Home
Share |

Content about Credit

March 4, 2013
Access to Small-Business Loan Programs to Expand Under Proposed Rule

WASHINGTON — Borrowers of SBA-backed loans gain greater access to capital, have less paperwork under proposed rule changes

WASHINGTON — Borrowers and lenders of U.S. Small Business Association-backed loans will have greater access to capital and less paperwork as a result of a proposed regulation aimed at streamlining the application process while strengthening oversight and program integrity.

“Streamlining and simplifying has been a key focus of our agency over the last few years,” says SBA Administrator Karen Mills. “The changes are the latest steps to reduce paperwork burden, with our eye on the larger goal of expanding access to capital and giving entrepreneurs and small-business owners the financial resources to grow and create jobs.”

The SBA proposes the new measures after extensive consultations with lenders and borrowers to identify the greatest challenges they face and find ways to reduce barriers to making and accessing loans, while still maintaining strict oversight.

Among the proposed changes are:

August 22, 2012
Building Better Business Credit (Part 2 of 2)

ARDMORE, Pa. — What steps can a dry cleaner take to improve the creditworthiness of his/her business?

ARDMORE, Pa. — Things go a lot easier when potential lenders, suppliers and partners can decide to take a risk based on a dry cleaning business’ credit history and capability of repaying obligations. With strong business credit, a business can borrow at a lower cost, with more favorable terms. In fact, many small dry cleaners with good business credit have discovered it is possible get loans without an onerous and often embarassing personal guarantee.

Obviously, business credit is quite difficult to get. For any small dry cleaning business owner, navigating the credit and lending world can feel like a vicious Catch-22. Most commercial banks and traditional lenders are reluctant to loosen their purse strings until would-be borrowers have proven themselves with a strong credit history. But it’s difficult to develop that good record when no one will lend in the first place.

August 21, 2012
Building Better Business Credit (Part 1 of 2)

ARDMORE, Pa. — With stronger credit, a business can borrow at a lower cost, with more favorable terms

ARDMORE, Pa. — Things go a lot easier when potential lenders, suppliers and partners can decide to take a risk based on a dry cleaning business’ credit history and capability of repaying obligations. With strong business credit, a business can borrow at a lower cost, with more favorable terms. In fact, many small dry cleaners with good business credit have discovered it is possible get loans without an onerous and often embarassing personal guarantee.

Obviously, business credit is quite difficult to get. For any small dry cleaning business owner, navigating the credit and lending world can feel like a vicious Catch-22. Most commercial banks and traditional lenders are reluctant to loosen their purse strings until would-be borrowers have proven themselves with a strong credit history. But it’s difficult to develop that good record when no one will lend in the first place.

IN THE BEGINNING

When a business issues or extends credit to another business, it’s referred to as “trade” credit. Trade, or business, credit is the single largest source of lending in the world.

May 24, 2011
To Your Credit, Part 1

CHICAGO  — According to the experts, the recession ended in the summer of 2009. Three months after that, however, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said, “This credit crunch is not over.” With all the available capital apparently going to big business and government, what can the financially-strapped small-business owner do?

May 24, 2011
To Your Credit, Part 2

ARDMORE, Pa. — With all the available capital apparently going to big business and government, what can the financially-strapped small-business owner do?

Provisions in the Small Business Jobs Act may soon ease the Great Recession’s prolonged credit crunch.

November 17, 2010
Collect Every Penny You’re Owed

CHICAGO — Drycleaning is usually a cash business. But if you offer commercial or retail accounts, you’re also in the collections business. By my estimate, about half of all operators do some of this non-cash volume, on account.

On a recent plant visit, I got an earful about problems collecting money in a depressed economy. “My accounts are such pains,” the operator said. “They just don’t pay until you threaten to cut them off.

December 16, 2009
Senators Introduce Bill to Increase Small-Business Lending, Create Jobs

WASHINGTON — United States Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship chair Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Ranking Member Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, have introduced legislation designed to increase access to capital for small businesses and help create jobs.

S. 2869, the “Small Business Job Creation and Access to Capital Act of 2009,” would increase the small-business loan limit to as high as $5.5 million and extend for a year the elimination of fees and increased guarantees set to expire under the Recovery Act.

May 8, 2009
Equity Can Be Key to Expansion

Though these are tough economic times, many drycleaners still need to implement expansion and renovation plans. And for some, now may be the best time to do so — while the rest of the industry is hurting, and bankers are reluctant to lend.

One drycleaner recently told me that he wanted to replace his old equipment and remodel his main plant, as well as open two drop stores. Two competitors had just gone out of business, making it the perfect time to expand and try to establish marketplace domination.

November 24, 2008
Proposed Senate Stimulus Package to Include Aid for Small Businesses

WASHINGTON — Several small-business proposals within a recent economic stimulus package within a bill being discussed in the senate are designed to help alleviate the credit crunch, providing help to entrepreneurs stressed by a worsening economic climate.

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Banking, are urging their Republican colleagues to put politics aside in support of the package.