WELCOME !

Thanks for dropping in for some hopefully great business info and on occasion some hopefully not too sarcastic comments on the state of Business Financing in Canada and what we are doing about it !

In 2004 I founded 7 PARK AVENUE FINANCIAL. At that time I had spent all my working life, at that time - Over 30 years in Commercial credit and lending and Canadian business financing. I believe the commercial lending landscape has drastically changed in Canada. I believe a void exists for business owners and finance managers for companies, large and small who want service, creativity, and alternatives.

Every day we strive to consistently deliver business financing that you feel meets the needs of your business. If you believe as we do that financing solutions and alternatives exist for your firm we want to talk to you. Our purpose is simple: we want to deliver the best business finance solutions for your company.



Showing posts with label turnaround. Show all posts
Showing posts with label turnaround. Show all posts

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Financial Strategies For Troubled Firms





Information on restructuring finance options in Canada. Turnaround financing via asset based lending and other strategies can often save any business experiencing financial challenges . Special loans is not the end of the line if your firm has a strategy and is aware of financial solutions








There are strategies that troubled companies can use to save themselves from dire straits and regain their former financial success. These same sort of strategies are valuable for business owners and financial executives to understand how their firms can avoid financial turbulence and failure.


We must first realize that business failure or bankruptcy never happens overnight. Normally there is a gradual trend of financial deterioration that is sometimes exacerbated by industry troubles. In 2009-2010 environment the auto industry was a poster child for a troubled industry, as an example.


Naturally firms that are on the very precipice of failure or bankruptcy do not have many options or time left. It has to fix itself, or sink. No business owners or entrepreneurs want to face bankruptcy, liquidation, and other creditor issues.

Do financially failing firms survive because of a revival in products or their services, or have they in fact executed on improved financial management. This is a challenging questions, because the very financial problems that beset a firm hinder it in getting new sales, acquiring inventory, and regaining supplier credibility.

Also, lets be realistic, banks and other finance companies do not throw themselves at failing firms with financial offers of loans, lines of credit, etc. In fact what usually happens is that the company is forced to pledge some or all assets at much higher rates, sometimes simply accentuating the financial problems that were already there.

So what are the financial strategies that a firm can undertake to avoid financial failure when it has been losing sales, not generating profits, and generally traveling down a potential death spiral?
There are three or four solid strategies that can save the firm. The first is ' assets '. The second is liabilities and debt, and the third we will simply call ' maneuverering '.

Strategy 1:
Assets have value. They can be sold, re financed,, or pledged to secure new financing. This type of strategy works best when it works for all parties, the company and the lender, or the company and another firm. However lets be clear that this is somewhat of a one shot strategy. It either must work or it doesn't. Asset maneuvers have 3 stages of success: assets can be used to get a new loan, assets can be sold, or they can, in somewhat of a worst case scenario, be liquidated.

Strategy 2:
On the other side of assets on the balance sheet is debt and equity. Debt can be structured properly to ensure the lender gets a reasonable reward, and the company is able to both repay and survive. There are too many types of debt to consider for the purposes of this article - suffice to say that creativity in debt is somewhat unlimited. A firm could issue debt, as an example, and repay only when the company is earning profits again.This would normally entail higher rates, but again, as we have stated, the transaction has to make sense both for customer and lender. A solid alternative solution is to simply re - structure existing debt at new rates and amortizations.


Alternatively to debt a company with promise can bring in new equity or ownership. This is somewhat more risk for all as dilution of ownership is usually significant when a company is failing and bring in new equity capital.


Strategy 3: A firm sometimes has to look to the outside for help. Since the owners and managers are often too close to the problem it is somewhat of a classic case of not seeing the forest for the trees. Outside consultants and industry experts can often bring a solution to the table. They have insights that management simply did not possess. These strategies include developing new sales and product strategies, bring in new management, or considering a strategic merger.


In summary, anyone who has worked through several business cycles over a number of years knows that companies can in fact be saved. Some go on to be the new super stars of their respective industry. The company must clearly uncover what the problem is, and then adapt strategies, financial or otherwise, to fix those problems




Stan Prokop - founder of 7 Park Avenue Financial –
Originating business financing for  Canadian companies , specializing in working capital, cash flow,   asset based financing . In business 10   years - Completed in excess of 100 Million $$  of financing for Canadian corporations .  Core competancies include receivables financing, asset  based lending, working capital, equipment finance, franchise finance and tax credit financing.    Info & Contact Details :    


http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com




7 Park Avenue Financial
South Sheridan Executive Centre
2910 South Sheridan Way
Suite 301
Oakville, Ontario
L6J 7J8
Direct Line = 416 319 5769

Office = 905 829 2653


'  Canadian Business Financing with the intelligent use of experience '


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stan has had a successful career with some of the world’s largest and most successful corporations.
 Prior to founding 7 Park Avenue Financial in 2004  his employers over the last 25 years were, ASHLAND OIL, ( 1977-1980)  DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION,1980-1990) ) CABLE & WIRELESS PLC,( 1991 -1993) ) AND HEWLETT PACKARD ( 1994-2004 )   He is an expert in Canadian Business Financing.

Stan has over 40  years of business and finance executive experience. He  has been recognized as a  credit/financial executive for three of the largest technology companies in the world; Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment and Cable & Wireless. Stan has had  in depth, hands on experience in assessing and evaluating thousands of companies that are seeking financing and expansion. He  has been instrumental in helping many companies progress through every phase of financing, mergers & acquisitions, sales and marketing and human resources. Stan has worked with startups and public corporations and has many times established the financial wherewithal of organizations before approving millions of dollars of financing facilities and instruments on behalf of his employers.











Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3503535


Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Business Financing In Canada: Growth Finance & Turnaround Options











Looking For A Business Financing Lifeline?






OVERVIEW – Information on business financing options in Canada. Whether your company requires turnaround or growth finance solutions it’s critical to understand these basics






Business financing in Canada
can be a mixture of both challenging turnaround situations as well as growth finance challenges. It's safe to say that companies grow, and decline for many different reasons. We're examining the whys and some of the ' lifelines’ around both of those situations. Let's dig in.

When you're looking for a turnaround in your business finances it's typically a ' running out of funding' situation. Many of these types of scenarios are temporary, in other circumstances long runs of not profits or cash flow lead to a non survival situation.

There are always different sources of capital and working capital for a business - they might include A/R financing, commercial banks, asset based lending solutions, equipment financing, etc. Internally businesses should never forget that even relations with suppliers can dramatically affect their cash flow.

Canadian chartered banks are often criticized for their lending practices to Canadian firms who are new or in the SME COMMERCIAL sector. We won't weigh into that argument other than to say that it often becomes difficult for a company to replace a lost funding source such as their bank relationship. Many firms access Asset based finance solutions such as factoring or inventory finance when their bank relationship ' dries up'. Firms in the retail industry rely heavily on some method of financing their key asset - inventories.

Growth finance also brings many of the same challenges as turnaround needs. That same need to financing inventory and receivables comes out of the need for businesses to financing working capital around their current assets - again it's all about A/R and inventory.

One top expert uses the term ' reputation' financing versus asset financing. In a traditional banking relationship it's all about that relation between your company and the bank - if you can satisfy banks on profits, cash flow and clean balance sheets its all systems go.

When that ' reputation' becomes tarnished out of the inability to satisfy traditional financiers it all comes back to asset based lending solutions Asset based lending solutions such as non bank credit lines or A/R Financing keep your business going until you get past historical difficulties or until the high growth you might be experiencing ' smoothes out' a bit.

Asset lenders feel very comfortable with the assets they finance - and the company benefits by getting the true financing they need to... you guessed it, survive and grow.

If you're looking for a business financing ' lifeline' seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business Financing Advisor with a track record of success
who can identify and provide the turnaround or growth finance solutions you need.


Stan Prokop - founder of 7 Park Avenue Financial


http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com


Originating business financing for Canadian companies , specializing in working capital, cash flow, asset based financing . In business 10 years - Completed in excess of 100 Million $$ of financing for Canadian corporations . Core competancies include receivables financing, asset based lending, working capital, equipment finance, franchise finance and tax credit financing. Info & Contact Details :
http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com




7 Park Avenue Financial

South Sheridan Executive Centre
2910 South Sheridan Way
Suite 301
Oakville, Ontario
L6J 7J8

Direct Line = 416 319 5769

Office = 905 829 2653


Email = sprokop@7parkavenuefinancial.com


' Canadian Business Financing with the intelligent use of experience '





ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stan has had a successful career with some of the world’s largest and most successful corporations.
Prior to founding 7 Park Avenue Financial in 2004 his employers over the last 25 years were, ASHLAND OIL, ( 1977-1980) DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION, ( 1980-1990) ) CABLE & WIRELESS PLC,( 1991 -1993) ) AND HEWLETT PACKARD ( 1994-2004 ) He is an expert in Canadian Business Financing.

Stan has over 40 years of business and finance executive experience. He has been recognized as a credit/financial executive for three of the largest technology companies in the world; Hewlett-Packard, Digital Equipment and Cable & Wireless. Stan has had in depth, hands on experience in assessing and evaluating thousands of companies that are seeking financing and expansion. He has been instrumental in helping many companies progress through every phase of financing, mergers & acquisitions, sales and marketing and human resources. Stan has worked with startups and public corporations and has many times established the financial wherewithal of organizations before approving millions of dollars of financing facilities and instruments on behalf of his employers.














Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Special Loans And Workout Financing In Canada : Turnaround Just Around The Corner





Looking for a good workout ?
Here’s the bad news / good news around exiting special loans in Canada








OVERVIEW – Information on workout financing in Canada. Numerous alternatives exist around finance alternatives when your firm finds itself in, or going into, a ‘ Special Loans ‘ situation






Workout Financing in Canada:
As we all know there's nothing like a good work out! When we meet with clients who find themselves in the ' bad news ' situation, namely ' Special Loans ‘it’s always good to know that the good news is the numerous turnaround finance alternatives available to owners/managers/shareholders. Let's dig in.

We're assuming that firms requiring the turnaround have traditional ' bank' type financing in place. When it's obvious that your current lenders, bank or otherwise are focusing on calling your loan there is no better time to start looking at solid alternatives.

In the case of banks calling a loan there is actually another piece of ' good news' around being put in the special loans category. There's no better example of the word ' limbo ' than the bank special loans category in Canada. Business owners/managers might well always want to change that working to ' purgatory ‘. However at the end of the day you are still being financed under the bank, albeit at a higher rate and tighter covenants and restrictions.

Here is your time to take a bit more of a ' stance ' on your overall finance situation - identifying a fix with the bank , or agreeing on a time and exit strategy - obviously new finance in place!

That ' fix ' with your bank or other commercial lender might include several scenarios:

New equity from owners

Sale of certain assets or parts of the business

Higher levels of the dreaded ' personal guarantee’

Re-doing the balance sheet vis a vis short and long term debt obligations - Here your company clearly must demonstrate viable long term cash flow generation when new forms of debt are considered


So what happened?
That's the legitimate question that owners / managers and other stakeholders to ask round the downslide of your firm's financial health. Here numerous scenarios abound - We've met with many owners who offer some interesting versions of their current financial problems. In some cases their information is correct, just being managed improperly. Examples: ' We've grown to fast ' ; ' Lost a big contract/client ‘, ' We're out of covenant on some of our operating metrics - i.e. DSO, DPO, Debt to Equity ‘.

Numerous workout financing turnarounds can be implemented. They can be done within the banking system but more often than not they involve alternative solutions – that includes:


Asset based Lending / ABL Non Bank Credit Lines
Bridge Loans
Sales Leasebacks
Cash Flow Loans – Secured/Unsecured


If you’re looking to have a solid workout on your financing turn around seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business Financing Advisor with a track record of success
who can assist you with SPECIAL LOANS scenario that fit your situation.



Stan Prokop
- 7 Park Avenue Financial :

http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com

Business financing for Canadian Firms , specializing in working capital, cash flow, asset based financing , Equipment Leasing , franchise finance and Cdn. Tax Credit Finance . Founded 2004 - Completed in excess of 90 Million $ of financing for Canadian corporations . Info /Contact :

7 PARK AVENUE FINANCIAL = CANADIAN SPECIAL LOANS WORKOUT FINANCING





Have A Question /Comment On Our Blog Or Canadian Business Financing Alternatives ?

CONTACT:
7 Park Avenue Financial
South Sheridan Executive Centre
2910 South Sheridan Way
Suite 301
Oakville, Ontario
L6J 7J8

Direct Line
= 416 319 5769

Office
= 905 829 2653



Email =
sprokop@7parkavenuefinancial.com


' Canadian Business Financing With The Intelligent Use Of Experience '


































Saturday, July 20, 2013

Funding Business Turnaround. Growth Financing Secrets And Tips For Canadian Business





( The Other Reason ) Why Companies Fail ( And How To Prevent It! )


OVERVIEW – Information on funding the business turnaround . Growth financing strategies .. that work





Funding business turnaround. Whether it's growth financing or rescuing a company from that terrible spot known as ' dire straits’ no business owner/manager wants to ' crash '. So imagine our surprise when we read and talked to the mgmt of a firm that put out a great article entitled ' WHY COMPANIES CRASH !



'

But wait a minute, when we read the article and discussed it with the writer we found it focused on some great, but not financial issues. Those issues included salary and compensation models that didn’t work, strange organization structures, and poor or non existent business goals. Great stuff, and we'll leave those areas to consultants and others, but that is not our focus, which is failure due to no financing, poor financing, or wrong financing. Let's dig in!

As we can imagine financing at a time when its least accessible to your firm is.... difficult! While we might assume ( or hope ) that Canadian chartered banks are the best or most likely to save a firm the hard core reality is that bank loan rates and margins and a non tolerance for excessive risk quickly rise to disappoint when growth and turnaround finance is needed the most.
In fact when Canadian chartered banks feel that your firm reaches ' CODE 10' on their risk meters
they actually move your account to a special loans category and increase your borrowing costs while limiting access to credit. Not what you had hoped!

Firms that have assets and growth and survival possibilities of course want to avoid bankruptcy and face the burden of losses owners, lenders and investors in your firm.

Assets are what often saves a firm and that is a great place to start. While assets can of course be sold off and liquidated. At that time surely the business owner couldn't have any more bad luck... but wait, and then Revenue Canada shows up also. It couldn’t be worse.

But that’s when creative financing strategies employing the concept of asset based lending can save the day. By carefully assessing and appraising the ongoing value of assets such as receivables, inventory, unencumbered fixed assets ,, real estate ( if applicable ) , and tax credits and patents.

Careful crafting of such a facility allows a firm to pay off existing banks or lenders, come to suitable terms with those friendly CRA folks, and have ongoing capital for maintaining supplier and customer expectations.

When properly negotiated and documented proper borrowing structures can be put in place without onerous ratios and covenants that often control your ability to address growth and turnaround financing.

Numerous single and combination of finance strategies exist for funding business turnaround and growth. They include:

SUPPLY CHAIN / PO FINANCING

AR FACTORING

INVENTORY FINANCE

BRIDGE LOANS

SALE LEASEBACKS

TAX CREDIT FUNDING / SRED ACCRUAL FINANCING

NON BANK COMMERCIAL LINES OF CREDIT (ABL)



When you're faced with the prospect failing due to financing seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor who can assist you with your critical needs.


Stan Prokop - founder of 7 Park Avenue Financial

http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com

Originating business financing for Canadian companies , specializing in working capital, cash flow, asset based financing . In business 10 years - has completed in excess of 80 Million $$ of financing for Canadian corporations . Core competancies include receivables financing, asset based lending, working capital, equipment finance, franchise finance and tax credit financing.
Info re: Canadian business financing & contact details :


7 PARK AVENUE FINANCIAL = GROWTH AND TURNAROUND FINANCING EXPERTISE AND FUNDING




CONTACT:

7 Park Avenue Financial
South Sheridan Executive Centre
2910 South Sheridan Way
Suite 301
Oakville, Ontario
L6J 7J8
Phone = 905 829 2653
Fax = 905 829 2653
Email = sprokop@7parkavenuefinancial.com