Trade Shows: the business necessary-evil that you either love or hate. Whichever camp you’re in, trade shows can be an indispensable asset to growing your factoring business (and also where pens and office gadgets go to die). They offer the ability to reach a wide range of potential customers and truly connect with people who can benefit from your services. However, not all trade show exhibitors are created equal. Here are some ideas for having a successful trade show and how to convert the leads you meet! 1) Send your most outgoing people. This seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many businesses don’t factor personality into who they send to a trade show. Even if your social butterfly isn’t necessarily in sales, … [Read more...]
Marketing Apps and Tools to Help Your Invoice Factoring Business Soar
Let’s face it – sometimes your marketing strategy can take the back seat when it comes to building and growing a small business. This can be especially true for invoice factoring companies, in which often times, employees wear more than one hat. Whether your marketing team is one person or ten, these tools are sure to help you expand your marketing operations and increase brand awareness. Hootsuite It’s impossible nowadays to market your business without social media. However, the amount of social media tools we’re now expected to keep up with can be overwhelming. Lighten your load with a tool like Hootsuite, which is a social-media management system. With Hootsuite, you have the capability to maintain and schedule posts for all of your … [Read more...]
What Now? Moving Forward in the Factoring Business After Being Defrauded
Behind every successful entrepreneur there are A LOT of failures, especially in the world of factoring. Being defrauded is a part of the factoring industry and it’s only a matter of time until it happens to you on some level. However, there’s a difference between coming out on top and going under. Here are some ideas on how to deal with being deceived and what to do when you find yourself asking, “What now?” (This article is a follow up to Protecting Yourself From Liars in the Factoring Industry - Part 1) Add it to your business plan We know—this sounds a little crazy. But calculating losses into your expenses before they even happen is a smart idea. Think of this as your ‘rainy-day’ fund: just like you wouldn’t go into retirement … [Read more...]
Protecting Yourself from Liars in the Factoring Industry
It’s no surprise to anyone in the factoring world that fraud is always a risk. If you ask any factoring company owner, it’s not even a matter of “if,” but, “when.” As much as we want to believe that all of our clients are honest and full of integrity, the truth is: some just aren’t. While most factoring companies go through very thorough measures in order to protect themselves, no business is completely immune. When there are hundreds and thousands of dollars at stake, what’s the solution? Unfortunately, there isn’t one—unless you want all of your potential and current clients to take lie detector tests—which probably won’t be great for future business. However, if you know what to listen and look for, it’s possible to avoid being scammed … [Read more...]
Simple Cost-Cutting Strategies for Factoring Business Owners
It’s no surprise that factoring businesses, new or old, rely on steady and abundant cash flow in order to be profitable. Being smart about how and where to efficiently manage funds can make or break the difference between flourishing and floundering in the world of factoring. Check out these ideas on how to cut costs so that you’re not overspending in areas that could be hurting your factoring company. Replace Print with Social Media It may not seem like a big deal, but the use of social media for marketing is no longer an option. Given that social media/networking is the top online activity in the US, small businesses can use it to capitalize on increased brand exposure, web traffic and even possible sales. Social media offers … [Read more...]
Bending But Not Breaking In Factoring?
The factoring industry is unique. If we had to write a mission statement for what we do it would read something like – “To provide cash flow to businesses to sustain and expand their operations”. The cash flow that factoring companies provide is through the purchase of clients receivables at a discount which allows the client to utilize the capital for expansion, take advantage of vendor discounts or any other reason they may have to keep their business an on-going concern. Over the past several years many new factors have entered into the asset based industry, as traditional lenders constricted credit to new and existing businesses. The aftershocks of the great recession had a rippling effect that was felt from Wall Street all the … [Read more...]
Finding Some Luck In The Factoring Business
How many times have you read about a new startup and kicked yourself because you had the same idea? I remember when I was in college there really weren’t any big name coffee shops on every corner but there sure were a lot of students hanging out at the cafeteria sipping on coffee while studying. Fast forward a few years later and the idea of Starbucks seems like such a no brainer. When we started our factoring company a few years ago the concept of financing accounts receivable was anything but new. There were many competitors with vast amounts of experience in the asset based lending arena. Prior to jumping into the ring we had diligently written our business plan, thoroughly studied our niche and built a marketing plan with the … [Read more...]
4 Online Marketing Predictions for Factoring Business Owners in 2015
A strong online presence is vital to marketing your factoring business in 2015. With ever-increasing competition for shrinking Google real estate, slapping up a website and establishing accounts on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn simply won’t cut it anymore. The cash flow industry is competitive and online marketing can prove challenging to any factoring business. Change is the only constant in digital marketing, but here are four predictions that should hold true for online marketing in 2015. 1. Mobile matters more than ever Think about the last time you performed a Google search at home. Did you start up your desktop or pull out a phone or tablet? Even if you did the former, it’s likely a huge chunk of your prospects did the latter. If … [Read more...]
Looking Ahead To 2015 For Factoring and Asset Based Lenders
The winds of change are a blowing. As of the writing of this article, the Republican Party will have a majority in both the House and Senate as the country moves into the New Year. No matter which side of the political spectrum you reside, the overall approval rating of Congress was an abysmal 14% prior to the November elections which tells us they can’t do much worse in the eyes of their constituents. Will the new Congress once again try to repeal Obamacare? Will we finally see some meaningful legislation on immigration, tax reform, and fair trade deals with Europe and Asia? Only time will tell, but doing nothing surely is not a recipe for success. As for global events, the Middle East unrest continues. The situation in Syria is … [Read more...]
When Factoring Won’t Fit: A Look at Alternative Cash Flow Lenders
OnDeck. Rapid Advance. BlueVine. You can hardly turn on a television or radio or conduct an Internet search for factoring without these and other cash flow lending sites popping up. Alternative lending has become a highly publicized and, dare we say it, popular funding option for businesses to pursue. Great, you say. Why should I care? Over the last two months we covered a variety of situations that make a traditional factoring arrangement difficult, if not impossible, to close. Cash flow lenders can fund those deals that factoring companies are unable or unwilling to touch, adding another arrow to your quiver of resources to benefit your prospects. Alternative lenders can work with nearly any deal, including small medical deals; … [Read more...]