Banks Have a Lot of Reasons to Reject Your Small Business Loan
For a small business to grow into a big business, it needs a loan unless it has exceptional sales and profit margins. A small business owner has quite a few places where he/she can go with a loan request. Banks seem to be one of their options on most occasions. What these owners might not realize is that banks have recently developed a reputation for rejecting small business loans. It seems that banks are more interested in financing large businesses due to their benefits. A bank can come up with a variety of reasons to reject loan approval for a small business. Some of the common reasons are as under:Reasons for Banks to Reject Your Small Business LoanCredit HistoryOne of the barriers between you and the business loan is credit history. When you go to a bank, they look at your personal as well as business credit reports. Some people are under the impression that their personal credit does not affect their business loans. But that’s not always the case. A majority of banks look into both the types of credits. One of the aspects of credit that matter a lot to the banks is credit history. The length of your credit history can affect your loan approval negatively or positively.The more information banks have at hand to assess your business’ creditworthiness, the easier it is for them to forward you the loan. However, if your business is new and your credit history is short, banks will be unwilling to forward you the desired loan.Risky BusinessYou must be aware of the term high-risk business. In fact, lending institutions have created an entire industry for high-risk businesses to help them with loans, credit card payments, etc. A bank can look at a lot of factors to evaluate your business as a high-risk business. Perhaps you belong to an industry that is high-risk per se. Examples of such businesses are companies selling marijuana-based products, online gambling platforms, and casinos, dating services, blockchain-based services, etc. It is imperative to understand that your business’ activities can also make it a high-risk business.For example, your business might not be a high-risk business per se, but perhaps you have received too many charge-backs on your shipped orders from your customers. In that case, the bank will see you as a risky investment and might eventually reject your loan application.Cash FlowAs stated earlier, your credit history matters a lot when a bank is to approve your loan request. While having a short credit history increases your chances of rejection, a long credit history isn’t always a savior too. Any financial incidents on your credit history that do not favor your business can force the bank to reject your application. One of the most important considerations is the cash flow of your business. When you have cash flow issues, you are at risk of receiving a “no” from the bank for your loan.Your cash flow is a measure for the bank to know how easily you return the loan. If you are tight on cash flow, how will you manage the repayments? However, cash flow is one of the controllable factors for you. Find ways to increase your revenues and lower your expenses. Once you have the right balance, you can approach the bank for a loan.The DebtA mistake that small business owners often make is trying out too many places for loans. They will avoid going to the bank first but get loans from several other sources in the meantime. Once you have obtained your business funding from other sources, it makes sense to return it in time. Approaching the bank when you already have a lot of debt to pay is not advisable at all. Do keep in mind that the debt you or your business owes affects your credit score as well. In short, the bank does not even have to investigate to know your debt. An overview of your credit report can tell the story.The PreparationSometimes, your business is doing fine, and your credit score is in good shape as well. However, what’s missing is a solid business plan and proper preparation for loan approval. If you haven’t already figured out, banks require you to present a lot of documents with your loan approval request. Here are only some of the documents you will have to present to the bank to get approval for your loan.
Income tax returns
Existing loan documents
Personal financial documents
Affiliations and ownership
Business lease documents
Financial statements of the business
You have to be exceptionally careful when these documents and presenting them to the bank. Any discrepancies can result in loan rejection.Concentration of CustomersThis one might come as a surprise to some, but a lot of banks consider this aspect of your business seriously. You must not forget that loans are banks’ investments. Businesses that approach the banks are their vehicles to multiply their money in the form of interest. If the bank senses that your business does not have the potential to expand, it can reject your loan request. Think of a mom and pop shop in a small town with a small population. If it only serves the people of that town and has no potential to grow further, a rejection is imminent.In this particular case, even if the business has considerable profit margins, it relies on its regular customers for that. The bank might see it as a returnable loan but not as an investment opportunity.ConclusionThe good news is that you have a lot of funding options as a small business owner. Today, banks are only one of the many options for you to fund your bank. You don’t necessarily have to apply for loans when you have crowdfunding platforms actively helping small business with their funding needs. If you are seeking a business loan from a bank, that’s fine. However, if the bank does not approve your request, it should not worry you much.
SEO Services You Can’t Live Without
Some agencies specialise in only SEO or link building whereas other large consultancies can offer end-to-end packages from developing or redesigning your website to ongoing SEO maintenance. Here are five of the key SEO services that you should look for when evaluating online marketing agencies.Keyword researchCreating your keyword portfolio is one of the most important SEO services offered by agencies and the foundation of your online marketing campaign. This is best conducted by a professional trained in keyword research. A specialised SEO company or consultant will use different techniques to find the best keywords for your site. This may include client and customer feedback, keyword research tools, competitor analysis, social media and so on.SEO strategiesAn experienced SEO consultant will help you map out an SEO strategy (online and offline) that drives traffic to your site, increases the conversion rate and gives you the highest return on your investment. The keyword research (see above) and technical analysis of your site forms the basis for your campaigns so that a comprehensive marketing plan can be mapped out in order to start implementing the SEO activity.Link buildingWhen you are researching the SEO services that you require, ask the consultant or agency about link building campaigns. Search Engines see a back link to your site from other credible, trustworthy, authoritative and relative websites as a validation for your website. A professional SEO company should have developed a network of contacts, established relationships with webmasters and know how to find the best link building opportunities.SEO copywritingCopywriting is another of the SEO services that a larger agency may offer. Off page and on page optimisation is crucial to your SEO campaign but it’s not always the first click that you need to worry about, it’s the second one. The difference between a high or low bounce rates may come down to the quality of your SEO copywriting. An SEO company will help you find a balance between keyword-rich copy and engaging copy that encourages conversions.SEO web designThis can be one of the most vital elements of your campaign and yet one of the most neglected SEO services. With new websites, SEO consultants should ideally be consulted at the start of the process when you are deciding on a technical platform, a Content Management System (CMS), shopping cart software or other key design elements. Sadly choosing the wrong platform can have serious implications on your potential SEO success.When looking for an SEO company, it may be more cost-effective and more efficient to take a streamlined approach to your SEO activities and hire a full-service agency that can deliver a whole spectrum of SEO services. Some agencies may have web designers that can help create a beautiful website with all the SEO functionality you require, experienced link analysts developing link building campaigns and offer professional copywriting SEO services.
Online Education – Education In Vogue
Time management is the key to success in today’s fast paced world. How one manages his or her time determines the success quotient and this is the reason why online education id gaining immense popularity. Since online education offers unmatched flexibility and the students and learners can manage time in line with their other priorities, it is becoming a very popular mode of education in almost all parts of the world. The growing popularity of online education has resulted in the establishment of several online educational institutions offering online degree courses and other learning opportunities.Some people harbored the misconception that the advantages of online education are restricted only for those students and learners who had an established record of past accomplishments. This also led to the belief that online education helps only those who have access to modern means of communication as computer and Internet. However, as the awareness about various modes of online education is increasing the misconceptions related to online education are giving way to more acceptability to online education and training.Changing perceptionIt is a talk of the past when people considered online mode of education as a quick way of obtaining a degree or getting good grades. In the past, the reputed educational institutions were not offering online education. However, with the increasing popularity of online education, the majority of institutions offering online courses are well-established institutes and they have a rich experience to provide such education. It is worth mentioning, that a large number of world’s leading educational institutions are offering online education courses on a wide range of subjects.Growth driversToday, most of the accredited online education courses have talented teachers and professors of repute in their respective specialization. This ensures qualitative learning. The students signing up with online education courses, can be assured of guaranteed results. Moreover, online education is more interesting and more competitive when compared to the traditional teaching methodologies.Employers’ viewpointUndoubtedly, many employers were and some of them are still having doubts about the value of online education. However, with change in perception and emerging popularity, a large number of employers have realized their worth. Now the employers consider the online degrees from accredited and well-established online educational institutes of repute. Moreover, the increasing number of people who enroll for online education has changed the employers’ perception and now they readily consider the benefits of online education.Some research reports point out that technology oriented industries such as, communication, computers, media and marketing have started to accept the candidates having online degree courses from accredited and reputed institutions.