Using a Merchant Cash Advance to Prepare for the Holidays

When autumn leaves first begin to add a bit of color to the landscape, many small business owners start to look forward to making the most of the upcoming holiday season. For many, using a Merchant Cash Advance is a smart way to take advantage of this time of year and make the most of the increased opportunity it brings.

• Stock up on supplies. If you have a retail establishment, you can use a Merchant Cash Advance to stock-up on merchandise that you know will sell over the holidays. Pre-order items that have a history of high sales or expand into seasonal product lines. By using the efficiency and speed of a Merchant Cash Advance you can secure the inventory that enables more sales, perhaps taking advantage of discounts offered when buying early or in bulk.


• Accommodate more people. If you have a retail business, you might need to accommodate more traffic by adding some counter space or additional product displays. In a restaurant, you might invest in additional tables, or purchase the supplies needed to accommodate (or cater) private Holiday parties. By planning ahead and getting a Merchant Cash Advance now, you can be ready when people start looking to your place of business as the place to be during the Holidays.


• Get the extra help needed. Additional traffic and more opportunity might mean you need to hire some temporary, seasonal help to assist your staff. A Merchant Cash Advance can give you the money you need to cover this cost so that every customer receives the best possible service.


• Advertise your strengths. It is no surprise that the Holidays can create lots of potential customers for you – but these people will need to be aware of who you are, where your business is located and why they should visit your business. By using a Merchant Cash Advance to handle advertising costs, you can market your goods and services to reach the best possible clientele.

Make an Action Plan
Proper planning is what will allow your business to capitalize on the holiday traffic. As we mentioned in our recent Merchant Cash Advance White Paper, investing in opportunity is one of the best possible uses of a Merchant Cash Advance. As so clearly illustrated by the bullet points above, the holidays traditionally offer many lucrative opportunities for businesses to explore.

The best way to take advantage of the potential holiday traffic is to carefully plot out your strategy. Once you know specifically what you’d like to do, you must:

• Determine the budget (time and money) needed to make it happen
• Calculate your assumed return on investment (ROI) to make sure this effort will be profitable
• Identify your potential sources for working capital and contact specific providers for more details
• Create a schedule to make sure everything happens smoothly, and on time

With a little forethought and some smart planning, your business can truly make the most of the upcoming holiday season. And for some businesses under the right set of circumstances, a Merchant Cash Advance is a valuable option for seeing the working capital needed to capitalize on seasonal opportunities.

For more information, refer to these articles:
http://www.morebusiness.com/holiday-advertising-tools

http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/apparel-accessory-stores-womens-specialty/4251284-1.html

http://www.inc.com/news/briefs/200708/0807ports.html

For more information about using a Merchant Cash Advance for making the most of the upcoming holiday season, visit AdvanceMe.com

What do you think? How will your business prepare for taking advantage of this year’s holiday season?

Free Legal Advice about Merchant Cash Advances

There is a website offering free legal help and advice called “Avvo.Com” (short for avvocato, lawyer in Italian). In addition to helping you find a lawyer based on specific criteria, this site also offers a place for people to ask legal questions which are fielded by the many lawyers who participate with Avvo.

Recently, someone asked a pertinent question about how Merchant Cash Advances might play-out for a business facing a looming bankruptcy. You can see the whole thread here.

The merchant stated he was facing a bankruptcy in 2 months, and wondered if a Merchant Cash Advance might be a good way to “pay off some of my secured debt that will not get expunged” by the bankruptcy.

At the time of this writing, four lawyers from Avvo had responded to the question, and all of them concurred: to consider a Merchant Cash Advance as a solution in this instance would most likely constitute fraud and would not help this merchant at all.

The lawyers continue their warnings that if the merchant were to pursue this effort, he would open himself to potential federal criminal charges – which would be charges placed on top of the bankruptcy he already faces.

One lawyer summed it up succinctly: “In short, don't do it…play within the rules.”

Staying On Top of a Moving Industry
The reason we are noting this exchange is not as an endorsement of the Avvo site, its content, or its authors/contributors. Indeed, we expressly disclaim any opinion about the thoughts, opinions and other content of the Avvo site and we will not be monitoring it on an ongoing basis. It may from time to time publish content with which we strongly agree or disagree, and we will not be commenting on it either way on a regular basis.

We note this exchange only as a reminder to all business owners to continue due diligence before making a decision. This is especially important when the business is considering financial decisions.

We have watched the Merchant Cash Advance industry grow at an amazing rate since 1998. Now, perhaps more than ever before, it is imperative that a business owner take the time to research and understand all they can about this working capital solution and the various providers who offer them. Education becomes power.

The exchange on Avvo.com illustrates that if a business makes a bad choice regarding a Merchant Cash Advance, it could have very negative effects. The exchange also underscores the value of legal counsel in financial decisions – but we do warn that you never substitute using the services of an attorney or legal counsel with using the opinions found on any online resource.

Make Sure You’re Covered
It is important to remember that a Merchant Cash Advance will not be the same for every business in every situation – exactly the opposite is true. A Merchant Cash Advance is a unique funding product and each situation could offer special circumstances to consider.

To make sure your business is making the right decisions, proper legal counsel and guidance from trusted business advisors is a must. It might start for you with a website offering free advice, but it should not end until you have spoken directly with qualified professionals about the specifics in your situation.

Consider that some free advice about Merchant Cash Advances.

What do you think? Is there a specific incident you can share where a lawyer’s advice helped you to make better business decision