BizBuySell.com's survey results reveal that small businesses have yet to feel significant benefits from the Small Business Jobs Act, while lack of available financing continues to hinder business-for-sale transactions.
San Francisco, CA - November 16, 2010 -- BizBuySell.com, the Internet's largest marketplace for buying or selling a small business, today released results from a survey of the nation's business brokers on the state of the business-for-sale market.
According to surveyed brokers, most agree that the small business market continues to face major hurdles in today's economy, and the government is doing little to educate owners about the benefits of the Small Business Jobs Act. In fact, three in four brokers report that small business owners do not know how governmental initiatives, namely the Small Business Jobs Act, can and will benefit them.
To read the full article... click here.
Showing posts with label small business recovery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small business recovery. Show all posts
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Monday, September 13, 2010
Check out... SBA Program Proves a Hit, but Now It Is in Limbo
By Ruth Simon
August 5, 2010
Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com)
Pinnacle Bank made just two loans through Small Business Administration in 2007 & 2008. So far this year, the Orange City, Fla., bank's total is nine, to borrowers from an auto dealer to a computer-equipment wholesaler to a bakery.
"The SBA program is the only way we can continue to lend right now," says David Bridgeman, president of Pinnacle, which has two branches and assets of $213 million, including about 600 loans. For many of the $3.4 million in loans Pinnacle made through the SBA in 2010, the bank has to set aside capital against only the 10% slice that isn't guaranteed by the U.S. government.
Across the nation, many banks have turned to the SBA's so-called 7(a) program to help unfreeze credit. Nearly 3,000 lenders have made 7(a) loans in the current fiscal year, up 21% from 2008.
The 7(a) program, the SBA's largest loan program, is hardly a cure for the credit shortage affecting many borrowers. The agency is involved in less than 10% of all small-business loans, and some banks won't participate because of red tape. Lenders must follow the SBA's rules when making 7(a) loans, which can be used for working capital, fixed assets and other business expenses. The term of the loan can be as long as 25 years.
Last year, Congress temporarily sweetened the 7(a) program by increasing the SBA guarantee to 90% of any given loan from as little as 75% previously. Lawmakers waived fees costing borrowers as much as 3.5% of the loan amount, as well as costs charged in a separate SBA program providing structured financing for fixed assets.
But the sweetened program is now in limbo, drawing complaints from borrowers and lenders, as lawmakers haggle over broader small-business legislation.
To read the full article... click here.
August 5, 2010
Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com)
Pinnacle Bank made just two loans through Small Business Administration in 2007 & 2008. So far this year, the Orange City, Fla., bank's total is nine, to borrowers from an auto dealer to a computer-equipment wholesaler to a bakery.
"The SBA program is the only way we can continue to lend right now," says David Bridgeman, president of Pinnacle, which has two branches and assets of $213 million, including about 600 loans. For many of the $3.4 million in loans Pinnacle made through the SBA in 2010, the bank has to set aside capital against only the 10% slice that isn't guaranteed by the U.S. government.
Across the nation, many banks have turned to the SBA's so-called 7(a) program to help unfreeze credit. Nearly 3,000 lenders have made 7(a) loans in the current fiscal year, up 21% from 2008.
The 7(a) program, the SBA's largest loan program, is hardly a cure for the credit shortage affecting many borrowers. The agency is involved in less than 10% of all small-business loans, and some banks won't participate because of red tape. Lenders must follow the SBA's rules when making 7(a) loans, which can be used for working capital, fixed assets and other business expenses. The term of the loan can be as long as 25 years.
Last year, Congress temporarily sweetened the 7(a) program by increasing the SBA guarantee to 90% of any given loan from as little as 75% previously. Lawmakers waived fees costing borrowers as much as 3.5% of the loan amount, as well as costs charged in a separate SBA program providing structured financing for fixed assets.
But the sweetened program is now in limbo, drawing complaints from borrowers and lenders, as lawmakers haggle over broader small-business legislation.
To read the full article... click here.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Check out A struggle to sell small businesses | PressDemocrat.com
A struggle to sell small businesses
By Robert Digitale
The Press Democrat
August 29, 2010
Carmen Campos spent two years seeking the right location for her second Carmen's Burger Bar.
Campos wanted a more visible building than her original restaurant, which sits tucked in a residential neighborhood in Santa Rosa's Town & Country Village. She found it in a small strip center next to Wells Fargo Center on Mark West Springs Road at Old Red Highway.
Campos and her husband, Alvaro Ramos, bought the shuttered pizzeria on the site and last month opened it for business. Already the couple and 14 employees are matching the sales at the original location, even though the new site is still awaiting a full liquor license.
"We're making more burgers than they are," Campos said Thursday afternoon at the Larkfield location.
Carmen's is bright spot in the battered world of small business sales.
More common are tales of owners reeling from depressed business values, buyers who can't get loans and business brokers who, over the past three years, have seen transactions plummet.
"I think the industry's probably off 50 percent from what it was," said Al Statz, owner of Exit Strategies, a business brokerage in Petaluma.
Sales of Sonoma County small businesses - cafes, markets, auto parts stores and more - declined 44 percent from 2007 to 2009, according to BizBen.com of Dublin, an online website for the sale of businesses. Sales statewide declined 46 percent.
To read the full article... click here.
By Robert Digitale
The Press Democrat
August 29, 2010
Carmen Campos spent two years seeking the right location for her second Carmen's Burger Bar.
Campos wanted a more visible building than her original restaurant, which sits tucked in a residential neighborhood in Santa Rosa's Town & Country Village. She found it in a small strip center next to Wells Fargo Center on Mark West Springs Road at Old Red Highway.
Campos and her husband, Alvaro Ramos, bought the shuttered pizzeria on the site and last month opened it for business. Already the couple and 14 employees are matching the sales at the original location, even though the new site is still awaiting a full liquor license.
"We're making more burgers than they are," Campos said Thursday afternoon at the Larkfield location.
Carmen's is bright spot in the battered world of small business sales.
More common are tales of owners reeling from depressed business values, buyers who can't get loans and business brokers who, over the past three years, have seen transactions plummet.
"I think the industry's probably off 50 percent from what it was," said Al Statz, owner of Exit Strategies, a business brokerage in Petaluma.
Sales of Sonoma County small businesses - cafes, markets, auto parts stores and more - declined 44 percent from 2007 to 2009, according to BizBen.com of Dublin, an online website for the sale of businesses. Sales statewide declined 46 percent.
To read the full article... click here.
Check out 5 Things Small Businesses Want from Washington | Business News Daily
5 Things Small Businesses Want From Washington
August 23, 2010
By Jeanette Mulvey
Business News Daily Managing Editor
Hardly a day passes without President Obama calling on Congress to pass the small business bill in September. The legislation would free up $30 billion in loans and institute a number of tax credits for small businesses. Small business owners are skeptical about how effective the bill will be.
Business News Daily asked 50 small business owners across the country how Washington can help get their businesses back on track. Five key trends emerged.
Ease lending requirements...
Repeal 1099 reporting requirements...
Make it easier to get government contracts...
Communicate better...
Get out of the way...
"Let business do what it does best: Make stuff and provide services that meet the needs of the customers." said Paul Chase, a Pennsylvania-based real estate agent. "There is certainly a need for some regulation, but companies are being regulated to death."
To read the full article... click here.
August 23, 2010
By Jeanette Mulvey
Business News Daily Managing Editor
Hardly a day passes without President Obama calling on Congress to pass the small business bill in September. The legislation would free up $30 billion in loans and institute a number of tax credits for small businesses. Small business owners are skeptical about how effective the bill will be.
Business News Daily asked 50 small business owners across the country how Washington can help get their businesses back on track. Five key trends emerged.
Ease lending requirements...
Repeal 1099 reporting requirements...
Make it easier to get government contracts...
Communicate better...
Get out of the way...
"Let business do what it does best: Make stuff and provide services that meet the needs of the customers." said Paul Chase, a Pennsylvania-based real estate agent. "There is certainly a need for some regulation, but companies are being regulated to death."
To read the full article... click here.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Let's discuss economic "recovery" for local small businesses...
By the local Business Sherpa himself, Larry Battershell.
The longer I talk to small business owners around the Indianapolis area and listen to endless tales of woe, the more convinced I am that the much touted economic "recovery" is not either U shaped or W shaped but more of a descending staircase--down a few steps-plateau, down a few more steps--plateau,etc....guess its better than a fast plunge on free falling elevator....... I will keep looking for the "green shoots".
The longer I talk to small business owners around the Indianapolis area and listen to endless tales of woe, the more convinced I am that the much touted economic "recovery" is not either U shaped or W shaped but more of a descending staircase--down a few steps-plateau, down a few more steps--plateau,etc....guess its better than a fast plunge on free falling elevator....... I will keep looking for the "green shoots".
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