Working Capital. Every Business Needs It!

Working Capital. Every Business Needs It!

How long would your business last without enough money to cover expenses? Most businesses fail within the first three years due to lack of enough working capital, and even well established operations can experience cash crunches. Competitors are a constant. How financially strong your business is, will determine how well you can compete.

The frustration for many business owners is this – traditional lending sources either require you to be financially solid before they lend you money to grow or are conservative in the amount of credit they extend to the seasoned business operator.

So where do most business owners obtain the financing they need to grow their business? In short, asset based lenders. There is a 2nd tier of lenders below bank financing that finance purchase orders, equipment needs, inventory, real estate and accounts receivable. Essentially any asset listed on a given company’s balance sheet can be eligible for financing. Their focus is either on the quality of the asset they are financing or the financial strength of the customer placing the order (in the case of purchase order and accounts receivable financing). This approach makes financing growth much more obtainable for business owners.

What about financing for the established companies? A challenge remains here as well. Financing available for the established business owners is often inadequate to meet growth needs. Banks are most typically conservative and provide small lines of credit, even to companies with strong net worth and income. Companies need creative solutions when seeking additional capital and this creativity comes from the non-regulated, more entreprenuerial thinking, capital sources in the market. Could your business benefit from knowing a partner like this?

About Huntington Coast Capital.

Huntington Coast Capital secures funding for companies in a broad base of industries. Our clients come to us to find a more flexible lending partner to meet their growth needs. Many are declined by the bank and are in need of a more creative and entrepreneurial funding solution.

We consult on a wide range of funding options for business owners throughout the United States in the following areas:

  • Supply chain financing
  • Equipment loans and lease programs (learn more about our equipment loan platform offered through our subsidiary)
  • Lines of credit for working capital needs
  • Term loans for marketing, hiring staff and general expansion needs
  • Factoring services for accounts receivable financing that also provides for back office credit and collection functions
  • Purchase order financing
  • Asset based loans
  • Business acquisition financing
  • Inventory financing
  • Private commercial real estate bridge loans
  • SBA loans for business and real estate needs

Whether you are a startup or established, in need of $100,000 or $10,000,000 we have the capital partners to meet your needs. Contact us to see how we can assist in taking your business to the next level. To your success!

How Will A Rise In Interest Rates Effect Business Owners?

How Will A Rise In Interest Rates Effect Business Owners?

Things That Traditionally Increase When the Fed Increases Interest Rates

The recent rise in the Fed funds rate will likely cause a ripple effect on the borrowing costs for consumers and businesses that want to access credit based on the U.S. dollar. That has an impact across numerous credit categories, including the following:

  • The Prime Rate: A hike in the Feds rate immediately fueled a jump in the prime rate, which represents the credit rate that banks extend to their most credit-worthy customers. This rate is the one on which other forms of consumer credit are based, as a higher prime rate means that banks will increase fixed, and variable-rate borrowing costs when assessing risk on less credit-worthy companies and consumers.
  • Credit Card Rates: Working off the prime rate, banks will determine how credit-worthy other individuals are based on their risk profile. Rates will be affected for credit cards and other loans as both require extensive risk-profiling of consumers seeking credit to make purchases. Short-term borrowing will have higher rates than those considered long-term.
  • Savings: Money market and credit-deposit (CD) rates increase due to the tick up of the prime rate. In theory, that should boost savings among consumers and businesses as they can generate a higher return on their savings. However, it is possible that anyone with a debt burden would seek to pay off their financial obligations to offset higher variable rates tied to credit cards, home loans, or other debt instruments.
  • U.S. National Debt: A hike in interest rates boosts the borrowing costs for the U.S. government and fuel an increase in the national debt. A report from 2015 by the Congressional Budget Office and Dean Baker, a director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, estimates that the U.S. government may end up paying $2.9 trillion more over the next decade due to increases in the interest rate, than it would have if the rates had stayed near zero.

Things That Are Largely Unaffected When the Fed Increases Benchmark Interest Rates

  • Auto Loan Rates: Auto companies have benefited immensely from the Fed’s zero-interest-rate policy, but rising benchmark rates will have an incremental impact. Surprisingly, auto loans have not shifted much since the Federal Reserve’s announcement because they are long-term loans.
  • Mortgage Rates: A sign of a rate hike can send home borrowers rushing to close on a deal for a fixed loan rate on a new home. However, mortgage rates traditionally fluctuate more in tandem with the yield of domestic 10-year Treasury notes, which are largely affected by inflation rates.

Things That Traditionally Decrease When the Fed Increases Interest Rates

  • Business Profits: When interest rates rise, that’s typically good news for the profitability of the banking sector, as noted by investment giant Goldman Sachs. But for the rest of the global business sector, a rate hike carves into profitability. That’s because the cost of capital required to expand goes higher. That could be terrible news for a market that is currently in an earnings recession.
  • Home Sales: Higher interest rates and higher inflation typically cool demand in the housing sector. On a 30-year loan at 4.0%, home buyers can currently anticipate at least 60% in interest payments over the duration of their investment. Any uptick is surely a deterrent to acquiring the long-term investment former President George Bush once described as central to “The American Dream.”
  • Consumer Spending: A rise in borrowing costs traditionally weighs on consumer spending. Both higher credit card rates and higher savings rates due to better bank rates provide fuel a downturn in consumer impulse purchasing. (For more, read How Interest Rates Affect Spending.)

SBA Loans The Advantages and Disadvantages

SBA Loans The Advantages and Disadvantages

The SBA or Small Business Administration is a government sponsored funding program for business operations, commercial real estate and construction projects. Whether you are looking for an SBA loan right here in our hometown of Huntington Beach or anywhere in the USA, an SBA loan may be of value to you.

What is an SBA Loan?

SBA loans are generally described as funds available for working capital or equipment purchases that will contribute to the growth of a company’s operations. Working capital is a broad term covering everything from marketing and advertising to hiring and other capital investments.

The SBA does not lend money directly to business owners. Participating banks originate, underwrite and lend money under the program to qualified applicants. SBA loans made by banks are partially guaranteed by the US government.

Who Qualifies for an SBA Loan?

A business that would qualify for an SBA loan would have the following general characteristics:

a minimum of two years in business
at least two tax returns showing a business profit (more on this later)
adequate financial strength of the business relative to the loan amount being requested
personal credit scores above 690 for each owner in the business
outside collateral in the form of equity in a personal residence (sometimes required)

This is by no means an all inclusive list, but some of the main pre-requisites in qualifying for an SBA loan.

Is an SBA Loan Right for My Business?

SBA Loans are a great source of low cost capital for many businesses. If you can check all the boxes required for an SBA Loan, it is a great way to responsibly leverage your company for growth.

Whether or not an SBA Loan is right for your business has many variables. For example, a popular SBA Loan is the SBA 7(a) Loan. This SBA Loan variety is more commonly offered by banks for companies looking for term debt (lump some of cash – think mortgage) versus revolving credit. While the SBA offers revolving lines of credit under the SBA 7(a) Program, our experience is that banks do not offer the revolving loan as widely as the term debt.

If you are looking for a revolving line of credit for your business, there are more flexible and user-friendly loans available.

What Else Should I Know When applying for an SBA Loan?

Here is where the tax return profits come to play. It is natural for business owners to want to minimize the profit they show on their tax returns for tax purposes. This is an effective way to reduce your tax obligations, but not good when searching for an SBA Loan.

This is because the banks that underwrite the SBA Loan request will look to the tax returns to determine whether or not your business can afford to take on the payments of the new SBA Loan. If you are showing very little profit or losses on your tax returns, you are declined before the process even starts.

Advantages of SBA Loans

The advantages of SBA Loans are simple – low cost source of funds to grow your business. Business owners like the program due to the low cost involved with these loans. In addition, there are seldom pre-payment penalties attached to them.

The banks like the SBA Loan Program because the government is guaranteeing a portion of their exposure which makes the program attractive to those participating banks that are lending the money.

Disadvantages of SBA Loans

The disadvantage of SBA Loans is that they are hard to qualify for. Only the financially strong qualify for SBA Loans. They are accompanied by a fair amount of paperwork and hurdles to clear for underwriting. We have found that roughly half of our SBA Loan submissions make it through the finish line and that is because most are dis-qualified prior to submission.

Closing Thoughts on SBA Loans

We are big fans of SBA Loans and always use them as a starting point when consulting with our clients. If we can get you qualified for an SBA Loan, the rates and terms will be hard to beat. Further, the good news is that there are other forms of financing available should we need to use an alternative source to bridge to a future point where the company may qualify.

If you would like to see if your business would qualify, please call me directly at 714-719-8966.

Huntington Coast Capital Is Off To Its Best Start Ever In 2016!

Huntington Coast Capital Is Off To Its Best Start Ever In 2016!

2016 has started out in a full sprint for Huntington Coast Capital. Through the first four weeks of the year, we have secured $11,300,175 dollars in working capital business loans for our clients. This volume represents the fastest start of any year since our first full year in operation in 2011!

The loan mix was varied and breaks down as follows:

* $5,500,000 business loan for a distributor of private label pastas, spices, and mixes secured by the company’s accounts receivable and inventory.

* $3,200,000 construction loan for a ground up development project in San Diego, CA.

* $100,000 SBA loan for a product development firm.

* $500,000 business loan for a auto transportation company.

* $2,000,0000 business loan for an importer of suits and formal wear for men.

Huntington Coast Capital is pleased to have secured funding for these clients! In each case, the client was in need of a creative business loan to grow their business. The business loan options we brought to the table allowed them to realize the full potential of their company.

If your company could benefit from having a choice of business loan options to choose from, we would like to speak with you! We enjoy playing a small role in insuring that our clients succeed.

To your success!

Patrick Zazueta | Founder
Huntington Coast Capital, Inc.
714-719-8966