February 2017 - Page 2 of 4

Celebs’ Shenanigans Days Before Thanksgiving

Justine Bieber Vs Fan

What happens when a male fan cannot control himself around Justin Bieber? Apparently, he gets punched in the face. This was precisely what took place when a fan ran up to Justin Bieber just as his car pulled up in Barcelona.

The fan had put his hand into the car, almost touching Bieber. It all happened so fast that it took a minute for the fan to realise that his mouth was bleeding.

The fan’s friends expressed their shock. It was hard to tell if it was more shocking that he was bleeding or that Justin Bieber had got that aggressive.

Well, this fan can say that he got close to Justin Bieber, albeit only for a minute.

Jason Derulo’s Nightclub Brawl

Jason Derulo was caught in the middle of a nightclub fight. It went to the point that police officers had to wield their weapons.

It looked about closing time at Bootsy Bellows. The crowd outside gave no indication of how or when the tussle started. As soon as things got heated up, Jason jumped into the brawl to put in a few punches and kicks.

The L.A. deputies wasted no time to disperse the situation. Their weapon of choice, stun bag rifles. The mere presence of the officers was enough.

Best night ever for someone.

Key Terms

Jason Derulo

Bootsy Bellows

L.A.

Police Officer

Justin Bieber

http://www.tmz.com/2016/11/22/justin-bieber-punches-guy-barcelona/

http://www.tmz.com/2016/11/20/jason-derulo-club-fight-cops/

JUSTIN BIEBER IN CRIME DRAMA

More drama from singer Justin Bieber, after an alleged assault on a fan in Spain, sparked off heated discussions among his security team.

But there are two sides to every story with some fans taking to the internet to claim the victim had bragged about plans to hit the singer first. Fans have also been taking to social media to defend the singer, even claiming the alleged victim was seen trying to choke Justin just before he hit out.

It all happened as Justin arrived in his car at the Palau Sant Jordi arena in Barcelona, where he was performing, and he opened the car window to say hi to the waiting fans. That’s when the male fan approached the car and allegedly assaulted the singer.

One thing is for sure, images of the fan with a bloodied nose are going viral across the internet currently, and it is the talk of Barcelona.

All of the pictures were captured by a Spanish news team and said that officers from the regional police – Mossos d’Esquadra turned up very quickly. A spokesman for them confirmed to reporters the incident is being dealt with as a misdemeanour and not a crime.

The Legacy of Prince

Prince’s Estate

All the members of Prince’s family have been allegedly having a dispute over who will get his fortune. Since there seems to be no written will, legally it goes to his blood sister Tyka Nelson, and his five surviving half-siblings.

Prince was not married, and the only child he had, had died after one week from birth due to complications. The family has opened up Paisley Park, Prince’s home and recording studio, which is also where he apparently hosted a few all night parties. It will become a tourist attraction much like Elvis’ Graceland.

The history of Purple Rain

As a tribute to his death, Prince’s hit Purple Rain has been listed in the CMA awards. Purple Rain was a personal project for Prince. Reportedly, he carried around a purple notebook with sketches and ideas for the movie. He also had a hand in deciding who was cast for the film. The meaning of the song has many fans baffled.

They have been trying to work it out for decades. The running theory is that it’s about the end of the world, which is something Prince was interested in at that time. The film made over $68 million, even though it only cost about 7 million to produce.

LOOKING FOR THE BEST LIFE INSURANCE POLICY?

Term insurance plans are the ideal life insurance choice for people who are working, who have others depending on them, and are looking for the best level of protection available but at a reasonably low cost.

So what is a term insurance plan? In a nutshell, it’s a life insurance protection policy. It means that in the event of the death of the person insured, a guaranteed amount will be paid to their specific nominee. Nothing will be given if the individual who is insured, lives beyond the length of the policy.

If you are worried about any of the following issues, then a term assurance policy might be the best thing for you:

The security of your family financially if you were no longer with them
Any need to change your life insurance as your life stages change
Ensuring your family would have a monthly income if you passed away
Avoiding your financial issues burdening your family after your death

The benefits of the new Aegon iTerm plan

This comprehensive term insurance plan provides a variety of advantages to working families, to help provide reassurance that their loved ones would be looked after if anything should happen. Some of the key features of this particular plan include:

Life insurance right up to eighty years of age, if required
The choice to increase your life cover as your life changes
A built-in benefit if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness

So, looking at the advantages in a little more detail, the Aegon iTerm plan offers customers the chance to expand and increase the life cover purchased, when there are changes in life which require it, such as the birth of a new child, or a wedding.

If you were to die, there is the option to either grant the payout to your loved ones as a lump sum or as a monthly income, whichever would suit them better. The policy also includes an automatically built in benefit if you are diagnosed with a terminal illness. The plan even includes discounted rates for women and for those who don’t smoke.

What other similar plans are there?

A quick search on a comparison site for myself – a non-smoking 43-year old woman – soon pulled up some similar policies offering some benefits and features along the same lines:

Metlife is offering the Mera Term Plan. This term plan also includes a discount offer for non-smokers and allows insurance up to the age of 75. The policy term provided to me here was between 10 and 40 years.

Birla Sun Life Insurance runs the BSLI Protect@Ease term plan which was similar but offered insurance up to the age of 80 this time. It also included a no-smoking discount price and the policy term this time was between five and 40 years.

ICICI Prudential Insurance offers the iProtectsmart plan, which insures you up to 75 years of age. This policy term is between five and 40 years again, and also provides a non-smoker reduction in price.

Keywords

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Financial security

Protection

Was 2016 the year to make or break Indian startups? (Content Strategi – SEO)

India has experienced a boom in new emerging startups in the past few years. This year, 2016 has been different, though. So is India’s startup bubble about to burst?

First the bad news

Despite being the world’s 3^rd largest ecosystem for the startup industry, India has seen a massive fall in investment in new startups. Compared to the same period in 2015, investment decreased a staggering 40{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} in the first half of 2016, to the tune of $2.1 billion. This fall in investment has impacted startups and new businesses in one of two ways:job losses and sadly the closing of some.

In July this year, Flipkart showed 700 of its employees the door, following in the footsteps of Snapdeal, Zomato, Grofers, Housing, TinyOwl and others who have also been forced to lose staff due to financial difficulties or failure to meet forecast goals.

Unfortunately, for some companies and startups, job cuts were not enough, and 2016 has been witness to the folding of some big players in the startup industry; including Peppertap, Amber Wellness, and Tooler, with many others set to follow suit.

Now here’s some good news for entrepreneurs

It’s not all bad news, though. This year saw the second year of the annual Startup India Rocks Competition – A competition run by Scaale’s global group. The competition provides entrepreneurs with the opportunity to win prizes which range from mentorship, funding and corporate connections.

Last year’s event in Goa was so successful that the idea was expanded into the global market, now known as Startup Global Rocks.

Startup Global Rocks features:

Over 100 companies from more than 15 countries
More than 60 global investors
The involvement of at least 50 global media outlets
More than $2 million invested so far

Scaale global group are a company growth consultancy group with connections in over eight countries worldwide. The group has more than ten years of experience, connecting startups and small businesses with funding, corporate contacts and investors they require to grow their business.

So what’s the Government planning for startup companies?

In January of 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented the Startup India action plan, to a collection of startup founders. The Startup India action plan is a 19-step plan that aims to put entrepreneurship and innovation at the forefront of the Indian economy, by relaxing policies and providing funding and training opportunities for the country’s entrepreneurs. Key players in the startup industry such as Girish Mathrubootham, founder of Indian startup Freshdesk, applauded the government’s recognition of startups as legitimate businesses.

The Startup India action plan proposes many things from funding to tax breaks, training centres and easier company registration to name a few.

And with over 80k jobs being created by the startup industry alone in 2015, it’s hardly surprising that the Indian government wishes to bolster and aid the industry. However, many feel that the action plan doesn’t go far enough.

The Startup India action plan does lack a few things

As with most new government programs, there have been a few voices of discontent since the announcement made at Red Fort, Delhi in January. While many agree that the Startup India action plan will make life easier for new startups and investors, others feel the terms of the plan fall well short of what India’s startup industry needs.

Forbes India, highlighted some of the good, and not so good aspects of the Startup India action plan. The graphic depicted here enumerates the pros and cons of this plan.

Some blame the atrocious gender gap in India for India’s struggling startup industry, with only 10{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of startup founders being female, compared to 37{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} in the US. While others, including Alok Goel, managing director at SAIF Partners, suggested that India’s old-fashioned laws and policies are to blame.

Nobody can deny, though, that this is a very exciting time in India to be launching a startup. It remains to be seen how far the newly launched plan is going to survive, though.

How are the startups shaping up in India?

In a new economic climate where innovation and entrepreneurship have been pushed to the forefront, India could see a real upsurge in the number of startups around, and this is of vital importance for a country like India.

The problem-solving minds of entrepreneurs are important in tackling some of India’s biggest problems such as health care and education. This is where Indian startups differ from those in the rest of the world. India is not exporting cheap labour like in bygone years; they are developing solutions for Indian people in India.

The government’s development of the Startup India action plan demonstrates that they are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of startups in India. So, while the new policies may come too late for existing fledgeling startups, there may still be a few creases that need ironing out. Hopefully, we will see an increase in new ideas and innovations as a result.

What are the proposed Startup incubators

One of the biggest aspects of the government’s plan is the formation of Startup incubators, centres of excellence around the country where entrepreneurs and innovators can come together to share ideas.

With the sole purpose of helping new businesses grow, incubators are developing to be more industry specific in India so that startups can focus on the right areas. Assistance ranges from basic business etiquette and connecting startups with industry partners, to simply providing office space.

The future for Indian startups

With the Startup India action plan now in full swing, the government has proposed many options which should make setting up a startup easier. But it is important to remember that despite this investment, many of India’s top 200 startups choose to base their headquarters in countries such as Singapore and the US, in order to experience more business freedoms. So the next big question is, once we encourage all these new startups in India, how do we get them to stay?

Primary Keyword: startups

LSI Keywords:

Variants: Indian startup, India’s startup industry, global startup, startup India rocks, startup India action plan

Antonyms/Synonyms: entrepreneurs, new business, businesses, investors, entrepreneurship, innovation, mentorship,

Sources:

http://qz.com/819873/the-one-word-that-sums-up-indias-startup-sector-in-2016-unimpressive/

https://yourstory.com/2016/07/funding-roundup-indian-startup-h1/

http://startupindia.rocks/

http://scaale.com/group/

http://startupindia.gov.in/actionplan.php

http://www.forbesindia.com/article/startup-india-2016/startup-india-action-plan-glass-halffull-yet-halfempty/42105/1

https://in.linkedin.com/in/girish1

https://freshdesk.com/

http://www.nasscom.in/startup-india-{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}E2{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}80{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}93-momentous-rise-indian-startup-ecosystem

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/trend-tracking/startup-layoffs-continue/articleshow/53465457.cms

http://www.forbesindia.com/article/startup-india-2016/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-startup-india/42481/1

http://www.forbesindia.com/article/startup-india-2016/what-we-need-to-solve-indias-biggest-problems/42077/1

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/government-certifies-20-companies-as-incubators-under-startup-india/articleshow/53201716.cms

http://www.topmba.com/blog/what-startup-incubator

Small Business Financing-A Simplified Breakdown

Small business financing is an important part of any company’s start-up process. After all, how can one kick start a successful business venture without the capital to back it up? Luckily there are things in place to help make business dreams a reality; it’s simply a matter of understanding how business financing can work for you.

What Are SBA Loans?

SBA (or the U.S. Small Business Administration) is a government agency dedicated to providing loan guarantees and other support to help promote healthy business and company growth across the country. It was established in 1953 and has since helped secure over 20 million loans.

Often considered one of the easiest ways to secure small business financing for start-up companies looking to make their mark, it’s important to understand how they work. Small business financing can be risky, and the less ignorance displayed when applying for the loan, the better.

One important thing to remember when applying is this: these loans do not come directly from the SBA. They are primarily outsourced by banks and vendors that participate in the SBA program. This essentially guarantees you’ll be offered cheap and fair interest rates in the end, but individual terms may vary from bank to bank and vendor to vendor.

For this, we’ll be analysing the 7(a) SBA Loan Program in particular.

Picking It Apart

There are various reasons you may find you and your company looking for small business financing. To help clarify some of the reasons, let’s pick it apart a bit.

Equipment Financing

It almost goes without saying, but you may find yourself in need of equipment for your start up business. Luckily, if your company is focusing on any of the following:

Construction
Office and Computer Work
Food Service
Landscaping
Transportation

There are many financing options available through SBA lenders to companies needing equipment financing. Let’s face it- there’s a good chance your business falls into one of the above categories.

BAL (Business Acquisition Loans)

Business Acquisition Loans are arguably the trickiest to score since the Great Recession in 2008 (a dramatic fiscal climate that shook the business world to its core, making it even harder at times to secure small business financing). That’s not to say it’s impossible- if you can manage lower financing rates (a company that once financed up to 80{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} will more than likely not go above 50{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}) and larger down payments, you’ll be fine.

Commercial Loans

Commercial loans are arrangements typically used to finance major expenditures or help recoup operational costs that could potentially sink you into crippling debt. These are used for:

Purchasing Real Estate
Refinancing Commercial Real Estate Assets
Refinancing Businesses With Real Estate

Due to the nature of these types of loans, making deals and structuring agreements can be difficult and at times.

The Inner Workings of Fees and The Interest Rates (aka The Boring Stuff)

A guarantee fee is a fee based on the loan’s maturity and the dollar amount guaranteed, not the actual dollar amount being loaned. The lender will pay the guarantee fee initially, but they retain the option to pass the expense on to the borrower at closing.

For any loan under $150,000, the feeis set at zero percent. Any loan greater than that but with a maturity of one year or less, the fee is 0.25{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}. On loans with a maturity greater than one year, the fee is at 3{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}. If the loan is more than $700,000, the fee is 3.5{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}. There is an additional fee of 0.25{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} on any portion of more than $1,000,000.

Typically, SBA loans come with fixed or variable interest rates. It is the bank lender who determines this part of the process depending on things such as your current credit score and the current nature of the loan arrangements. To help protect you, SBA has implemented a cap on loan rates by limiting what a bank is allowed to add to the top of the base interest rates.

To delve a bit deeper, if your loan term is less than a seven year period you’ll wind up paying a rate of roughly 6-13{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}.

Where to Find Your Loan

That’s certainly a lot of information to swallow at once- all you need to do is jump start a corporate dream, right? Luckily, there are numerous fine lenders available that specialise in helping secure small business financing for companies (Biz2Credit being a great example), and even more information outlets available online that can help you understand the technical jargon of the finer details of these loan agreements.

Primary keyword: small business financing

LSI keywords:

Variants: secure small business financing, small business financing for companies, looking for small business financing

Antonyms/Synonyms: SBA Loans, business venture, financing, Small Business Administration, lender, bank lender, loan arrangements, commercial loans

Sources:

https://www.sba.gov/loans-grants/see-what-sba-offers/sba-loan-programs/general-small-business-loans-7a

https://www.fundera.com/business-loans/sba-loans

http://fitsmallbusiness.com/sba-loan-rates/

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/small-business/start-up-business-loans-for-bad-credit/

https://www.shopify.com/blog/low-investment-business-ideas

A Fresh Look At Small Business Financing

The holiday season’s upon us and with it often comes extra stress, rushing around, and a sense of feeling overwhelmed. But as the new year approaches, it can also be a time for creating fresh starts. When it comes to your livelihood, finding a way to finance your small business can also be overwhelming at best, and sometimes downright daunting. However, just like you may be getting ready for the new year on a personal level, now is also a great time to get the ball rolling on funding your new venture. With that comes staying on top of all the options, trends, and resources surrounding small business financing.

How Much Does It Take?

Before determining how to go about financing your business, it’s important to have a concept of how much capital it takes to start a business, as that can impact where you choose to seek finance. One survey done by the Wells Fargo Small Business Index reported that $10,000 is the average amount of startup money required by a small business owner. However, other surveys, such as the Kauffman Firm Survey, indicate that the number is much higher – closer to $80,000.

While these numbers help to give insight into what to expect, the amount of capital needed to start up will vary greatly depending on the type of business, industry, size, etc. The Small Business Administration (SBA) recommends a few simple tips to help calculate your start-up costs. Once you’ve analysed your potential expenses and capital expenditures, assessed your assets, and allocated your costs, you’ll be able to calculate your startup cost using this starting costs estimate calculator, offered by entrepreneur.com.

Small Business Financing Options

There are many options available for small business owners to explore, from traditional to slightly out-of-the-box:

Bootstrapping
Even though funding your small business out of pocket – or bootstrapping – may potentially be the most challenging financing route, it doesn’t mean that a significant portion of U.S. entrepreneurs doesn’t explore this option. In a recent study by BlueVine, results show that 75{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of American small businesses rely on personal finances as their primary source of small business funding and 83{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} have put at least some of their money into their companies
Alternative Lending
If financing your business with your money isn’t an option, you’ll need to plan on borrowing the money, and there are a variety of ways to obtain a small business loan. Emerging over the last several years are alternative lending companies that can offer quicker and smaller loans through a simple online application process.
Traditional Bank Loans
Although big banks are known for a high rejection rate and an extensive application process, bank loans remain a viable option for small business lending – and approval rates are up, as we’ll take a look at it below.
Raising Capital
Venture capitalists and angel investors can be a successful path to take for the right kind of business. However, keep in mind that it will require a very well thought out business plan, strong financial projections, and a lot of passion for your business.
Crowdfunding
A newer form of financing a small business, crowdfunding offers a method of raising money without having to pitch to a team of investors. And while there are certainly success stories out there, crowdfunding has yet to become the go-to option for businesses. According to a survey done by Manta in March 2015, only around 2 percent of business owners surveyed expressed that they had ever used a crowdfunding platform. However, it could be worth looking into if other avenues have been exhausted.

Approval Rates

According to Biz2Credit’s recent Small Business Lending Index report, approval rates at banks and institutional lenders recently reached all-time highs with the approval rate for small business loans from big banks at 23.5{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} in October (up from 23.4{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} in September). Institutional lender approval rates also rose to a new high of 63.1{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} in October. For small banks, the approval rates have remained stagnant, at 48.7{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}, and alternative lender loan approval rates declined to 59.5{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616}.

For SBA loans (specifically the most popular type, the SBA 7(a) loan) the approval rates are relatively low and require stellar credit. In a report by the SBA, approval rates from 2015 were broken down by gender, ethnicity, and location. For minority-owned businesses, the approval rate was 29{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} versus 57{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} for white-owned businesses, 71{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} for male-owned businesses as opposed to 29{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} for female-owned, 67{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} existing businesses versus 33{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} new businesses, and 17{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} rural versus 83{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} urban.

While there are many aspects of starting a business that will undoubtedly overwhelm you, don’t let securing small business financing be one of them. Armed with the knowledge to get started, use the upcoming season as the perfect excuse to get the ball rolling on funding your business.

Primary Keyword: small business financing

Variants: financing for your small business, small business finance options, securing small business financing, surrounding small business financing

Antonyms/Synonyms: small business loan, small business loans, small business lending, business lending options, Crowdfunding, traditional bank loans, alternative lender loan

References:

https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2014_Finance_FAQ.pdf

https://www.sba.gov/blogs/how-estimate-cost-starting-business-scratch

http://www.crowdfundinsider.com/2016/11/92352-biz2credit-reports-small-biz-loan-approval-rates-big-banks-institutional-lenders-continued-surge-october/

https://www.fundera.com/blog/small-business-statistics

https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/aboutsbaarticle/SBA_Lending_Statistics_for_Major_Programs_as_of_01-15-2016.pdf

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/8703-current-state-small-business-financing.html

So Your Small Business Financing Went Through, Now What?

Small Business Financing Can’t Be the End Goal

For Small businesses, especially new small businesses, or those who are looking to expand their reach, financing options are one of the most important things to worry about. But what happens after you have received your funding? What do you do with your small business financing? This is the fun part of having a small business, but it is also a significant time as well. Small businesses care much about how they handle their financing.

Updating Strategies

Many small businesses will open, and have the perfect strategy for their customer base, bringing in clients and managing cash flow to create profits. However, many companies (see graph below) cannot keep up with the changing needs of their industry, or adapt to the new consumer habits. No strategy is going to last forever, and with technology, strategies must continually evolve.

Financing for customers with a small business must be kept abreast of the ways that consumers are changing their habits. Small business finances, or at least part of them, must be used to improve the business strategies you use to run your business, from the top down.

Keeping Good Employees with Good Wages

Financing a small business also means funding the employees that you hire to help you with the firm. It is common sense that you need to have the best employees working for you if you want to have a successful business. The biggest problem with this is paying them real wages. On the one hand, you need to be able to have profits, so that you can grow your business, and continue financing for small firms. On the contrary, you have to pay them enough to keep them. To attract the best employees, and have the best chance at success, you need to pay your employees well.

Marketing

One of the most important factors in how to finance a small business is to figure out how to market your business. Similarly, for business strategies, you cannot use the same marketing strategy. You must look at your customer base, and identify the best strategy to reach them, as well as new clients. You cannot wait until your marketing strategy has worn out and you begin to lose customers; you must use the best small business financing to give you the funds you need to identify new marketing strategies.

Overspending

One of the biggest causes of failure for small businesses is that they outspend their little business financing. Whether because small businesses are taking a risk hoping that profits are going to come, or because small businesses have no other option to keep themselves open, overspending is a massive problem. Financing for customers of a small business must revolve around keeping spending in the small business setting to a minimum, and only for costs that the firm absolutely has to make. You cannot spend just because you recently received additional financing.

Growing the Business

Small business growth is the overall goal of small business financing. You want to get the money that you need to expand your business, so that it remains within your means, but that it is sufficient to reach more people and achieve more profits. Consumer financing for small businesses can help you with this, but it is up to small businesses themselves to use that money intelligently and always with growth in mind. Business cannot grow too fast, beyond what they are capable of running, but they cannot stifle themselves by being afraid of growth. In the end, you must know yourself, and know your business, because nobody else can know the details like you.

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Tips and trends for small business financing

With around 543,000 small businesses starting up in the USA every month, it has never been more important for the owners to get their small business financing correct from the outset. With almost 28 million small businesses in total in the USA, it’s a thriving market out there.

A small business is defined as an organisation with only five workers or less, and reports show that more than 50{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of working Americans are currently employed within small businesses.

Small business financing

But just having a creative idea and a business plan is not enough – entrepreneurs will inevitably need funding to get their small business, however, small it may be, off the ground and running successfully. So what should they be prepared for?

Beware of unscrupulous online lenders

Online lenders are drawing in entrepreneurs with their small business financing, offering quick approval processes and money in the bank. However, it’s important to read the small print as sometimes their terms and conditions can be unclear. On the positive side, online companies are putting the pressure on traditional banks and encouraging them to support small businesses. They can also help entrepreneurs’ businesses to get off the ground.

Don’t rule out banks for small business loans

Smaller business loans had been very hard to come by recently with 79 percent of small business loans still coming in at more than $350,000 and to be eligible businesses had to have a minimum of a two-year financial history. However, partly due to the threat from the online lenders, banks are now moving towards providing lower value loans and helping to find small business funding options.

Don’t ignore the baby boomers

A quarter of all entrepreneurs is between 55 and 64 – the baby boomers. These small business owners are often able to support their small businesses by using up retirement funds and savings. The Rollover as Business Startup (ROBS) strategy can fund their small business completely, or it can work alongside a loan. It has become extremely popular as an alternative option for this particular group of small business owners.

Does small business funding add up?

So with those three tips in mind, what is the likelihood of actually securing small business support and what kind of successes have other entrepreneurs experienced up to now. Let’s have a look at whether the numbers do add up.

Firstly, let’s look at the positive and vital contribution which successful small businesses make to the economy. Since the early 1990s, small businesses have been responsible for creating more than 65{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of all new jobs.

This time last year, small businesses – by definition that is an organisation earning less than $5 million revenue – were enjoying a 7.8 per cent growth in their sales, which is an increase again from the year before.

Secondly, another report highlighted that the employment level in companies with fewer than 50 staff members, increased last December than it had since the previous summer, with around 95,000 jobs created.

So is it still difficult to find finance?

A report examining the American Dream of owning your own small business revealed that, despite all the positive news, around 3 in 10 owners were struggling to reduce their operating costs and 1 in 4 were struggling to plan when there were unexpected costs. Almost a fifth of small business owners surveyed said they were thinking of closing down because of lack of cash flow.

These issues caused many small businesses to apply for funding, many of them applying more than once. One in five of those interviewed said they had been turned down for finance in the past 60 months and 45 per cent of those, repeatedly been rejected.

As a result over a quarter of small business owners, according to the report, ended up financing themselves using their personal accounts, credit cards, or help from friends, putting themselves and their businesses at risk.

Securing small business financing can be complicated, and it is always best to seek professional help and advice to ensure you have the best possible chance of a good outcome for your finance application and a positive future for your business.

Primary key word – small business financing

LSI key words

Small business

Business finance

Entrepreneurs

Small business owners

Funding

Financing

Small business loans

Prepare Smart, Prepare Easy with Online Placement Preparation

Every college student looks forward to college placements. This is because, well, landing a job right after college isn’t too bad, is it? But seeing the competition in India, getting placed isn’t exactly a walk in the park. But why is it so, and what can you do to stack the odds in your favor? Read on to find out.

Reality Check

We want to get the sad statistics out of the way first thing. We hope you know that the available vacancies during placements are only a tiny fraction of the total number of applicants. And of all the candidates who are rejected, 75{ed162fdde9fdc472551df9f31f04601345edf7e4eff6ea93114402690d8fa616} of them fail to make it due to unsatisfactory performance in the initial screening test.

But it’s not all gloomy news! There is a simple systematic approach to increasing your chances of getting placed in your dream company. And in this article, we’re going to tell you how.

The Action Plan

Before we begin our preparation, we must understand that not all companies are the same. They all have a different set of requirements from their potential employees. And for this reason, no two companies have the same screening test.

Therefore, a fool-proof way of approaching placement preparation is by choosing one single or few companies you’d like to be placed in and preparing according to their examination pattern and portions.

Don’t Be The Majority

One of the most common methods used by students to prepare for placements is going to some training institute.

But despite being very expensive, these institutes rarely offer company-focused training; and the training that they do offer isn’t something that the student cannot acquire by himself.

So if you are considering offline tutoring, we suggest you think thoroughly before shelling out that significant sum of money.

Online Is The Way To Go

If you can’t afford offline education or if you’re not sure about the quality of training provided by the institute near you, don’t worry.

In fact, saying no to offline tutoring and taking up online training instead just might be the best decision you’ll make regarding your preparation for college placements.

This is because by taking online training you’ll waste no time commuting, receive company-focused training at the time of your convenience and only at a fraction of the cost of what you’d be spending at a training institute.

Getting Started

To jump on board, just register with one of the many online placement-training services available.

Though you can hardly go wrong with a traditional online tutoring service, we recommend StudyBud. We analyzed several websites and found studybud.in to be the most extensive and potentially useful. We suggest you research several sites before picking what works for you.

How Does It Work?

Esteemed preparation sites such as studybud.in offer company-specific training using lecture videos and preparation materials curated by industry experts.

You can just log in and start preparing for the company you’d like. After every unit, you can take up tests at various difficulty levels to measure your progress.

StudyBud offers complete placement preparation with its varied courses, large question bank and a panel of experts available to help you with your doubts and queries.

We hope this helps you in preparing for college placements. With regular practice and progress monitoring, focus and a bit of luck, you’ll stand an excellent chance of making it in your desired company. We wish you all the success!

References:

https://www.prep.youth4work.com/Placement-Papers

http://www.allindiaexams.in/placement-papers/companies

https://www.studybud.in/additional/features

https://www.studybud.in/course/intro

LSI Keywords

Online placement preparation

Preparing for college placements

Company Specific Preparation

Company-focused placement preparation

Test progress monitoring

online placement-training services

Month: February 2017