Larkland Morley’s Professional Blog

I have been on vacation for the last week and ending this coming week-end. Just wanted to share my latest updates on my business quest. One of the things I have been focused on, is the issue of obtaining reasonable business financing to take the next step. While I have learnt some good ideas during this process, it seems the market is really tight out there and show why the economy is still in some degree of recession.

The challenge I am still seeing is the issue of honesty with those who claim they can provide services. While I have managed to eliminate some of the obvious ones that will rip-off, there are those who instead of coming clean, tries to use these white lies to drag things out. The reason for this is that maybe their sources are not working out but instead of admitting that upfront, they give you some story to buy time, unfortunately whatever they tried next may not work out, so in the end they looked like a real scam. Now these persons could have had good intention but I think sometimes the willingness to use lies to get bye also will reduce the quality of service. In other words, its like a catch 22. Whenever, you present the truth to customers, they will make a choice, continue to work with you or move on. That is very basic and long term common sense.

Anyway, on the plus side, I should be getting feedback on the actual performance of some trading platforms this week. These will provide very good returns so to get first hand knowledge that they work will be a great breakthrough for the next step in the financial journey.

In terms of the funding, there are still some genuine long term options out there but as I said, it takes time to weed out the decoy ones. I do feel that I am making progress overall in both learning and getting this done.  I should have reasonable financing in place by end of the year at minimum. When I say reasonable,  it means at least $500K funding.

I have made several posting on creative ways to obtain funding for your business. This is a quick update based on my own experience on this matter so far.

All of what I have said in the past in regards to buying an existing corporation with credit line is still true but whats important is that you have to be very careful in what you go after. Once something is non-traditional, anyone can offer this type of product but the issue is whether they are real or just trying something. Here are some very basic pointers to look at.

1. Ask for full disclosure on who they are and why their business would deliver the intended product. Who are the principals involved, any referrals available to validate their claims ( this one is tricky of course).

2. Full protection of your money. Even if a company is incorporated and has a bank account, it does not mean they will be legitimate. Let them agree to accept credit card or an escrow service. If they can’t afford to wait on escrow process then move on.  sometimes some of these guys are arrogant and claim they are serious. Move on,  as they should cater for your concerns not themselves.

3. Do not accept the arguement that if you were serious and have the money, you would not ask question. Note,  its your money and you do not have any need for them to take it away without proving how its protected.

4.  Make sure the contract is specific. Some could get you funding but that could just be lease equipment and not cash. Make sure it spelt out the minimum amount in cash credit and the latest dates for funding.  Of course also make sure they agree to full refund if those conditions are not met.  They cannot guarantee funding but they can guarantee the service are performed or refund your money.  Always get a lawyer to look over the contract and if possible put in penalties for delays in the process. For example reduce the amount on the back-end etc.

There are also reliable ways to get you a high limit credit card on your personal profile without any checks.  Same rules apply with these.

Its still a lucrative area to pursue and I have more information to share on the next step when you get funding. This step could blow your mind in terms of money you could access with this facility. Did I say leverage?

Here is a great example that I believe in so much. Don’t get me wrong there are risk but then in today’s economy there is a risk in finding and keeping a job too.

Read now – Former Nortel Employee

Haven’t posted anything for some time now, but this is an area that I have been researching a lot almost a year now.

I decided to check a few of those government funded groups to provide new business help and what I realize is that most times what they throw at you is the textbook. This is very much the case in terms of financing. They basically say go and talk to the bank. No creativity at all.

First of all even if you can get a good loan from the bank personally, its a not a good idea long term to do this. In general, its best to form a corporation and get business funding through that corporation.

Now to get to the point about Corporations and funding, one simple approach is to purchase an existing company.  Now, I am sure your question is; where should I get money to purchase a company since my goal in the first place is to get funding?

The company you will purchase will not have an established business as such but would have a developed credit profile generated by the existing owners. These companies are called Shelf Corporations.  The pricing could be based on the age and other factors like how much funding you can get right off the bat.

I am sure the nagging question. Whats the cost like for something like this? The price range from what I have seen is about $10K to $20K and that gets you a company with about $200K to $500K in funding which is most times a line of credit. Now you could get those numbers with personal credit but this is just the start for these guys, one group I know, provides a Shelf Corporation that gets you about $2M in funding within a 2 year period with not much additional cost. They also help you develop a business plan geared towards funding sources.

In the end, your focus would be generating the maximum $20K to purchase the corporation and then its smooth sailing from there. You may not have to use the money but with funding you have credibility to raise other funds to put your business in Top Gear.

I am thinking of people that lost their jobs recently in this economy, you could use this to fund a franchise business, services, software development or any business type that fits your fancy.

Check out this little write up I did on the topic – Business Funding Guide.

If you want more direct details on sources, let me know.