refinance – Passive income

5 good reasons for business to borrow money

By MPI6th June 2018Smart moneyborrow, business, long-term assets, money, reason, refinance, seed capital, working capital

Small and medium-sized businesses drive the economy across Europe. According to the data of the European Investment Bank (EIB), small and medium-sized businesses account for 99% of businesses in European Union and employ two thirds of the labor force. Thus, small business financing has always been a priority for various financial institutions or at least it should have been.

Many entrepreneurs in the Baltic States still face deep-rooted fear of borrowing and the idea that borrowing reduces the credibility of the business. However, contemporary entrepreneurs challenge the status quo and understand that debt is essential in order to grow a company. Therefore, today we will share 5 key reasons why businesses (should) borrow additional capital.

Seed capital (to start a new business)

Ingenious idea is rarely enough to establish a successful business. A company can grow when there is a developed concept to show, whether it is a product or a service. However, it is often difficult to get to such point as it might require specific tools, technology, office or manufacturing premises, website, communication devices and other things for which a significant starting capital is needed.

Additional working capital

In order to earn profit, you need to invest working capital first. When company is growing quickly, there is a need for more employees, tools, office or manufacturing space, therefore, more capital. Usually businesses have three main ways to get additional capital – more equity capital from shareholders, profit from operations, and debt. Quite often shareholders pour most of their money into business to kick it off in the beginning and do not have additional capital for further funding. Lots of companies are not even profitable for the first couple of years. Therefore, company should consider taking on debt to grow the company as long as this debt is healthy.

Purchase of long-term assets

Long-term assets like buildings, land plots, machinery are usualy important to successful growth and expansion of ther company. Businesses often purchase such assets using leverage from lending companies in order to save working capital for operations.

Delayed payments

Businesses constantly juggle between accounting credit and debit. Working capital is like blood that keeps the company going. Nowadays, there is tendency that once products are are delivered to the buyer, payment might be delayed for up to three months. Expanding businesses cannot wait so long without additional capital injection to move forward. Therefore, invoice financing solutions are getting more and more popular among small growing businesses.

Refinancing

Terms and condition for loans today are not like they used to be 5 years ago. Sometimes interest rate or other conditions might worsen, however, if they become more attractive, it might be wise to refinance existing loan and get better terms. This solution helps businesses save a lot of money that can be used elsewhere.

Businesses should not be afraid of debt. On the contrary, when company borrows responsibly it can achieve sustainable growth and expand to new markets which would be unreachable otherwise.

Source: Lenddy.com

4 ways to save money for investing

Something we hear time and time again is “I would love to start investing, but I don’t have any money”. By human nature, we are at times reluctant to change, especially when it comes to parting with something we hold so dear such as our money. When you hear your friends or that rich uncle of yours talk about their investment portfolio, know that everyone has started somewhere and the most critical thing you can do is to get started. But how can you actually save money each month for investing?

If you’ve reviewed your monthly budget and you still don’t think you can start, here are 4 things you should consider.

1. What are you planning to invest in?

Firstly, you should think about exactly what you want to invest in as this will determine how much capital you need to get started and also how you can get there. For example, if you are choosing to invest directly in to real estate then you will need quite a considerable cash amount available. Not to mention, you will needed further capital available for repairs, maintenance and any related fees for agencies, insurance and legal.

If you’re investing in securities, P2P or something similar, it’s likely there will be a minimum investment amount required but significantly less than real estate. Once you know how much you need to get started, you can move on to the next step.

2. Refinance existing debt

If you’re in a situation where you have absolutely no debt then you can skip past this one (and congratulations!), although statistics show that the average debt per person in the UK is £8,000, with the highest debt-to-income ratio in Europe seen in Denmark. Start with your largest debt, i.e. your mortgage, and check if you are getting the best interest rate available. Your property may have increased in value since you last checked and therefore your equity will have increased, this is usually the single most important factor for a bank when determining the rate they can offer you. Another common debt is a credit card; today there are a number of providers offering 0% interest rates for 12 months and over if you complete a balance transfer to them. Take advantage of these fantastic offers while they are available and use them to pay off your debt quicker, smarter and free up further income for investing.

3. Pay yourself first

Before you pay any bills (or anything at all for that matter), you should always pay yourself first. The day you get paid, you should set aside a minimum of 10% of your net salary to pay yourself and use the funds for investments, then you can focus on your bills and everything else. Once you get in to the habit of doing this, you may find that you choose to up your monthly percentage that you invest to 20%, even 30%, because it can be extremely motivating once you start to see your money work for you and generate interest.

4. Make some cutbacks

You don’t have to give up your car or downsize your house, but we’re certain that you can think of a few things you pay for each month that aren’t really necessary. What about that gym membership that you never use? Maybe you have a subscription to a magazine or a set of TV channels? The little things add up, so make a list of all the discretionary expenditure you have each month and you’ll be amazed at what you find.