It’s hard to believe its that time of year again, but let’s face it: Summer is over, fall is just around the corner, and that means we’ve got a plethora of holidays coming up and business owners are looking forward to a strong end to what has been a tough year for many people.  And so now is the time to stock up on inventory, make some small changes to ensure you’re products and services will stand out above the rest, and do some extra advertising.  Of course, all of these things cost money, and often at this time of the year, business owners don’t have a lot of extra cash laying around having just finished up August (an infamously slow month for most businesses).

Vacations are over, and its back to the drawing board preparing for a strong end of the year run, looking ahead to black friday and the holiday season that follows.  For many businesses, the holidays begin now as we look forward to Halloween and Thanksgiving as well as the December holidays.  We know financing can take longer than expected to secure, so now is the time to look for that extra bit of cash you need to make a strong push towards the end of the year.  Our funding programs are ideal as they are short-term, inexpensive solutions that will help you bolster your cash flow today without crippling you as you go through the holidays.

One of the nicest benefits of our funding solutions is that there’s no limit to how you use your cash.  Not only do you have the freedom to choose how to allocate your funding proceeds, but you aren’t even responsible for putting together a specific business plan to that effect.  Many business owners are fearful of taking on any debt or financing right now in light of the shaky economic conditions, but fear is the death of capitalism and when fear paralyzes us from acting in our own best interest, we have already decided to give up.  A small amount of funding can go a long way if you spend it wisely.  Renovation, new product lines, new signage, and new marketing strategies are all affordable, wise uses for funding that should help improve your business enough that the cost of the funding is negligible.

Here at Sure Payment Solutions, we specialize in retail, restaurant, and other tier 1 merchants.  We’re making a push towards the holiday season with our eyes on helping as many businesses as possible get through this hectic time of year with the funds needed to make the best of it.  Our funding specialists are standing by the help place working capital for you today.  Apply now, and you’ll be sure to have some cash lined up just in time for the holiday season.  Let’s make it a strong finish to this turbulent 2011 together.

Here’s a link to an interesting article in Business Week about the ups and downs of being self-employed and owning/operating a new business over the past 4 or 5 years.  There are a bunch of interesting statistics describing how people have been forced into starting their own businesses but have struggled through the process.  The article is extremely relevant to the core of our business which is all about helping small business owners save money, acquire working capital, and sustain a working business.

This article takes the angle of looking at the importance of creating jobs by assisting new businesses in opening and staying open, something our economy has not done a very good job at over the past 5 years.  I highly suggest any small business owners or entrepreneurs take a look at this and consider the available funding options and take the necessary steps to ensure you’re able to stay on your feet.

It’s no secret that the amount of lending going on in this country is down as compared to pre-recession levels.  The NY Times article I posted yesterday seeks to blame the lack of lending on the business owners of America.  They claim that applications are down due to a general fear among business owners in regards to taking on debt.  The claim further goes on to state that business owners aren’t concerned with growth right now, instead they are simply concerned with staying afloat.  While it should be every business owner’s goal to stay afloat, growing and staying afloat are not mutually exclusive and any business owner who is not constantly looking to grow and expand is deciding to throw in the towel.  So, we’re here to encourage you to think about growth and imagine how you can take advantage of the current state of things to grow your business instead of sustain it.

Others, like myself, believe that the lending markets are down due to excessive declines by the nation’s lending firms, banks, and credit unions.  And that it is these declines that have stopped business owners from applying for credit.  There is the stigma out there that no one has any money to lend and capital is simply not changing hands despite low interest rates.  While this may be true of traditional banks and other lenders, it is not true for entire financial community.  In fact, in the wake of the first recession, many companies sprouted up to offer loans and loan alternatives to small business owners.  The recession was viewed as an opportunity to help the struggling business owners.

That’s pretty much where we are now, with hundreds of independent lenders seeking out small businesses that require financing.  One of the major problems with this system is the box that each of these lenders prefers their clients fit into.  The target market is so specific that it’s difficult for business owners to apply for the right kind of financing with the right company.  Luckily there are many companies whose sole purpose is to match a lender and a borrower together so that they do not have to search for one another anymore.  This matching process involves many steps but the most important is the industry type.

Most lenders offer funds to only a handful of specific industry types and any other applicant is declined simply for the type of business they run.  While this is very common, it is also very undesirable.  We’ve launching a new industry specific lending program designed to make a realistic and fair offer to any applicant no matter the industry or size of the business.  This is not to say that there won’t be declines, as there will be.  This is to offer everyone a fair chance at some financing regardless of their industry type.  In addition, we’ve broadened our programs to create stronger offers for the industries that have historically excelled with this program.

We’re confident that we’ll be able to provide you with some form of financing or working capital regardless of your business type.  The one restriction we have still yet to get passed is the time in business filter.  We have not found a successful way to navigate the start up market yet, despite trying our best to offer everyone a chance.  Still, we are working tirelessly to create a funding product for start ups that we hope to be ready for the launch of 2012.  Check back occasionally for more updates regarding new funding programs we are rolling out.

We are proud to announce a new Loyalty and Gift card program that we’ve been working hard to bring you before the holiday season.  Loyalty cards are something we all use as consumers concerning ourselves with which credit card gives us the best cash back rate or the most miles on our favorite airline.  We use our best loyalty credit card more than our other cards because we like the rewards, and at the end of the day, if the interest rates are comparable, why wouldn’t we use the best loyalty card?  Loyalty programs are great way to increase top line sales by keeping your customers coming back for more and offering them free rewards for using their cards frequently.

We’ve partnered with the best in the business at custom loyalty and gift cards to bring you branded cards and the most comprehensive tracking system available on the market.  With our systems, you’ll be able to track every customer, when they visit, when they use their cards, how much they buy, what points they’ve earned, and how often you can expect to see them.  In addition, our email marketing system allows you to send out automatic or manual email marketing blasts to your loyalty card members offering new promotions, or just inviting them in when you’ve got something new going on.  These programs work for any business that has or aims for repeat customers from retail, to restaurants, to service oriented businesses.

There are a few ways loyalty cards can improve your top line:

1.  Increase Average Ticket Size – Accepting loyalty and gift cards impacts your average ticket size.  It’s statistically proven that the average ticket size of merchants after they begin a loyalty program increases by 15 – 20%.  Customers are more likely to purchase more goods if they know they are going to earn points/rewards for their purchases.  It gives a customer the freedom to purchase without guilt and that leads to more sales and larger sales.

2. Reduce Customer Attrition – Once your customers have opted into a loyalty card program they are significantly less likely to seek out a competitor.  With rewards points accruing, customers are hooked into your brand and will remember to shop at your establishment if you have something they need instead of looking elsewhere.  In addition, they will visit your business more frequently.  The significance of these benefits will depend somewhat on your industry, with customer frequency being higher for businesses like restaurants and other daily services, and the reduction in customer attrition being more prevalent for retail and service oriented businesses where the customer knows they can get x, y, and z at your store instead of somewhere else.

3. Maximize Word of Mouth Advertising – Marketing is a huge part of any business owners job, and most business owners will agree that word of mouth advertising is the most successful, despite being a small part of the actual marketing budget.  Loyalty programs improves word of mouth advertising as it gives customers something to talk about with their friends.  These programs are still fairly uncommon among non-financial institutions, so a friend who has a loyalty card with your business and uses it is likely to tell their friends about the program and how great it is.  This advertising is priceless and is one of the many benefits of these programs.

In addition to these benefits, managing your loyalty program is extremely easy with a simple web portal that helps you track your customers, their points, and their visits.  This can help you determine what marketing strategies to use for different types of customers.  Our portal helps you come up with marketing ideas to use as well and facilitates the email blasts you’ll want to take advantage of to stay in touch with your customers.

We’ll also help you customize gift cards that fit your business attitude.  You will get to work with a designer to come up with a custom design including images, logos, and even custom card shape and size.  This is a great opportunity for creative marketing to try and grab your customers with a feeling you want to project.  An interesting card design can be the difference between having a few customers enrolled and increasing your customer base simply as a result of the innovative card.

Lastly, our gift and loyalty programs are compatible with just about any other existing program allowing us to roll over any current gift or loyalty program you may have in existence without your customers losing points or rewards.  Enrolling in our program is simple and only takes a few minutes.  Contact a Sure Payment Solutions representative or follow this link to fill out a form to discuss a loyalty program today.

In light of the current economic climate and the recent downturn of the markets, we decided it was prudent to let our customers, clients, and readers know that Sure Payment Solutions is still funding Business Loans.  We are committed to American business owners and believe that the only way to move forward is to keep our heads up and continue to do what we do best: Offer business loans and other funding services.  We believe in independent small businesses and their owners to get through this tough time and are ready to help with small business loans, restaurant funding, receivables factoring and more.

We are also looking forward to rolling out some new programs and new product offerings in the next few months.  We’re determined to continue to bring you the best customer service, the most affordable credit card processing, and the quickest access to working capital loans available on the market.  We offer financial support to struggling businesses, thriving businesses, and ambitious entrepreneurs alike.  In addition, we support our congressmen and women as they spend their days and nights working tirelessly to agree on solutions that will move our great country forward.

If you’re a small business owner, now is the time to seek out a loan or other working capital source while funding is still available, and rates are low.  There’s no telling exactly what twists and turns we are in for over the next few months, and it’s best to secure a funding source while it’s available and not wait until the need is dire.  With the banks suffering heavy losses in the market, traditional business lending is dangerously unavailable.  We must band together and persevere through this time, believe in our lawmakers and policymakers and continue to do our part to help bolster this economy.  We’re doing our part by continuing to provide business lending services and new merchant accounts to businesses in need and our promise to you is that we’ll be here when the dust settles and recovery is fully underway.

Our account representatives are standing by to assist you with any questions you may have regarding lending options and what the recent market trends means for you and your business.  Our financial experts are well versed in all things economic and are prepared to help you make an educated decision about what the best course of action is.  Fear continues to be enemy number 1 and the best thing we can do for one another is fight the fear and continue to conduct business as usual, look for the silver lining, but prepare ahead of time for tough times.