Franchise Financing – A Canadian ‘ how to’ Model !

Franchise financing – you’ve made the decision about your future as a Canadian entrepreneur and selected your franchise of choice. Now the only minor detail involves how to pay for and finance this major investment on your part!

The purchase of a franchise is an investment in your future, the ability to operate your own business and generate personal income and wealth – it therefore makes sense to ensure you finance that purchase in the right manner.

If you have purchased the right franchise you should first feel comfortable that you have selected a solid business model, and, where applicable, a good location. Franchises have a strong ability to generate sales and profit from the beginning because they have proven marketing plans, solid training for franchisees, and sources of supply and support. All of these factors are necessarily harder to obtain if you are starting a business that is a non franchise.

So we agree you have aligned yourself with a winning franchise model. How do you finance that franchise when you in fact read that business financing is as challenging as ever in the 2010 environment. The ‘ trick ‘ if we can call it that, ( its actually hard due diligence and working with the right people ) is to match the proper amount of debt and equity that leaves you with the right financing options for both the purchase of the franchise and future growth .

Let’s look at a real world example - We recently worked with a client who wanted to open a high end grocery chain. The client was under the impression that the entire 1 Million dollars + he needed was readily available from various single financing sources. The reality is that many lenders still view franchisees, as proven as they are, as start ups, and no one is ever going to lend one million dollars for a new venture. So what do I do now, asked the client? A practical solution for this client is what we call the ‘ cobbling together ‘ of various financial mechanism that will allow the franchisee to meet his goals, in this case that was a government small business loan, a term loan for equipment and working capital, and lease financing .

So we can’t over emphasize that franchise financing in Canada is about ‘options ‘. Investigate those options thoroughly, match benefits to risk and reward and cost of financing, and pick a suitable combination that works for your risk appetite. The largest corporations in the world have Chief Financial Officers that wrestle everyday with two terms – debt and equity. That is, how much do they borrow, and how much do they ask their shareholders to put in.

Guess what , you’re now the CFO of your own corporation and you are wrestling with that same conundrum – how much of your personal resources will you put in, and how much can you, and are you willing , to borrow . The proper balance of debt and equity in your Canadian franchise is what will bring you financial success.

Buying a franchise and then financing a franchise successfully is the key to your overall business success. Speak to a trusted, credible, and experienced franchise finance expert who will guide you through the maze of franchise finance options. Be prepared to make the proper amount of personal financial investment into the business, but at the same time don’t be afraid to take on good debt that makes sense for proper leverage and growth .That’s a solid financial strategy!

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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 6 years - has completed in excess of 45 Million $$ of financing for Canadian corporations .Info re: Canadian business financing & contact details:
http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com/franchise_financing_buying_a_franchise.html

What is the Solution to Finance Inventory for Canadian Business?

Canadian business owners and finance mangers are continually challenged to finance inventory as a component of their overall business financing and cash flow needs. There are solutions to this challenge and we’ll discuss and review some critical factors around inventory finance in Canada.

Inventory financing is the collateralizing of your inventory for financing purposes .Where it gets trick is that it has to work for all parties, yourself, and the lender, when you in fact have existing financing arrangements in place re your overall business finance strategy.

Working capital in Canada generally consists of receivables and inventory – if your sales are growing , and you are collecting receivables and turning over inventory you have a continuous need for more working capital as those two ‘ current assets ‘ grow .
The key to facilitating a solid inventory financing, or purchase order financing in Canada is to help your lender get the feeling they will never have to realize on that inventory to collect their loan or financing proceeds! You want to be able to demonstrate that your inventory is marketable, and that you have the ability to control and count the inventory. A perpetual inventory accounting systems helps a lot in that process – so investigate that with your accountant.

Similar to inventory financing a purchase order financing solution is very complimentary in nature. It is a case of your firm having product to ship but are in effect lacking in your ability to replenish inventory and fulfill orders and contracts.
When clients ask us what can go wrong in an inventory financing scenario we often simply state that you must be in a position to be able to turn inventory over and demonstrate your products are marketable in a worst case scenario .

Inventory and purchase order financing in Canada is specialized – seek out the services of a trusted, credible, and experienced business financing advisor who will be in a position to present your overall financial situation and prospects in the best light – this will include an overview of your current financial position, most importantly also your prospects, and the ability to define a facility based on the overall market value of your particular inventory.

We talked earlier about the challenge of managing through an inventory financing facility based on your current borrowing arrangements. In a perfect world (we know it’s not a perfect world!) you secure both inventory and A/R financing via a chartered bank. The alternative to this is an asset based lending facility, or what is known as an ABL line of credit. This facility margins inventory and receivables to the maximum value, which great increases your ability to draw down on cash flow needs.
In a working capital or asset based line of credit situation you will usually have a larger drawdown on receivable, but a proper inventory financing scenario can easily secure 60-80% of your overall inventory values – that is a lot of additional cash flow if you need to draw down on it.

The key benefits of a properly structured inventory financing facility are that it supplements your overall working capital needs. The facility should revolve, and you should only be paying for what you use. You should also have defined borrowing limits on inventory, and the ability to repay, or draw more financing at your option.

Your best inventory financing ability will ultimately come from your ability, as we said, for you to demonstrate proper accounting and reporting of inventory, as well as information on customer prospects, contracts, etc.

If you structure a proper inventory finance facility you will have access to significantly more working capital , inventory will easily be replenish able, and you should have additional purchasing power based on increased access to cash . Pricing on inventory and purchase order financing varies with the size of the facility, lenders interpretation of the marketability of your product, and your ability to turnover inventory at equal to or better than industry standards based on your own business model.

A proper inventory finance application should be no different that any other type of financing you apply for, so don’t view it as a mysterious type of business financing. Focus on demonstrating clearly how inventory financing will grow your sales and profits, that’s a win win situation for you and your inventory lender.

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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 6 years - has completed in excess of 45 Million $$ of financing for Canadian corporations .Info re: Canadian business financing & contact details:
http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com/finance_inventory_financing_costs.html

Why An Asset Based Loan Might Be Your Best Business Line of Credit Solution in Canada

Canadian business owners and financial managers fully realize that based upon their working capital and cash flow needs a business line of credit is a necessity for the overall financing needs of the business.

An asset finance strategy can sometimes be the best solution for your overall business financing needs. Clients we speak to have trouble differentiating this type of solution from a regular Canadian chartered bank line of credit.

The difference is simply the overall focus of the financing – an asset based line of credit focuses solely on the variety of different business assets youhave – they include predominantly inventory, receivables, equipment, and in some cases real estate .

When you successfully set up an asset based loan facility you are in effect monetizing these assets to their maximum, and borrowing against them as you need funds, on a daily basis.Naturally the main and most liquid assets in this type of financing tend to be receivables and inventory, but those other hard assets can nicely shore up an even higher credit facility for your firm.

So let’s get back to the difference between this type of facility, which some companies have never heard of, and a bank revolving line of credit. Your asset based business line of credit, unlike the bank facility, focuses 99% on the value of the assets in your business – so the bottom line is that as those assets grow you have unlimited working capital to grow ! – And that’s a good thing.

Another way of looking at this or explaining it more clearly is the manner in which these loans are set up and approved. Asset based loans for a business line of credit in this asset finance strategy focuses on collateral and its value. If you have now, or in the past secured a bank facility on the other hand you of course recognize the banks puts a lot of emphasis on non asset issues such as overall financial statement quality, external collateral, personal guarantees, etc. That is the main difference between these two types of financing. If you can demonstrate positive cash flow and cash flow from operations to a Canadian chartered bank it is unlikely you can obtain a business line of credit that suits your overall needs. Asset finance on the other hand is collateral based – if you have A/R, inventory, and perhaps equipment and real estate you can draw down on a daily basis against the value of those assets!

One other critical difference is that less covenants and ratio requirements are in place in an asset based line of credit.So if your firm has ongoing liquid and fixed assets you are in an excellent position to negotiate a business line of credit for an asset based financing facility.

How does this facility work on a daily basis? Is a question we always get from clients? You still of course do your banking at a bank or perhaps a credit union – but you supply on a regular (perhaps a weekly or monthly basis) what is known as a borrowing base certificate for your assets. The asset based lender then advances funds into your account which you can use to finance your business.

Asset based loans, or working capital facilities as we also like to call them have different levels of pricing based on overall facility size and with whom you are financing the line with. We recommend you review the benefits of an asset based business line of credit and speak to a credible, trusted, and experienced business financing advisor to determine if this type of working capital arrangement suits your firm. Many Canadian businesses are moving to this type of facility to fund future growth and profits.

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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 6 years - has completed in excess of 45 Million $$ of financing for Canadian corporations .Info re: Canadian business financing & contact details:
http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com/business_LINE_of_credit_asset_based_loan.html

What is the Financing Cost and Options of Different Sources of Financing

What are my available sources of financing and what is the financing cost of those sources and options ask our clients? When we are talking working capital it all comes down to your firm’s ability to raise and utilize cash flow on an ongoing basis.
We will discuss what some of those sources of financing are, and more importantly the costs and benefits associated with those different types of financing for Canadian business owners

When you understand what working capital is you are obviously in a better position to source it! You therefore need to know how to measure working capital in terms of your overall business needs. That’s part of the problem and challenge, because when we sit down and work with clients on working capital and cash flow needs we quickly determine that working capital and cash flow mean different things to different business owners .

The problem usually starts with the business owner assessing his working capital needs by looking at the ‘Total Cash ‘line in his bank account. That is of course cash on hand, and doesn’t reflect working capital, which is the funds he has tied up in receivables, inventory, prepaid, etc.

We can go to the text book definition also ( not our favorite way of doing things ) and finding out that working capital is simply current assets minus current liabilities, calculated by a quick look at your balance sheet . We are not a big fan of that calculation, simply because it doesn’t give you a true sense of the turnover of those critical balance sheet accounts such as A/R and inventory. A quick example simply is that most business owners assume the larger the ‘working capital’ numbers the better shape they are in – in fact the exact opposite is true because they require cash flow to fund that higher investment in receivables and inventory.

The best way to measure working capital efficiency is on a regular basis to calculate your receivable and inventory turnover. They are either getting better or worse, and your working capital improves or deteriorates in the same relation.
You should also focus on business liquidity because suppliers and creditors will bear the brunt of your inability to fund your business – and deterioration in supplier / creditor relations is the worst thing that can happen to your business.

So now you have a better handle on working capital – what next. Well you clearly recognize that cash on hand and growing inventory and A/R isn’t helping your cash flow at all – you need external financing. You achieve external financing by the profits you generate from your business, plus working capital facilities via a bank or independent finance company. Your needs might be seasonal, or on going, depending on what industry you are in.

So back to our sources of financing and the costs associated with those sources. You of course have the option of either generating a working capital term loan, or, if it’s a larger facility, it might be called a Sub debt or mezzanine loan. Essentially they are unsecured cash flow loans with rates in Canada ranging from 10-15% - they are traditionally on a fixed term, fixed rate basis – 5 years is common. You also have the option of putting more permanent equity into your business via an equity injection of bringing in a new shareholder. We are perfectly clear with clients that this is the most expensive form of financing, because you are giving up future ownership.

If you can’t raise capital for a working capital loan call your suppliers. Are you kidding, customers ask?! Well partly, what we mean to say is simply that your working capital increases when you slow payments to suppliers – that’s a double edged sword re supplier relationships, so tread cautiously on that one.

Other more traditional alternatives are bank operating lines of credit, these come with the best rates, current in the 4-5% range in early 2010 in Canada. The only problem – great rates but difficult financing to achieve as Canadian chartered banks demand solid financials when they are granting this type of facility. A better way to achieve full liquidity via this method is to consider a factoring or asset based facility – Rates in Canada range for 9% / annum to 1-2% per month based on your overall financial position and size of facility . But, they offer you 100% working capital for all your business financing needs, so that’s a good trade off.

Many clients approach us for other working capital sources, such as a sale leaseback of unencumbered assets, or a bridge or bulge loan on equipment and real estate to shore up working capital. These are great short term, but no long term fixes.
Understand what sources of financing are available to your firm, knowing their costs, and executing on facilities or solutions that make sense for your business is the true working capital and cash flow solution for Canadian business. Speak to a trusted, credible, and experienced business financing advisor to guide you to the right business financing decision.

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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 6 years - has completed in excess of 45 Million $$ of financing for Canadian corporations .Info re: Canadian business financing & contact details:
http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com/sources_of_financing_financing_cost.html

Equipment Leasing Canada – Why Equipment Lease Rates aren’t Important!

How can equipment lease rates in Canada not be the most important part of your equipment leasing in Canada acquisition strategy? That’s what clients want to know when we advise them the while an overall competitive leasing rate is important they must not miss the several other factors that play a huge part in making the proper lease financing decision.

Leasing in Canada has of course been around for many decades, we venture to say at least back to the 19 50’s, if not older than that. As a Canadian business owner and financial manager you recognize that it is clearly one of the most viable methods of acquiring assets for profit and sales growth – Profit through use is one of the buzzwords of equipment leasing in Canada.

The key thing you quickly realize about lease financing in Canada is that it encompasses all types of assets - from heavy industrial equipment, used equipment of all types, and of course technology such as computers and telecom equipment, etc . The reality is, and this is a surprise to many, that even ‘soft’ items can be financed such as computer software, or installation costs and warranties for shop equipment, etc.

So fine, we recognize that leasing is important, and we recognize it’s available to us as a financing option. So why isn’t rate the most important factor, isn’t it all about cost and payments?

We don’t think so, because the reality is that if you don’t properly address or thing about the other key factors that are involved in the whole ‘should I lease or should I buy?” decision then the last thing you should be worrying about is your rate. Let’s cover off one key point about rate before we move on to some of the other factors you must consider – it is as follows - Business is competitive in Canada – There are a number of lease financing sources. Customer doesn’t believe us but we actually spend a lot of time talking to them and advising them that they get to pick their own rate! How is that possible they ask? It is simply based on the statement that your overall credit quality determines your rate within a very close band of competitive offerings of lease financing in Canada.

So if you can properly demonstrate your own overall credit quality re ability to pay, historical cash flows, future cash flow ability, overall business prospects, etc then categorically will be in essence determine your own interest rate on the transaction. End of story on rate!

So, those critical other factors you need to consider - they are as follows – you should discuss with your accountant or a trusted, credible, and experience lease financing specialize what financial statement implications your lease will have – You want to determine if you choose a lease for ownership of the asset, or a lease for use of the asset, the latter being called technically in the industry an ‘operating lease ‘.

Are there any risk to leasing equipment .There might be. This is where you want to talk to your accountant about what the tax advantages or disadvantages are of the transaction. You mighty want to ask him to run what is known as a lease vs. buy analysis to determine, with your input, what is the best way to acquire the asset in questions.

Despite what leasing companies might tell you in their literature or on their website you might find that a true analysis of the transaction shows that leasing is not necessarily the lease expensive way to acquire assets. If you and the leasing company borrow at the same rate (it could happen – leasing companies borrow also to fund your deal) then clearly lease financing might not be the best option.

When we sit with customers we find that the true real life day to day advantages of leasing tend to be quick credit approval, ability to structure payments in a fashion that makes sense for your business, and also the ability to structure purchase options and returns or purchase of the asset at the end of the lease. All of this flexibility makes a compelling case for lease equipment leasing in Canada.

In summary, make sure you consider a number of key factors when you are out shopping for equipment lease rates. Structure your lease properly with a solid analysis and assistance from a trusted credible advisor – focus in on what advantages of equipment financing make most sense to you. And yes, the equipment lease rate will take care of itself!

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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 6 years - has completed in excess of 45 Million $$ of financing for Canadian corporations .Info re: Canadian business financing & contact details:

http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com/equipment_leasing_canada_equipment_lease_rates.html

Equipment Financing Companies Canada – 3 Things You Must Know

Canadian business owners and financial mangers need to know a couple critical pieces of information when contemplating an equipment financing and leasing transaction in the Canadian marketplace. We tell clients that if you don’t have good info and insights into these three factor you are poorly equipped to enter into a lease financing strategy.

We can summarize those items as follows:

1. Know the type of lease you need – there are several types, and the wrong pick in this area can nullify the benefits you are seeking in a lease financing strategy
2. Focus in on what advantages of leasing are important to yourself and your firm – Not all advantages will usually apply to everyone
3. It’s not a perfect world, there might be disadvantages to lease financing in your particular case – Understand what those might be.

Let’s elaborate on those key points. First of all there are two types of leases in the Canadian marketplace – you can answer which one is best for yourself by simply asking the basic question – Do I want to ultimately own the equipment, or in fact do I simply want to use the equipment. There a big difference there that affects both the overall pricing of your transaction, and how it is structured financially on your books.

The two types of leases in technical terms are capital leases, and operating leases. In a capital lease transaction you make fixed payments over a period of time and then gain ownership of the equipment. The payments to the lessors cover the cost of the equipment and the interest or financing charges. Again, the bottom line is that you retain ownership at the end of the lease.
In an operating lease scenario you pay for the equipment and its use for a specified term, the most typical rate we encourage clients to enter into on an operating lease is 3 years. These types of leases have significant cash flow and balance sheet advantages and make sense when leasing items such as technology, i.e. computers.

Let’s focus in on critical factor # 2 – what leasing advantages are important to your firm. There are several very obvious ones which include:

- Cash flow and working capital conservation
- Higher loan to value financing – usually only a nominal down payment is required
- Your other credit facilities remain untouched – we strongly recommend to clients that they match long term asset acquisition with a long term lease financing strategy, You don’t want to purchase assets with your revolving credit line or receivables financing facility
- In 90% or more of lease financing deals the only collateral is the asset being financed
- Your accountant will advise you that you have a number of tax, write off, and investment tax credit scenarios which may further maximize your transaction.

Let’s close off now and move to final critical item # 3 which we can simply start out by saying – It’s not a perfect world! No single financing strategy is beneficial for all firms. Some of the potential and that’s important, potential disadvantages are that leasing in some cases has a real or perceived higher cost. Also, if you are doing a sale lease back financing in some cases if your asset is below the sale price there might be a capital gain tax to pay. Although they aren’t ‘ disadvantages’ per se, you should also thoroughly understand insurance, install, purchase options, and any restrictive covenants that might come into play in a lease financing strategy .

Leasing continues to be one of the most important sources of long term working capital .Don’t over look it, but do clearly understand how our 3 factors can assist you in making an informed equipment financing decision.

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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 6 years - has completed in excess of 45 Million $$ of financing for Canadian corporations .Info re: Canadian business financing & contact details:

http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com/equipment_financing_companies_canada.html

Factoring In Canada – Invoice to Cash Conversion – Benefit of Alternative Financing

In the current economic and business financing environment Canadian business owners and financial managers keep hearing about alternative financing and they want to know how factoring in Canada works . It would help to understand the benefits also!

Clearly factoring in Canada, also called receivable financing, or receivable discounting is a new emerging strategy for business financing in Canada. The reality is that is has been around for only a hundred years! But has become increasingly popular as business owners of small, medium, (and yes, large corporations!) struggle to find methods of financing cash flow and working capital.

Let’s try and clear up some of the myths and mysteries of this method of financing your business. As a business owner or financial manager you have options when you consider asset financing. Let’s focus on the key issue we are considering, which is working capital and cash flow financing.

You can finance your business via a working capital term loan, this is available through really only one source in Canada, and is essentially a cash term loan that is repaid via fixed monthly payments. Naturally this type of financing is ‘debt ‘financing and brings a certain level of debt to your balance sheet and overall leverage. You also have the option of putting in additional equity into your company via your own resources or bringing in an additional partner /owner – This of course tends to dilute your ownership and is not really high on the list of most of our clients!

So, we don’t want to necessarily borrow and incur debt, and we certainly cant or don’t want to dilute ownership. Is there another solution. There certainly is, and that’s financing the assets of your business. In our case we are talking about current assets, receivables and inventory, and for the purposes of our discussion here we are talking receivables.

When we focus on the monetization, or cash flowing of your business we can see the eyes light up in our clients faces, as we are now talking about a financing strategy that doesn’t bring debt to your business, uses your liquid assets for cash flow, and keeps your ownership intact. That clearly is what factoring as an alternative financing mechanism becomes more popular everyday.
Factoring is simply the immediate sale of your accounts receivable invoices, at your option. You have the ability to factor one invoice, several, or all. You remain in control. Using our invoice to cash conversion allows you to immediately pay suppliers, purchase more inventory or product, and continue to generate sales and profits for your business.

Factoring in Canada is not the challenge – the challenge is working with the right factoring partner to make sure you have a competitive rate, and that you have the ability to control the overall process, including customer relationships . Pricing is also a huge discussion point in Canada, and without the use of a trusted, experienced and credible business financing advisor you run the risk of setting up the wrong facility at pricing that does not make sense for your firm.

In summary, factoring in Canada remains one of the most popular financing strategies in Canada – it is not debt per se, you are just liquidating your current assets as you need to. Funds are available instantly the same day you generate your invoice for goods and services, and the overall benefit is that you are in a position to grow sales and profits.

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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 6 years - has completed in excess of 45 Million $$ of financing for Canadian corporations .Info re: Canadian business financing & contact details:
http://www.7parkavenuefinancial.com/factoring_IN_CANADA_INVOICE_TO_CASH.html