SBA Small Business Loan – you don’t need a consultant

Looking for a SBA Small Business Loan?

sba small business loan - SBA.govSince we’ve been in business we have received calls about helping companies obtain a SBA Small Business Loan.  Our answer is always the same, go to a bank.

You don’t need a consultant.  There is no magic person who can get you that loan.  The only person you may need is your company accountant to assist in filling out the financials.

A short How To

The Small Business Administration has a rather detailed website on what you need to do.  So here are some pointers to ease your way into that SBA Small Business Loan.

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Intellectual Property: Should you protect it?

Intellectual Property (IP) can be the most important asset to your corporation.  Just ask Kodak, whose management sat on its intellectual property for years.  They never knew what it was worth!

Intellectual Property - USPTOThe question now becomes how you protect your IP.  First, you need to determine whether it will be worth something, to some investor down the road.  The considerable dollars spent on trademark protection may worth every penny.

Then again, it may not be worth a cent!

Intellectual Property, the CFO view

In an article by Sean D. Deweiler in CFO Magazine titled Why You Should Spend Dollars on Patent, Trademark Protection he outline some of the pro’s and con’s of patent and trademark protection.

“You could be leaving money on the table or cutting off future options for protecting market share or growing revenue. If you haven’t yet taken what’s become a standard approach to protecting your company’s ideas, it may already be too late.” Writes Detweiler.

In Kodak’s case, they are actively licensing both their inventions and brand.  The Kodak  of the 1960’s is gone.  But their inventions live on and an income stream continues.

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Press Release – Back to the Basics

PRESS RELEASEReleased: April 3rd, 2017

Press Release

Friends and colleagues,

For the last year, I have been a partner at Hardesty LLC. It has been a rewarding experience both personally and professionally. However, it was time to move on.

As of April 1st , I resigned as a partner and will be devoting my skills and energy to my current clients, potential clients and my businesses.

SBA * Consulting (www.SBAConsulting.com) has a new website and we have brought in Oswaldo Salazar, EA (Oswaldo.Salazar@SBAConsulting.com) to focus on the small business segment. To this end, we have focused more resources on our Xero accounting system practice. We will also be setting up a division to do virtual bookkeeping for those small and nascent companies.

We still are committed to the mid-market and providing CxO’s (albeit mostly CFO’s) to companies that need interim, part-time our outsourced experienced CFO’s. We also can assist in a large range of projects that require the same skill sets, but as a consultant to the CFO other C-Suite members.

Many of you know that I am a partner at Management Interactive LLC (MI) (www.managementinteractive.com) whose website is being created as you read this letter. As a symbiotic company, MI assists smaller companies with preparing for investors, going after capital investment and exits.

Part of this requires assistance with business planning, budgeting, and implementation of accounting systems and policies. Implementing these systems not only will help the business to grow, but pass muster on due diligence. I think you can see the crossover symbiotic nature of the relationship.

I look forward to connecting with you and appreciate any leads as we work worldwide and remotely.

Yours,

Wayne Spivak

 Growth is Good

 

  • We understand your problems.
  • Are you ready for the solution?
  • Our outsourced CxOs are prepared to help

WSpivak@SBAConsulting.com +1 (516) 221-3306

Quickbooks to Xero, a snap

Moving to Quickbooks

If you’ve been using Quickbooks for a while you probably know that the desktop version is very limiting.  Even if you “graduate” to QB Pro or make the mistake of going on-line, you still had many technical issues (although credit to Intuit for fixing many, but not all of them).

And if you have decided to go SAAS, there is no reason why you should use QB Online.  In article on the website Merchant Maverick, Katherine Miller did an excellent comparison between Xero and Quickbooks in her June 4th, 2016 article Xero VS QuickBooks Online.

 

Quickbooks vs Xero

Here is the comparison she made:

Xero vs Quickbooks

 

Her Final Verdict:

Winner: Xero

That said, at this point, Xero is still leading by a hair. The program is more pleasant to use, the value for the money tends to be better, and the company is very responsive to its users. The real deciding factor is what the users are saying. I look at the feedback on Xero and I see a lot of people who love the program. I look at QuickBooks Online and I frequently see users who are satisfied, but not enthusiastic.”

Some of her observations are no longer relevant, making Xero an even better product, but that is not to say there isn’t room for improvement.  One classic area is the ability to print checks on blank stock. Xero is a New Zealand based product. NZ (and for that matter the rest of the world) do not use or understand checks.  A small business may still have multiple bank accounts requiring either purchasing different pre-print check stock or using a program that will print the blank check (twice the work).

I have found Xero’s Customer Service (even the most skilled individual has issues) to be exemplary.  Typical answers from Customer Service come either same day or next.  I have gotten phone time when needed.

Lastly, before you move to Xero, or any other system for that matter, you should have your accounting system reviewed and cleaned-up for errors.  SBA * Consulting can help you with this process (which can be very tedious based on the amount of transactions and errors).

Contact us and let’s discuss converting your Quickbooks to Xero.

Why not send us a message…

 

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Looking for an Investor or that Exit – start early

So you are looking for an Investor or Exit

Business owners, both young and old (by both their age and the age of their businesses) always have an eye on either new investor(s) or a buyer for an exit from the business.

Investor exitObviously, in any case the business needs to be attractive. The value proposition needs to be solid. The staff skilled and energized. The technology current. The processes smooth allowing for peak production. A business plan that is sound as well as budgets and forecasts that make sense. Lastly, on this list, but certainly not in a business, the accounting needs to be on the mark.
Too many businesses feel that accounting adds no value (sic, sales) and relegate it to the background and/or a minimal budget. Nothing will sink your pitch to a potential investor/buyer faster than sloppy accounting systems, controls, and books.

You want to be able to show a maximum valuation and a healthy EBITDA. You want to show a large loyal customer base that continually does repeat business. You want to identify add-backs; which increases your EBITDA (adjusted EBITDA). You want your business plan and budget tracking with your accounting.

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