There’s a lot of talk in the news and around the world regarding the state of the global economy.  Many people trace back the problems to the US mortgage crisis, but its difficult to ignore the debt problems and commodity issues around the world.  At the end of the day, money is tight for 99.9% of the world and there’s just no easy solution that can be mutually agreed upon.  Analysts, strategists, and financial planners are doing their best to predict where this winding road will go in enough time to steer the ship in a more favorable direction, but the situation we are currently in is unlike any other in history and we are all learning as we go.

From our perspective, we see a lot of small businesses struggling to get by.  Most suppliers and vendors have eliminated credit terms and raised prices to maintain certain standards in their own businesses and this has put a squeeze on many business owners.  In addition, consumer spending continues to walk a fine line.  Many business owners are also hesitant to take on any debt during this time for fear that it could create a cash flow issue somewhere down the road, and it is this concern that I’m most inclined to address.  Fear is a powerful motivator, but it can also paralyze us from acting.

While it may seem like wisdom to be cautious of entering into a financing agreement, the way the economy grows is through small business expansion and lending.  You may be able to maintain the status quo for a while, but eventually improvements will need to be made, renovations perhaps, and its important to continue to update product lines and services to better serve your clients.  All of these things cost money and unless you have a surplus laying around, you will probably need financing at some point in the next few years.

As is understandable, lending markets continue to tighten up and for many companies, existing, performing accounts are the only ones getting money anymore.  Securing a reliable business funding partnership is almost more important than the financing itself.  When the economy goes bad, history, and comfort go a long way towards rebuilding, which is why it is so important to establish a funding partnership now, before the economy gets worse, or before lending availability dries up.  So even if the need for funding is not immediately present, it may be a good idea to secure a partnership with a lender now so that when you do have need, you will have a place to turn for quick and easy funding.

There are already a number of lenders in the market who are not accepting new applications and are only servicing existing clients, and they are the businesses that are most likely to survive any economic turmoil thanks to the partnership.  We have excellent loyalty programs at Sure Payment Solutions and work tirelessly for our existing clients as much as we do to create new relationships.  So don’t hesitate to establish a partnership with us, it promises to be mutually beneficial for years to come as we weather the economic storm together.

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.

How many people remember growing up and being forced by adults to be part of a team to learn “cooperation” “teamwork” or “how to be part of a whole”?  As individuals with a very strong sense of self and a natural instinct for self-preservation, it’s interesting to see how we’ve evolved to adopt such a group mentality.  These days we rely on groups for just about everything we do whether it’s social networking, business networking, consumer purchasing, or even business lending.

Let’s start with internet based networking.  While hundreds of services have sprouted up to help us stay in touch with one another and share tidbits, articles, videos, thoughts, etc.  It is very clear that Facebook continues to lead the way in social networking, and in recent years has really pushed their business networking capabilities too.  Whether or not you’ve seen the Oscar winning pitcure “The Social Network”, chances are you’ve got some idea of what facebook is all about.  Indeed, it’s difficult to find anyone on the planet who is not connected to facebook in some way, whether through a profile of their own, or simply knowing someone with a profile.

Facebook lets us share ourselves in whatever way we see fit in a very public manner.  We can post comments, “likes” videos we like, advertisements, achievements and high scores from games we play, and just about anything you can imagine on our “walls” for all of our “friends” to view.  Indeed, we are dependent upon having a sizeable number of friends to have a full experience on facebook.  We rely on one another for popularity and validation in a world made up of bits and bytes.  We are influenced by what we see others post, what we see our friends comment on, and how many “views” a given post may have.  It’s a group mentality and we all want to be part of the group and fear being left behind.

We’ve also adopted a group mentality when it comes to our consumer spending.  Organizations such as Groupon, Living Social, and Gilt work with small businesses around the country to promote their products and services by offering substantial discounts to consumers if enough people are interested.  It’s a brilliant idea, and one that more and more small organizations are trying to copy.  And one of the most interesting things about it is that we’re all dependent on one another to be interested in the same things so that we can get the discount.  Some of these deals simply require enough people to buy them and then you can enjoy the deal on your own, while others create a social group setting where you enjoy the activity or deal with a group of people who decided to purchase it.

These consumer goods create a common ground for people to interact with one another, and also a jumping off point to create fun social gatherings.  And so, our “teamwork” training as children has helped us learn to further our own agendas by partnering and working together as a group, albeit in an unconventional kind of way.

Finally, we are learning to help one another in a group setting as well from a financial standpoint.  Group lending and microfinance programs are becoming increasingly more popular.  These happen in a few different ways but all involve group cohesion and dependence.  You can elect to become part of a group of borrowers, a number of people looking for the same amount of money for a similar use, whether its for a business purpose or personal needs and the group members rely on one another to make their repayments of the loan.  This gets a little dicey because group members need to encourage one another to make payments and also help one another manage their finances in such a way that making payments is necessary.  This group mentality protects the lender because there is a difusion of where the funds have gone and also how it is repaid.  Everyone is on the hook for not only their portion of the loan but for the entirety of the loan, so its in everyone’s best interest to payback their portion and help everyone else make their payments.

Conversely, there are programs where prospective investors team up anonymously or openly (depending on the program) to pool together enough funds via small individual investments to come up with a total that is desired by a prospective borrower.  Each individual involved has made an investment small enough that should it fail, no one is really hurting, but if it succeeds, reinvestment and growth is a definitive possibility.  Meanwhile, the borrower has received a loan they needed without having to seek out a single investor to put up such a substantial amount of money.  These group lending techniques are fairly new and will undoubtedly require some tweaking and adjusting going forward but it goes to show how a group sense of togetherness and need is emerging  where the self has always been valued above all else.  While this will help with teamwork and group activity, it also has the potential to change the way we think, the way we interact, and the way we view individuals not directly connected to us.

Group mentality has throughout history shown to be a major strength or terrible hindrance in the history of our species.  This generally comes down to the willingness of the entire group to buy into the required group mentality.  There is the old saying, “a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link,” and this is especially applicable to groups of humans working to accomplish a single task.  Should everyone in the group maintain that what is best for the group is most important, than success is all but inevitable.  But just one person straying from the common goal for self-gain can lay to ruin all that which the other individuals have worked so hard for.

As part of a fairly young industry, players in the Merchant Cash Advance space are still trying to find their identity and maximize their potential.  Credit Card receivables were first purchased in the late 1990′s though the service did not find widespread acceptance until 2007 when there were literally hundreds of players almost over night.  More and more credit card processing companies and front end registered isos are getting involved both by offering the split funding mechanism and by attempting to provide the cash advances themselves.  In addition, independent agents and ISOs who used to work solely in the payment processing space have transitioned to offer both processing solutions and cash advances by partnering with established funding companies.  Lastly, it seems like every day a new company arrives on the scene with capital to place for merchants seeking out the service.

And so, a multi-leveled industry has been created but is struggling to sustain its identity in an overly congested marketplace.  It is inevitable that at some point, many players will fall and the industry will reach a happy equilibrium regarding the number of cash advance providers, and sales offices striving to create the interest.  Over the past 5 or 6 years a number of cash advance providers have gone out of business due to excessive bad debt.  This has caused the remaining players to tighten their underwriting criteria, making it more and more difficult for small business owners to qualify for these programs.  At the same time, prices have gone up on these programs in an additional attempt to offset the high incidence of defaults and the necessarily high commission payouts to the sales offices generating the interest.

With so many cash advance providers competing for the ISO business, commissions and service are the main driving factors to entice sales agents to partner directly with funding companies.  Naturally, there are limits on both fronts, but the competition forces cash advance providers to offer higher commissions to drive business in.  On the ISO side, competitive pricing and service are the driving factors to win the business from merchants directly.  This competition forces sales agents to work with the cash advance provider to lower rates, extend terms, in order to win the business of the applicant.

The picture starts to become a bit clearer as the intense competition to both fund deals and earn agent business push all involved to earn less on each deal, just to get it done.  It’s a model that won’t sustain itself and will cause many companies (cash advance providers AND sales offices) to close their doors and throw in the towel.  Right now there is more or less a race between all of these companies to see who can outwit, outplay, and outlast (to quote the famed reality Television Series: Survivor) one another.  BUT eventually, more companies will fall, the marketplace will begin to even out, and a natural steadiness will have to organically find itself.

While this is going on, another game-changing occurrence within the cash advance space is making it more difficult for everyone stemming from the same competition, and concern over bad debts.  Cash Advance Providers have begun to use what are commonly referred to as “premium programs” and “starter programs”.  Premium programs are designed for the most qualified merchants, the ones with great credit, who have been in business for a long time, have large businesses that process double or triple that of a traditional cash advance merchant, and are looking for funds primarily for growth and/or marketing.  These businesses, who would have simply gone to the bank a few years back are now being declined consistently by their local banks for traditional lending and are seeking financing in other channels.  Naturally, they are drawn to the merchant cash advance which offers quick accessibility to cash, no personal guarantee and no collateral.  A few years ago, these merchants who have been approved for a traditional cash advance but as the competition grows, cash advance providers have adjusted to offer lower rates, longer terms, and more payment options to these clients in order to earn their business, which is believed to be less risky.

On the flipside, starter programs have become the norm for merchants who no longer meet the minimum criteria to receive a traditional advance.  Starter programs, are short-term, small cash advances (alleviating some risk) that offer these merchants a chance to prove that they are credit-worthy.  These merchants may take two or three smaller advances before eventually being approved for a traditional advance should they show their ability to sustain the cash advance program and payback the provider in a timely fashion.  For many merchants, this is the only option and so these programs are becoming more common than they were a few years back.  And so, as the underwriting criteria for traditional advances tightens, merchants who would have received a traditional advance a few years back are now instantly put forth to the Starter Program queue, and well qualified merchants who would have taken a traditional advance are now instantly put forth for the premium programs.

The criteria to qualify for a premium program has over the past 6 months to a year loosened believe it or not as cash advance providers vie to provide the best deal to these merchants, and the criteria for starter programs has broadened forcing more and more merchants into that bucket.  Eventually, we will see traditional advances disappear almost entirely as every merchant is classified as a starter or a premium.  In a way, this trend mimics what is happening in our national economy.  The rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the middle class is joining the poor.

It’s unclear how long this will take to pan out and if this unnatural division will force more players to shut their doors or what, but it is clear that the industry continues to change and morph to suit the current environment.  It’s an ever-changing creature and due to the short-term nature of these programs, evolution takes its course more quickly than perhaps it would with a more long-term program.  Ironing out the wrinkles and finding a method and model that works are the difficult tasks taken on by the heads of the major players but don’t underestimate new players showing up with a new twist that could change the industry inside and out.  Necessity may be the mother of invention, but capitalism is its father, and the next true innovation for this industry may take place within the next year, though don’t expect it to come from one of the current players.

In conclusion, it’s important to understand the ever-changing marketplace of the merchant cash advance, and partner accordingly.  Sure Payment Solutions understands the climate and is prepared to weather the storm.  We will continue to provide the lowest rates and best service available through our own private channels and through strategic industry partnerships.  We believe that change is coming, and are constantly looking for ways to bring positive change to all members of the Merchant Cash Advance space and we hope that you’ll choose us when you are looking for a company to trust.

Restaurants are the heart and soul of small business in this country.  No matter where you go, you can always count on good food and a variety of options.  We’re located in New York City where, thanks to the extremely diverse community, we can pretty much choose to go out to eat anything we can imagine.  While this is not the case all over the country, in many places it is.  As a nation, we define ourselves based on our food.  Whether it’s soul food down south, thick crust pizza in Chicago, Seafood in San Francisco, or Texas BBQ we are all connected by our love of food.

Unfortunately, many restaurants are going through a particularly tough time right now.  The ever-increasing cost of oil and gasoline has forced many food vendors to raise their prices to their customers.  Higher cost of goods for restaurants means slimmer margins, increased prices, or reduced portion size.  All of these things have an ill effect on the business and can drive customers away.  4 years back when the recession was fresh, many restaurants changed their menus and raised prices in order to maintain certain profit margins, while others lowered their prices through daily specials to drive more traffic.  No matter the method, it was clear that restaurants were hurting.  Now, they are hurting again, for much the same reason.

Health concerns add to the probability that consumers will choose to eat at home instead of out as many people are focused on counting calories, omitting wheat and/or dairy, and eating out while trying to stick to a diet can be difficult.  And so, restaurants are struggling to make ends meet and keep their doors open.  Luckily, while financing is difficult to secure for most businesses, restaurants have an advantage.  The consistent and predictable month over month sales of most restaurants make them prime candidates for our funding services.  Restaurant business funding takes many forms, but particularly the merchant cash advance and business loan products we offer tend to be perfect fits for most restauranteurs.  They are fairly short term, reasonably priced, can be secured quickly and used for anything you need.

Restaurant Business Funding Available

Restaurant funding is typically used for marketing, renovations, new menus, or just for some working capital.  Many restaurants tend to have a busy season and a slow season as most areas of the country attract tourism during certain parts of the year.  And so many businesses look for funding to push them through the slow season, and that’s where we come in.  Our funding services require no personal guarantee, no collateral, and no late or early payment penalties.  In fact, there’s no fixed term at all.  Getting started is easy, here’s a link to our get started form.  If you are a restaurant owner interested in getting funds, simply fill out the form and submit it to our account management team who will reach out asap to discuss the available options.  You can also call us today at (800) 991-3917.

We’re here to make sure the great tradition of food excellence enjoyed as Americans never falters.