The study goes on to identify the first three actions business owners would take if they were able to obtain additional working capital:
36% would invest in advertising
30% would hire additional employees
24% would invest in new plant or equipment
19% would increase inventory
18% would invest in ecommerce
13% would invest in increasing benefits to employees
11% would invest in research and development
8% would open new stores or branches
(statistics taken from 2008 NSBA Small and Mid-Sized Business Survey)
These results show that many small business owners are thinking about growth strategies in 2008, and many are simply waiting for a good way to address the costs of getting started. A Merchant Cash Advance could be just the thing to bring these strategies to life.
Investing in Tomorrow, Today
The smartest way to use a Merchant Cash Advance is to invest in growth strategies. In making the business stronger (through new inventory, additional employees, new equipment) and more accessible (through advertising, etc.) there is a greater chance for increased revenue. With a Merchant Cash Advance:
- You can act quickly. Some strategies have a timely aspect and a Merchant Cash Advance application won’t bog you down in paperwork. Keep it simple, and you can keep moving forward.
- You are free to spend the money on any business need. If you have envisioned a detailed growth strategy, a Merchant Cash Advance could handle one aspect of your plan or could cover the costs of various related efforts.
- You can access cash as needed. A Merchant Cash Advance is a potentially renewable source of working capital. So if you need some money now and more money later, a Merchant Cash Advance can make it easy to get what you need. Have cash in hand in as little as 72 hours if you are using an approved processor.
Be Careful, and Have a Plan
A Merchant Cash Advance, like any method of raising working capital, works best as a part of a carefully thought out plan…and it is not for every business.
Before any business enters into any working capital arrangement, it should lay out a plan for what the arrangement will cost the business, to what purposes the funds will be put, and what the business expects to get. If the plan anticipates (in detail) an attractive “ROI” or return on investment after taking into account all of the expenses associated with raising the working capital, then the working capital arrangement is much more likely to strengthen the business over the long term. This helps to justify the costs of the capital raise.
It’s true that it often takes money to make money. Though some small business owners think that a loan may be the only option to get working capital, it often pays to dig a little deeper. If you are processing regular credit and debit card sales, realizing your 2008 growth strategies may be closer and easier than you think.
What do you think?
If money were no object, what would your small business do to grow?
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