eateries...

1. We're not supposed to be here.
2. You're favorite restaurant hates us.
3. We're not all held to the same standards.
4. I don't have a license.
5. It's not the cleanliness of the truck that should worry you.

To find out the other 5 things food trucks won't say, and see the details on all ten , click here to read the full article.

Check out 7 Silly Myths About The Economy, Jobs, Taxes & Small Business...

Posted on Inc.com, July 18, 2012
By Gene Marks

7 Silly Myths About the Economy, Jobs, Taxes & Small Business

America's Got Talent is the No. 1 show. Spider-Man is the No. 1 movie. Call me Maybe is the top song in the country. Who's the most popular guy in Washington D.C.?

Why, me! The small-business guy. Everyone's buzzing about me. That's because I represent more than 20 million others who are supposedly just like me. According to the National Federation of Independent Business, my confidence is down. Oh, no! But don't worry! The President and Congress are battling over ways to help me succeed. Hooray!

I appreciate everyone's concern. And I certainly love the attention. But, really, I don't want to waste your time. My technology company has 600 small business customers. And I agree that I probably don't have the right to speak on behalf of the other 19,999,400 small businesses in the country. But then again, why not? I know that small businesses will be an important part of this year's election. We're already getting a lot of attention from the media. So let me help explain a few things. And put to rest a few silly myths about us.

Silly Myth #1: Small Businesses collectively oppose higher taxes....

To read the full article, and find out the other 6 myths and their explanations... click here.

Check Out Questions Business Owners Ask Me and the Answers I Give Them

Great article by Loren Marx Schmerler put out by the Business Brokerage Press...

Posted @ 6/28/2012 9:13 am

Throughout my years of successfully assisting business owners in selling their companies, I've been asked the same questions by many potential sellers. In this article I have compiled a list of common question about selling a business along with my answers that you may find helpful.

1. How much is my business worth?
2. How long will it take to sell my business?
3. Is there anything I can do to make my business more desirable?
4. Is there anything I should not do during the listing period?
5. What is due diligence?
6. What else do you suggest I do to impress a Buyer?
7. What happens if I agree to do some owner financing and the Buyer misses a payment?

To read the answers Mr. Schmerler gives to the above excellent questions... click here.

Check out Starbucks Initiative to Brew Up U.S. Jobs through small business lending

A Starbuck Initiative to Brew Up U.S. Jobs

Posted by Michelle Goodman
Entrepreneur.com, January 2012

For little more than the price of a latte, the average American can help finance a new business startup. That's the premise behind Create Jobs for USA, the brainchild of Starbucks founder and CEO Howard Schultz. Through the program, every $5 donated at a Starbucks location or through CreateJobsforUSA.org supports $35 worth of small-business lending.

To get these funds directly into the hands of business owners, Starbucks partnered with Opportunity Finance Network (OFN), a collection of 180 Community Development Financial Insitutions (CDFIs) that specialize in lending to low-income and disadvantaged indiaviduals and underserved communities throughout the nation.

To read more about this great initiative of Starbucks... click here.

Check out this article with great tips for LinkedIn

7 Things You're Doing Wrong on LinkedIn

By Tom Searcy
EXPLOSIVE GROWTH, INC.COM
Jun. 27, 2012

Today, LinkedIn is the No. 1 social media platform for professionals. Estimates of professional participation in LinkedIn are as high as 83%.

But when I talked to one of my friends -- social media expert Alexandra Gibson from OttoPilot Media -- she told me that she sees too many professionals making a lot of mistakes...

Click here to read the full article and see the seven mistakes and how to rectify them.

Check out Inc.com article: Small Business' Real Problem with the Banking System...

"Increased regulation of bank lending still needs to allow for measured risks that permit sound small businesses to receive funding needed to thrive."

Read the full article at Inc.com., In The Trenches, written by Vanessa Merit Nornberg. Vanessa recounts her experiences with financing for her small business start up, Metal Mafia. Interesting and insightful take on the current climate for credit availability for small business.

Click here to read the article.

Check out: The Three Biggest Myths About the S.B.A.

Check out this great article by Ami Kassar of The New York Times about the S.B.A. ... very informative...

The New York Times, June 19, 2012
The Three Biggest Myths About the S.B.A.
By: Ami Kassar

I want to share with you what I consider to be the three biggest myth about the Small Business Administration. But let me be clear: I am a big supporter of the S.B.A. My company, MultiFunding, brokers loans, and we put about 25 percent of our clients into S.B.A. loans. I think it's a good program with a lot of eceonomic benefits. It's also terribly misunderstood by many of the small-business owners we talk to.

So let's debunk some myths.

1. The S.B.A. Lends Money.
2. When the S.B.A. Guarantees a Loan, There is No Need for Collateral.
3. S.B.A. Loans Are as Easy to Get as Other Commercial Loans.

To read the full article Ms. Kassar's debunks... click here.

Check out Blue Maumau's 2012's Best 10 Franchises to Buy...

2012's Best 10 Franchises to Buy, Least Loan Defaults

By BMM, www.bluemaumau.org
Sat 2012/06/16

Knowing a franchise's bottom line and the ability to get a return on investment is the holy grail for a franchise investor. That's no easy feat. What Blue MauMay has been able to do is to find chains that franchisees are healthy enough with their earnings to at least pay back their loans more than other brands. So here are the ten best franchise brands in which franchisees have enough staying-power to pay back their lender.

To read the full article and see the top 10 best, and a link to the default rates of various franchises, click here.

Check out this WSJ article: Migrants Keep Small-Business Faith

WSJ.com
SMALL BUSINESS
Updated June 13, 2012

Newcomers to U.S. Are Increasingly Opening Firms Beyond Major Cities, Energizing Local Economies

By Miriam Jordan

Immigrants are more inclined to own small businesses than native-born Americans and are increasingly opening shop in areas beyond the major cities in which they have traditionally settled, a trend that is energizing local economies and reshaping communities.

Immigrants accounted for 18% of the country's $4.9 million small-business owners in 2010, a six-percent increase from two decades earlier, according to analysis of census data by the nonpartisan Fiscal Policy Institute. Immigrants, who represent 13% of the population, accounted for a third of the increase in the number of small-business owners between 1990 and 2010.

Check out this great article... When Reducing Barriers Leads to More Failed Businesses.

By Scott Shane
The Journal of the American Enterprise Institute
Wednesday, May 09, 2012

While you get more business formation if you reduce the barriers to starting companies, you don't necessarily get more successful entrepreneurship.

To read this insightful article... and Mr. Shane's great take on the recent comments from Mitt Romney and the Obama reaction... click here.

"Romney's logic is sounder than the president's. Allowing entrepreneurs to keep more of the profits from running their own businesses provides an incentive to overcome obstacles, like a lack of capital. If you tax entrepreneurs heavily, you reduce their incentive to overcome these obstacles and make them more likely to close down their companies."