Business Finance Solutions in Canada

Business Finance Solutions. Quite frankly, we knew it all the time. At the risk of sounding like know it alls, there it was, yesterday, in one of Canada's two leading newspapers.

What was it? It was a full page; yes a full page article entitled 'THE DEFECIT OF FINANCIAL ABC'S'. In it, the author, an executive with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business maintained, with real life examples, that Canadian business owners, certainly in the SME sector, are uncomfortable with ' financial ling ', referring to it as a foreign language to many!

Another example pointed to in the article - only 2 out of ten could provide proper commentary on things such as balance sheets and cash flow management.

It's of course what we have been preaching ( like a broken record all along?) on the importance of getting some help in financial solutions, whether that be knowledge assistance, or in our case, financing.

One of the final main points in the article was that the business owner recognizes that they need help and need to invest a bit of time in what is actually a critical factor to long term survival, let alone success.

Canadian business owners and financial managers need to determine how much capital they need both currently and in the intermediate to long term. At that point they can start the search, on their own, or with a trusted advisor, to access those sources of financing.

In Canada some basic financing solutions include the following:

Receivable financing facilities

Equipment leasing

Working Capital Term Loans

Asset Based Lines of Credit

Commercial Canadian chartered bank lines of credit

Franchise financing solutions

Government business loans

Tax Credit Monetization

Contract /PO/Supply chain financing

That's a lot of solutions, and we assure the beleaguered business owner that, unfortunately, each comes with its own lingo.

All of these solutions can apply to both start up and established businesses. Larger corporations of course have access to more esoteric and sophisticated business finance solutions - including securitization, Mergers, Capital pool, IPO's, Mezzanine financing, etc.

It's not only important to determine that you need capital or cash flow in a certain amount, its also important to understanding the timing and various structures of each of the many financial solutions that we've noted above.

Bottom line is that understanding cash flow needs, and solutions will power your business into the next stage of success. Oh, and by the way, some of these solutions might work for all your financing needs, and in certain cases it might be a ' mix and match'

Our bottom line today? Simply that seeking the financing assistance you need might not be the toughest challenge you think it is. Seek out a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor who can assist you with your cash flow and asset monetization needs.

Author: Stan Prokop