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What Should You Do After a Business Loan Denial?

What Should You Do After a Business Loan Denial?

What Should You Do After a Business Loan Denial? The denial of a loan can be a major setback for a business. However, if this has happened to you, it’s important to note that there are a number of options available and certain steps you can take to help your business get the funding it needs. Considering that your first step may be to reapply for a loan or try a different lender, keep the following tips in mind: Know what banks are looking for When you apply for a loan, the lending institution will thoroughly analyze your business and check for a good credit score (over 700), a proven ability to repay the loan with interest over time and the potential for collateral with the loan. By knowing what the banks are seeking during this process, you’ll be able to strengthen those areas and improve your chances of success. You should also regularly check your credit score, and can do so by obtaining your report from a variety of different sources for free using the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Once you have your report, check back on the Federal Trade Commission website to find tips on improving your score. Investigate other lending options You don’t necessarily have to go to a bank to get the capital you need. Other sources could be more flexible and better suited for your company. Examples of these alternatives include:

  • Equipment leasing. Instead of pursuing a business loan to purchase equipment, you may be able to work with an equipment leasing provider. This saves significantly on costs, while allowing you to more easily update your equipment and technology as time goes on.
  • Peer-to-peer lending. In this structure, prospective borrowers fill out an application online, pay a fee and then receive a rating according to the risk associated with lending money to them. You then get matched up with organizations that could be interested in funding your business or project.
  • Niche lending. Some lenders focus on specific industries only, so depending on the type of business you have, a niche lender that understands the work you do might be a great option.
  • Local lending. Other lenders are specifically focused on providing funding to businesses within their local geographic area, with the goal of strengthening business and the economy in their communities.

Make your business as profitable as possible If you have products or services that just aren’t selling, get rid of them. If you are operating in an inefficient way, it may be time to overhaul your processes. You might consider bundling services or products — or forming a partnership with another organization. After a business loan denial, don’t wait to take action to do what is right for you and your business. If you have questions about these options, including equipment leasing and how it can help your company, contact the team at Fidelity Capital right away.

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Staying Strong Through the Holiday Slowdown

Staying Strong Through the Holiday Slowdown

For businesses that remain open during the holiday season, those couple weeks can be a slow time. Clients that you do business with may have closed up shop, and many people take time off to spend with family in the week or so between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Within your organization, your employees might be taking vacations and half-days. However, there are still ways you can keep your operations running strong so that you can come back from the holiday season and hit the ground running. Here are some tips to consider: Boost your social media presence. If people are spending less time at work over the holidays, chances are they’re spending more time on social media. Take advantage of this by interacting more with your audience through Twitter and Facebook — or offer special holiday deals. It’s a simple and inexpensive way to keep your brand engagement going strong during an otherwise slow period for business. Keep an eye on the calendar. Most U.S. markets are closed on both Christmas and New Year’s Day. These both fall on the same day of the week (a Wednesday this year). Therefore, it might be best to focus your marketing efforts later in the week. On Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, people are still focused on the holiday and the tasks associated with preparing for them. Any press releases you want to submit, advertisements you want to put out or deals you want to announce should be strategically planned so that they do not coincide with the holidays themselves. Use holiday search terms.  Improve your search engine optimization (SEO) this holiday season by getting involved with popular search engine terms for the holiday season. You can use tools like Google Trends to help figure out which search terms are most common for the season, and then figure out how to employ those for your business and industry. Be genuine. Be generous in your well-wishing for the holiday season. Let your customers, clients and employees know how much you appreciate them and that you hope they have a great holiday with their families. Send out little notes through the mail or email, and put up holiday wishes on your social media pages. This will improve your brand image and keep your company in people’s minds when they come back from the holiday. Assume people are listening.  Finally, just continue to go about your business as you normally would and assume that people haven’t tuned out for the holidays. The worst thing you can do is slow down for a week or two simply because many other people have closed up shop for the season. The best way you can ensure that you start off strong in January is to continue strong operations through the end of December. We hope these tips help you to find some success this holiday season and beyond. And if you need to explore your options for business equipment leasing in 2014 and beyond, don’t hesitate to contact Fidelity Capital.

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