My Factor The Financial Partner
So, you know you need help – you’ve traded your money for receivables – you are starving from a lack of cash – and we have provided you an alternative that will help – WHAT NEXT?
When I was introduced to factoring, I was told – “it’s like having a financial partner but much cheaper – because the factor doesn’t take any equity in the company.” That’s kinda right – just like a financial partner, we want to know about you and your customers – we want to feel comfortable you try to do the right thing, and your customers pay their bills.
And if we are assured on both those fronts – well then, we convert your invoices into immediate cash for your use.
Here’s the process.
As we organize to fund your invoices, you share with us your current and projected business volume with your customers. With that information, we establish credit limits for each customer and for your company in general. We then review those limits with you to confirm you are getting the benefits you need. So – now we have the general size and scope of our business relationship – and we are ready to put it in place.
From this point on, protocol is very standard.
You invoice your customer as usual - and copy us.
We confirm that your customer has approved the invoice and upon your signal, we fund you as much as 90% of the invoice immediately. And we wait to get paid.
Upon payment by the customer, we pay ourselves back, take our fee, and send you the balance of their payment. It is that easy.
And here’s the great thing – we don’t harangue you to make interim interest payments nor do we have a required payment schedule for the outstanding advances – we act just like your financial partner, but - without the burden of constantly looking over your shoulder – AND we don’t want any of your equity.
One of the worst conditions to befall a small business owner is the corporate customer that does not pay as promised. Unfortunately, I’m describing a good number of companies. Well, these companies don’t fly under the radar – not at all. If they do not have a good payment history – we have ways of knowing. And as your partner, we can give you fair warning.
In the previous series on cash management, I discussed corporations that intentionally fail to pay their bills inside 60 days. Their failure to pay in a timely manner is intentional – it is a cash flow policy that they impose on small business for their sole benefit. However, if you can make good margins (see our series on profitability) working for them, - well – let’s go for it partner.
At this point the obvious question is, - great – so much does this package cost? AND, here is your political answer – That depends on how long they take to pay, and how soon you need the money.
If you need all 90% but can wait a couple weeks and they pay in 30 days – the cost can be less than 1%. But if they pay in 60 days it could cost over 2%.
If I have captured your imagination, check out the next video in this series. We are going to apply factoring to a variety of business relationships, conditions, and terms. And show you how it can enhance profitability both through growth and cost savings.
View the corresponding video on YouTube!