subject: How To Make The Most Of Your Merchant Loan [print this page] As a small business owner, there are times you know that being able to have access to a small loan, maybe even as low as $5,000 can really help immensely and make a huge difference. Regardless of your specific reasons, those extra funds could keep you from losing sleep, could give you the ability to jump your business to the next level or even give you the leverage you need to skate through the holiday sales season with ease. Standard loans can be problematic for many reasons so getting a 'merchant loan may well be the leverage you need to get you over the hump.
Standard bank loans usually take months to process, require some form of collateral and take years to pay off. While these are fine for start-up costs, major expansion or other capitalization needs, they are usually more trouble than they are worth for a short term cash flow boost. Merchant loans on the other hand usually take a couple of days to get approved, are based on incoming cash and can be paid off in weeks or months instead of years.
These kinds of loans are perfect for lots of situations where a needed boost to immediate cash flow is required. For instance, if you have a customer who has purchased a large quantity of inventory on a Net 30 or Net 60 basis and you have an immediate need for cash flow, you can get the cash you need and will be paid back when the customer pays their bill. This can help with slow paying clients as well.
Another purpose that this type of loan can satisfy is seasonal inventory purchases. Businesses that rely on summer tourism or are heavily geared to the holiday season need to have large stocks of inventory on hand during "peak" season. Unless a company has a way to temporarily increase their purchasing power, they may well miss out on what could be a very successful endeavor. Merchant loans can give your business the ability to stock up and can then take payments as a part of credit card receipts. This takes a lot of the hassle factor out of repaying the loan as well.
Merchant loans are short term loans designed to help you get through a temporary situation where an infusion of cash can be a real solution. Whether you have a cash flow issue or need to boost inventory for the holidays or to satisfy an order, being able to count on having access to the funds you need, when you need them is a huge comfort.