FEE Fi Fo Fum

When you walk into your bank to apply for Business Credit Financing, the most likely result is the Banker chats with you for a few minutes then hands you an application package for you to complete.

It’s a nice package. The Bank logo is prominently displayed and the information required is laid throughout the package.  The documents are listed in the package to make it easy for you to move through them in a logical progression.

When you’re done with the package, you bring it back to the Bank, along with your supporting documents (Tax returns, Updated Financials, etc.), and the application fee.

The bank isn’t taking any action or providing you with a decision, or even feedback on your financing request without the completed application and accompanying fees.

At Aurora Business Consulting, we’re happy to be your resource to spend the time BEFORE the application is presented to the Lender to determine your business’ qualifications, identify obstacles, consider strategies and outline the financing products that will help you to achieve financing success that will help to attain your goals. 

We find the right Lender for your needs.  It doesn’t stop there.  We’ll act as your “concierge” as we handle all the documentation and communications with the Lender.

In short, when you begin your process to find Business Credit Financing with us, we don’t simply hand you an application package and ask you to fill it out, return it and pay the fee. Yes, we do require a small investment from you in the form of our processing fee.  

We ask this and require this because there is a process to qualifying your financing request and we invest time to search for the best financing solutions for your financing needs.

Occasionally we’ll meet a new prospective client, conduct our initial telephone interview and discuss how we can move forward.  We send out our Introductory Broker Package which includes our Broker Fee Agreement, an Overview of the process and a Credit Authorization Form to run credit report(s).   

Occasionally the prospective client doesn’t return the package nor pay the fee. They disappear.

We understand that sometimes the upfront fee might seem to be an obstacle in the mind of the prospective client.  

But, we also understand the common procedures in our industry and that processing fees are a standard requirement. We’re not the Bank.  We’re YOUR Broker.  We work for you, not the Bank.  We’re investing our time and experience to a dedicated strategy: Find your requested financing.

We are not the right fit for everyone and that’s okay. Some of the clients we work with may have already been down a dead-end path with lost money and time to show for it.

We work with people that understand and value the time it takes to vet the banks that have specific appetites for your financing request.

We value your time and appreciate the consideration it takes to move forward to build your business. 

Visit our Financing Fodder YouTube Playlist for more information on how to prepare yourself when requesting a business loan.

Don’t Tell Me How To Make My Pizza!

We had a conversation with one of our Real Estate Broker Extraordinaire friends about all things business-related and, more specifically, about PIZZA.  She loves pizza similar to one of us here at Aurora Consulting (we’ll let you guess which one).

The chat happened while discussing an innovative pizza-restaurateur who created a wonderful and completely yummy pizza product.  This brilliant entrepreneur has come to realize his business is growing so rapidly that he suddenly finds himself in need of working capital to fund an expansion simply to keep up with the growth.

Good problem to have…except for the seeking working capital part.

The money part is where it gets challenging for this smart young pizza-entrepreneur.  He faces an important choice while facing the money challenge.

Should he search for a Lender to provide credit financing, or, surrender part of his business to an equity investor?

At Aurora Consulting, we believe this question has a simple answer.

Why surrender equity, and cede control, when you might very well find a credit solution to obtain the much needed working capital?  Yes, the answer is a question!  Or, the answer to the pizza-entrepreneur’s question can better be stated with the retort, “Don’t tell me how to make my pizza!”

Bringing in an equity investor for any growing business could (someday sooner or later) lead to your equity investor asserting control with how the business should be run.  That opinion could include, for this innovative pizza entrepreneur, suggestions on how to adjust the unique pizza recipe, you know, to make the product more cost-efficient.

Or the opinion from the new “partner” could be any number of other ideas, suggestions, opinions, plans, assertions, on growing the business, you know, to be more profitable.

That equity investor may have no idea at all about how to make pizza.

Many business owners are concerned with the idea of credit financing.  Let’s face it, credit financing can scare the heck out of many people.  Thank you to the global credit bust and subsequent recession for that anxiety-filled-ideation.  Borrowing money from a Lender, whether a traditional bank, or a non-traditional portfolio lender, is often a much more tranquil experience than you might think.

The question becomes one of finding the right lender.  The question never, ever, ever, becomes one of, “Hey, how about we use this ingredient in the pizza recipe instead of your original because this ingredient is cheaper and our product will be more profitable?”

Yeah, that question.  It’s not going to happen when you finance your capital cash needs with the right loan product and the right lender.

Visit our Financing Fodder YouTube Playlist for more information on how to prepare yourself when requesting a business loan.