IntroductionProviding instant value to very many people online has never been easier than it is today. This has also been compounded by social media platforms which have literally introduced us to new kingdoms almost overnight. The result, many millionaires being made every day. You have probably heard of the terms ‘new money’, ‘new rich’, ‘digital economy’ etc. As an example, when I really started understanding the power of Instagram, I was blown away. In 5 minutes, just by putting up 1 engaging post with entrepreneurial speak and targeted hashtags, I was able to converse instantly with other entrepreneurs in 3 different continents!But how do you and I become self-sufficient in starting a profitable online business in the first place?We must first understand the requirements and then get the right education. Self-sufficient to me means my skills for being profitable online are future-proof. Think about all-weather paint… or an all-weather road. Plan to play a big game. It is also necessary to think expansively as Robert Kiyosaki puts it.That said, here are 7 steps that I discovered to ensure sustainable business success online. Excited?! OK. Let us get into it.7 Steps To Starting A Profitable Online Business1. Passion & ClarityWe must be driven by passion. We need to know WHY we want to start the online business in the first place. As for me, I am extremely passionate about freedom and choice. I really needed a way to make money without having to report to a job that required me to work inside a brain numbing routine. I was in between boarding schools for 10 years when I was growing up and that was enough for me to find out I didn’t do routines very well. Then I started my work life and realised how much control I DID NOT have about what I wanted to DO. Become very clear about what is driving you towards starting a business online.2. GoalsThe online space can compare to a noisy street marketplace; lots of people, all wanting to be seen and heard.Define your goals clearly i.e. passive income, time freedom, geographical freedom or even one of my personal favourites, financial freedom. Then go in and start creating a business with those clear goals in mind.3. Re – Think What You Know About Being OnlineBeing profitable online can create a lot of freedom but it’s not an instant success. There’s a lot of learning and re-skilling that needs to happen. For me, this was a lot more like learning a new ‘language’. I knew the Internet very casually. It was a place to spend my free time browsing music videos, posting random Facebook posts and watching news that I did not need to know about. I had to change my beliefs and the mindset that was driving whatever I thought I knew about being online. Every time I saw an ad I thought it was a scam. Sure enough, there are a lot of scams out there but we live in a society where ‘good’ and ‘bad’ must exist in the same space. The mindset that is driving you to the online space must be one that sees the vast opportunity that exists on that platform. A chance for you to create a life that up to this point was only a dream.4. Focus On Providing ValuePeople buy from people they think they know, like and trust. As much as it is tempting to think that people are online waiting to be told what they need or don’t need, most people are online looking to solve real problems, and sometimes very painful ones.If you can understand this fact, then your focus must be genuine interest in wanting to help people, a lot of people. This focus becomes your guide for providing high-quality solutions that will fix their problems and reduce or eliminate their ‘pain’.5. Master The Art Of Marketing With All Your HeartFind a way to reach as many people as you can who have big problems that need to be fixed with your proven high-quality product or service on the Internet. With so many options available today, creativity is key. Pick 2 marketing strategies, for example, Facebook and email marketing that you have the patience to run with for the long haul. Don’t stop until you have mastered these 2 strategies.Think about Amazon today. They started with selling books. In fact, selling books is formally their core business! Think about that for a minute. That said, today Amazon sells everything under the sun. Why? Because today they are in the business of fixing peoples’ everyday problems using the Internet.6. Power Of BeliefHave the belief that it’s possible for you. Before I started online, all I had ever sold was personal electronics I wanted to dispose of using the ebays and gumtrees. However, I had heard about people making millions of dollars online… But then came the day I was contemplating my first online business. I had to face my own self-doubt. I needed to answer the following question very honestly:Eddie, “DO YOU ACTUALLY BELIEVE YOU CAN MAKE MONEY ONLINE?”If you are reading this today, this will be without a doubt the most important question you will ever ask yourself as an online entrepreneur.It is impossible to achieve before we believe. When the hard times visit, this is the only one thing that will push this ‘unwanted’ guest out the front door! I had to believe I could make it online and that it would change how I lived, worked and played period.7. Mentorship and Master Mind GroupsYou have heard the saying, “we become what we think about all day”. Thoughts make us act in a certain way, which then brings a certain type of results in our lives. To be successful we must think in a certain way and act in a certain way so that we can get the results we want. With that in mind, we must spend a lot of time with people who want the same results and those who have already created these results.The people who have already created the results then become your mentors. If I was going to create a lifestyle of freedom and choice using an online business, I needed to spend time with people who had already created one. I also needed to have mentors as part of this process. So that is exactly what I did. It really is that simple.Final ThoughtIn the end, all we really want is a better more fulfilling life experience, right? Money is good, very good indeed because it creates choice. Oh, how beautiful that word is! choice. With Money being a non-issue, we can freely choose any experience we want and go for it. When money is not an issue, I can choose to have a bucket of chicken at a local KFC (my personal favourite delicacy) or have a plate of honey glazed chicken dinner served at The Hilton, where service is absolutely top notch. In both cases, I get to have my favourite food, chicken but the experience is Worlds apart right?So go ahead & take action every day and make the decision to keep going until you get there. It is impossible to fail if giving up is not on your cards.
How to Avail 12-Month Loans in London?
WHAT ARE 12-MONTH LOANS?12-month loans are a type of short-term loan that has become increasingly popular in recent times. These are designed so as to last for only a year or 12 months to be precise. They are extremely helpful as they help one to accurately budget for the concerned money that they have borrowed as it is known that it must be fully repaid within a year or 12 months. This is the main difference that makes it stand out from other types of short-term loans offered by various direct lenders.These types of loans allow one to borrow a wide range of different sums of money and these types of loans help break up the borrower’s loan into 12 manageable repayments that must be repaid on a monthly basis. Small loans are a good way of allowing one to budget for anything unexpected.DESCRIPTION OF 12-MONTH LOANSThe approximate calculated interest for borrowing 100 pounds under such a scheme comes around 13 pounds per month. There are many people who may suffer from bad credit history and there are many lenders available who are willing to provide loans to people who have a bad credit rating and who may have been denied loans elsewhere. Most lenders have eligibility checkers that help check the individual’s likelihood of being fully approved for a 12-month loan for bad credit before applying.One can improve his or her credit score by being accepted for a 12-month loan and keeping up to date with the necessary repayments for the concerned loan. This makes it easier for the individual to be accepted for any sort of credit in the near future. Missing out on payments has the opposite effect and can damage the borrower’s credit profile making it difficult for him or her to be accepted in the future for bad credit loans.There are many UK lenders offering 12-month loans with no guarantor as not everyone may have access to that facility. These 12-month loans have become extremely popular in recent years as direct lenders have started offering these types of loans which do not require a guarantor.GETTING APPROVED FOR A 12 MONTH LOANOne is eligible for such loans only if he or she is above 18 years of age and is a citizen of the UK. Having a good income source is advantageous but not necessary. One also needs to have a good credit score to increase approval chances for the borrower. Lenders always prefer people with a good credit score as they can be trustworthy and reliable and are more likely to repay back the loan amount in the stipulated 12 months or 1 year.If the borrower’s credit score is not enough for gaining approval for a 12-month loan, then the borrower can obtain loans by getting into a joint agreement which can be done by convincing a friend or family member to become your guarantor for the 12-month loan. In this case, if the borrower fails to make a repayment to the lender then the guarantor can pay in place of the borrower.Asset pawning is also a good solution for the concerned individual or borrower. In case he or she is unable to find a guarantor then he or she can pawn any asset which may be a land, property or even a vehicle. This asset should have a value equivalent to the value of the loan.BENEFITS OF 12 MONTH LOANMany lenders often provide people with 12-month loans even though they do not have a guarantor to furnish. This type of loan also helps those who are in need of emergency money. These loans are hassle-free and usually, do not carry any extra hidden charges and are also comparatively easier to repay when compared to personal loans or payday loans which have higher interest rates.Most lenders nowadays have an easy loan process that allows them to assess the financial situation of the borrower within a short period of time and since most of the systems are now online, this has reduced a lot of paperwork involved. These lenders offer personalized loans to the borrower depending on their financial situation and state of living.These lenders offering 12-month loans also provide competitive rates of interest to the borrower for people with a poor credit score and this helps a person from any strata of society with any economic background opt for a loan without being financially distressed due to the various competitive rates of interest offered to the borrower by the lender.One can opt for a 12-month loan in case of any financial emergency or an unexpected expense that may be necessary to be cleared immediately. They provide quick loan approval processes and also credit the concerned loan amount directly into the borrower’s bank account making the loan obtaining process smooth and hassle-free. The borrower can easily repay the loan to the lender in simple instalments every month for the 12 months time period of the loan.Even if the borrower has a poor history of credit and is in need of emergency money at the earliest, many lenders exist offering a wide variety of instalment loans for all types of credit score borrowers.CHOOSING A 12 MONTH LOANOne of the top reasons for more and more people opting for 12-month loans is the fact that it offers competitive APR, hassle-free and reliable loans with options for bad credit too, the lack of the need for a guarantor, availability of small and big loans as required, repayment of loans in easy instalments, ensuring that people from all economic backgrounds have a fair chance at securing a loan and many other reasons.Carefully compare and choose the best suited 12-month loan option for your needs.
Alternative Financing Vs. Venture Capital: Which Option Is Best for Boosting Working Capital?
There are several potential financing options available to cash-strapped businesses that need a healthy dose of working capital. A bank loan or line of credit is often the first option that owners think of – and for businesses that qualify, this may be the best option.
In today’s uncertain business, economic and regulatory environment, qualifying for a bank loan can be difficult – especially for start-up companies and those that have experienced any type of financial difficulty. Sometimes, owners of businesses that don’t qualify for a bank loan decide that seeking venture capital or bringing on equity investors are other viable options.
But are they really? While there are some potential benefits to bringing venture capital and so-called “angel” investors into your business, there are drawbacks as well. Unfortunately, owners sometimes don’t think about these drawbacks until the ink has dried on a contract with a venture capitalist or angel investor – and it’s too late to back out of the deal.
Different Types of Financing
One problem with bringing in equity investors to help provide a working capital boost is that working capital and equity are really two different types of financing.
Working capital – or the money that is used to pay business expenses incurred during the time lag until cash from sales (or accounts receivable) is collected – is short-term in nature, so it should be financed via a short-term financing tool. Equity, however, should generally be used to finance rapid growth, business expansion, acquisitions or the purchase of long-term assets, which are defined as assets that are repaid over more than one 12-month business cycle.
But the biggest drawback to bringing equity investors into your business is a potential loss of control. When you sell equity (or shares) in your business to venture capitalists or angels, you are giving up a percentage of ownership in your business, and you may be doing so at an inopportune time. With this dilution of ownership most often comes a loss of control over some or all of the most important business decisions that must be made.
Sometimes, owners are enticed to sell equity by the fact that there is little (if any) out-of-pocket expense. Unlike debt financing, you don’t usually pay interest with equity financing. The equity investor gains its return via the ownership stake gained in your business. But the long-term “cost” of selling equity is always much higher than the short-term cost of debt, in terms of both actual cash cost as well as soft costs like the loss of control and stewardship of your company and the potential future value of the ownership shares that are sold.
Alternative Financing Solutions
But what if your business needs working capital and you don’t qualify for a bank loan or line of credit? Alternative financing solutions are often appropriate for injecting working capital into businesses in this situation. Three of the most common types of alternative financing used by such businesses are:
1. Full-Service Factoring – Businesses sell outstanding accounts receivable on an ongoing basis to a commercial finance (or factoring) company at a discount. The factoring company then manages the receivable until it is paid. Factoring is a well-established and accepted method of temporary alternative finance that is especially well-suited for rapidly growing companies and those with customer concentrations.
2. Accounts Receivable (A/R) Financing – A/R financing is an ideal solution for companies that are not yet bankable but have a stable financial condition and a more diverse customer base. Here, the business provides details on all accounts receivable and pledges those assets as collateral. The proceeds of those receivables are sent to a lockbox while the finance company calculates a borrowing base to determine the amount the company can borrow. When the borrower needs money, it makes an advance request and the finance company advances money using a percentage of the accounts receivable.
3. Asset-Based Lending (ABL) – This is a credit facility secured by all of a company’s assets, which may include A/R, equipment and inventory. Unlike with factoring, the business continues to manage and collect its own receivables and submits collateral reports on an ongoing basis to the finance company, which will review and periodically audit the reports.
In addition to providing working capital and enabling owners to maintain business control, alternative financing may provide other benefits as well:
It’s easy to determine the exact cost of financing and obtain an increase.
Professional collateral management can be included depending on the facility type and the lender.
Real-time, online interactive reporting is often available.
It may provide the business with access to more capital.
It’s flexible – financing ebbs and flows with the business’ needs.
It’s important to note that there are some circumstances in which equity is a viable and attractive financing solution. This is especially true in cases of business expansion and acquisition and new product launches – these are capital needs that are not generally well suited to debt financing. However, equity is not usually the appropriate financing solution to solve a working capital problem or help plug a cash-flow gap.
A Precious Commodity
Remember that business equity is a precious commodity that should only be considered under the right circumstances and at the right time. When equity financing is sought, ideally this should be done at a time when the company has good growth prospects and a significant cash need for this growth. Ideally, majority ownership (and thus, absolute control) should remain with the company founder(s).
Alternative financing solutions like factoring, A/R financing and ABL can provide the working capital boost many cash-strapped businesses that don’t qualify for bank financing need – without diluting ownership and possibly giving up business control at an inopportune time for the owner. If and when these companies become bankable later, it’s often an easy transition to a traditional bank line of credit. Your banker may be able to refer you to a commercial finance company that can offer the right type of alternative financing solution for your particular situation.
Taking the time to understand all the different financing options available to your business, and the pros and cons of each, is the best way to make sure you choose the best option for your business. The use of alternative financing can help your company grow without diluting your ownership. After all, it’s your business – shouldn’t you keep as much of it as possible?