There are practically numerous methods to fund your business, short term.

Short term business loans are needed if your business is in need of immediate cash. Some examples would be purchasing equipment, store remodeling, and even paying off debt.

The most common way to fund such short term business financing need is bank loans and borrowing from relatives.

Bank loans involves collateral, or if not, a form of personal guarantee. With the today’s tightening credit control practiced by banks, It would be difficult to obtain a loan these days.

Borrowing from relatives might be your best bet. However, in my opinion, borrowing from relatives is a more difficult and riskier than a bank loan. How come? Simple – you put your relationship at stake, and a single problem with your payback will put a strain in you relationship that could last for a long time.

Alternative funding: business cash advance

If you run a small business with a good amount of your business transaction are credit card transaction, business cash advance could be the solution for you, especially when bank loans and relatives funding are difficult to obtain for some reasons.

Business cash advance is basically a form of lending, which lenders pay borrowers a fixed amount of cash now, in exchange for a fixed percentage of the borrower’s future credit card transaction value until the contract is fulfilled.

Just like any other small business loans, there are pro and cons with this kind of business funding.

Pros of business cash advance

Some pros of business cash advance are:

• Simple and fast process;
• No collateral or personal guarantee needed;
• Will benefit borrowers who have a low or unacceptable credit scores and business reputation.

Cons of business cash advance

Some cons of business cash advance are:

• Will always have higher interest rate than banks’ loan interest rates;
• By nature, if your business credit card transaction increases in the future, you will end up paying more due to the fixed repayment percentage.

Stick to the mainstream

Above all the pros and cons I mentioned above, I recommend you to stick to the ‘mainstream’ – bank loan, that is – whenever possible. Avoiding high interest rate and the risk of unsecured loans is always be the better business practice in the long term.

However, consider business cash advance method as an option if, and only if, your business needs an unexpected, emergency funding. Having several funding methods at hand will offer your business a nice leverage and a little boost when needed.

Ivan Widjaya
Business leveraging

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