BCMS Salutes Small Business Week

Posted on May 18, 2012 by admin

Small Business Week 2012 begins Sunday, May 20 through Saturday, May 26. It is a time to celebrate small businesses and their contribution to the American economy. As a company that provides financial solutions for small businesses across the nation and beyond, Banc Certified Merchant Services salutes the entrepreneurs: those who partake in the journey to fulfill their wildest dreams!

National Small Business Week will hold a 3 day conference in Washington, D.C. focusing on small business tips, strategy, and accomplishments. Some of the scheduled talks include:

How Small Businesses Can Win Big with Large Companies
Taking Your Business Global
Business Matchmaking
Social Media Forum

All events will be webcast (excluding the opening reception and the State Department reception). National Small Business Week is presented by the SBA.

And as always, if you are a small business owner in need of credit card processing, ACH or Check Services, Payroll Cards, Gift Cards, Cash Advances, or Utility Savings, please visit www.banccertified.net.

How To Lower Your Operational Expenses

Posted on April 26, 2012 by admin

As a business owner, you probably spend a lot of time analyzing budgets and thinking of ways to get more business. You want to be successful and make as much profit as possible. And how do you do that? One way is to lower your operational costs. Banc Certified Merchant Services has a division called Certified Utility Services, which can lower your retail utility bills by up to 55%! And, we will do it for free!

How can Certified Utility Services lower your utility rates? It’s simple – we go to work, negotiating the lowest rates allowable with energy providers in your area. Why do we offer our services at no cost to you? We offer our services free-of-charge because we get paid by the energy providers, instead of you. The energy providers compete for your business and ours.

Here are our 4 simple steps for increasing your profit margin:

Email, fax us your current utility bill, or request an analysis with one of our representatives
We go to work on your behalf to negotiate and secure the lowest rates with PUCO registered energy wholesale suppliers in your area
Your representative will explain your cost savings analysis
After your approval, you’ll start seeing savings on your utility bills in 30-60 days

With Certified Utility Services, you will save money, increase your profit margin, and be happy!

And remember, if saving money on your utility bills isn’t enough to get you by, consider a merchant cash advance from Advanced Funding Solution. You can receive up to $500,000 and the money can be used on any business need.

When Small Business Owners Can’t Get Loans..

Posted on April 19, 2012 by admin

With lending tight, more entrepreneurs need another option to get funding. Merchant Cash Advances are perfect for small business owners who need quick access to capital. We don’t require any collateral, and it’s okay if you have bad credit. Like regular lenders, We at Advanced Funding Solution can dole out a lump sum. You can receive between $5,000-$500,000 per business location which can be used for any business need, no questions asked. Rather than requiring that borrowers make a fixed payment at a specific interest rate, we simplify the process by automatically collecting a small portion of your company credit card sales each month, until we recoup the total amount owed plus a small premium. You never have to pay any up-front fees, and we don’t get paid until you do!The amount you pay varies month-to-month, but there are no fixed payments that must be paid by a certain dates without penalties being charged.

If you’re interested in learning more, or you’d like to apply, check out our website at www.advancedfundingsolution.com.

Tips For Hiring New Employees

Posted on April 13, 2012 by admin

Once you have started your small business and begin to grow, depending on the nature of your business, you will eventually need to hire new employees. How should you begin this process? How should you know who to hire? There are many resources available; below is our go-to guide:

1.Take the necessary legal steps

Before you hire an employee, you must get an Employee Identification Number (EIN) from the Internal Revenue Service. You can apply online. This is necessary for reporting your taxes, which as we all know, you don’t want to overlook!

You want to follow all of the government guidelines for hiring/firing, including employment tax record keeping (keep records of tax withholding, federal and state tax forms for at least 4 years), employee eligibility verification (I-9), reporting your new hire to the state directory, obtaining workers compensation insurance, registering for unemployment insurance tax through your state’s workforce agency, obtaining disability insurance, and posting required workforce rights notices.

2. Determine the job

Once you have made the decision to hire an employee, you have to consider what type of experience you are looking for in your potential employee. First, what is the employee going to do for you? Are there specific skills that they need? How much experience would you like them to have? Determine the duties, responsibilities, skills, outcomes, and work environment for the position.

3. Create an employee recruiting strategy

Once you have determined the job, write a job description with detail. Once you are ready to actively begin searching for candidates, start by asking your social and professional network: friends, family, respected people from your industry, etc. If you do not obtain any worthwhile leads from this, post the position to a job board. There are many options out there (Newspaper Classifieds, Craigslist.org, Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, Indeed.com, etc.). Some job boards allow you to post for free; others cost you up to $300 per post – which one you decide is up to you. Be prepared that once you post your job to the community, you will likely receive a huge influx of resumes. Don’t get overwhelmed!

4. Review credentials and candidates closely and Pre-screen them

Screen all applicants against the list of qualifications, skills, experience, and characteristics for the job. Look for spelling and grammatical errors. Use the tools to your advantage – look up the candidates you’re interested in on the web! Look up their Facebook account, and see what image they portray. Look up their Google Search results, and see if anything suspicious arises. Once you’ve selected the candidates you seem worthy of meeting, call/email and schedule interviews. The amount of candidates you decide to interview is up to you.

5. The interview

Use the job interview to get to know the candidate and ask the critical questions necessary to help you hire the right employee. Because you own a small business, it is really important that you find this person a good, comfortable fit. Here is a list of sample interview questions. Once you have selected your candidate, it’s best to schedule a follow-up interview, in which you can get a second chance to confirm you still like them, and discuss salary terms.

6. Check backgrounds and references

Once you’ve found the person you’ve deemed perfect for the job, it’s best to verify all credentials, skills, and experience are actually possessed by your candidate. The background check allows you to check their criminal history. Hopefully, the person you selected has been trustworthy.

7. Extend a job offer

The job offer is generally a formal letter to the candidate you have selected for the position. At this point, you should have verbally negotiated the conditions for hire (salary and benefits). The letter should summarize the job description, specify the job title, and include the salary and start date.

Congratulations! You hired your first employee! Remember to have the employee fill out the necessary tax forms and follow the correct procedures once hired.

If you are interested in hiring new employees, but don’t have the capital to do so, contact us at Advanced Funding Solution. We can give you a merchant cash advance for up to $500,000 which you can use to fund any business need (including hiring new employees!).

Insider Tips on Small Business Marketing

Posted on March 30, 2012 by admin

In my last post, I wrote tips for starting your small business. Moving forward, let’s talk about marketing your small business. Some of us could use a little help in this area. It’s not enough to have a great idea for a business. You have to make sure the world hears about it. There are many aspects to marketing: advertising, public relations, branding, pricing, website development, search engine optimization, social media, and more. Here are the basics:

Set up your website – I touched on this in my last post. Generally speaking, it is vital to your business to have a website. We live in an age of unparalleled technological advancement – the internet has power. Whether customers are interested in learning about your products or services, or they are looking for contact information, you need to have a site to reach your audience. Here is information on creating your own website.
Online Advertising – Depending on the nature of your business, online advertising is a great way to attract customers. Although it can be costly, online advertising has many benefits. You can target your ads locally, show your address/phone number, feature promotions or new products, etc. The best feature about online advertising is that you can try to target the customer base you want based on location, language, and demographics. If you’re interested in this feature, read more about Google Adwords.
Social Media – Social Media is the new buzz word. Everyone hears about it, but as a small business owner, do you know how to use it correctly? For beginners, set up a business Facebook Page. Facebook has over 300 million users, and it’s free to create an account. Consider checking out your competition on Facebook – it’s an easy way to see what’s working and what’s not. With Facebook, your goal is to grow your audience and keep them interested. You need to keep the content dynamic – update it frequently. Facebook also has its own online advertising. It allows you to target your exact demographic and location (sometimes very important to small business owners!). After Facebook, you can create a Twitter account (I recommend linking the two together, so you don’t have to update both regularly). Again, use Twitter to search your competition. Another important social media outlet is LinkedIn – it’s specific to employers and employees. You can network fantastically with this site (and if you are looking to hire, you can check out people’s work experience!). Lastly, as a small business owner, it is important that you check your company reviews regularly. It helps you get to know your customers. Sites like Yelp, Foursquare, and Google Maps allows users to “check-in” and “review.” Make sure that your business has up-to-date information on these sites (address, phone number, website, etc.) and check out all feedback.
Enter the Blogosphere – Create a company blog! Consider reserving a domain for your blog. If this is not an option, sites like WordPress are a great alternative (easier to set up, but less control). Decide on a focus for your blog, and write interesting content. What would readers of your company blog want more information about? When starting out, consider writing the first few posts as if you were answering questions from your customers. The more valuable the content of your blog, the more readers you’ll have.
Multimedia - Add pictures, videos, mp3s, etc. to your blog to make it more interesting. Create a YouTube company account and a Flickr company account to house your materials. If you think it would be valuable to your business, look into producing a video or commercial. This can sometimes be pretty expensive, but it can be a great way to keep people interested in your product/services.
Print/Television/Radio Advertising – Depending on the nature of your business, one of these traditional options may best fit your needs. If you create an ad (or pay to create an ad), you could post it in the local newspapers/magazines. You can also run a direct mail campaign. Television and Radio are a bit more tricky – they tend to be a bit more expensive, and you have quite a lot of options to consider. Who is your target demographic and what are they watching/listening? Stereotypically speaking, if you own a quilting business, your average customers probably aren’t watching MTV at 3a.m. There’s some risk involved with these options; it can be difficult to calculate the return on investment.
Consider daily deal websites – Sites like Groupon and LivingSocial (and about a million more copycats) allow small businesses to offer online deals or promotions. While these sites may not bring in huge piles of revenue, they can expose your business to new potential customers. Be sure not to offer a deal too “amazing,” or you may lose money. When you offer a deal at one of these sites, be prepared for a rush of customers in a short period of time. Overall, these sites are a great way to spread the word about your business in a fast and easy manner.
Open houses – If you own a small business, one of the easiest ways to bring in new people is to host an open house. Put out some cheese and crackers, and allow people to view your merchandise, network, etc. This is a great tool to drum up some word-of-mouth advertising as well.

These are some very basic tips for marketing your small business. Keep in mind – these are not the only steps to guarantee success. Marketing is never-ending; you have to make it a vital part of your business in order to continue to grow.

Steps for Starting Your Own Business

Posted on March 5, 2012 by admin

Are you interested in starting your own business? Do you have that “Entrepreneurial Spirit?” You want to do what you love, be your own boss, and make your dreams come true. In the beginning, it may seem daunting. Where to begin? Is it worth the risk? An unknown author once said, “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” We’ve created a list of basic steps you can take to get your business running. Before you begin, know the answers. If you have decided to become an entrepreneur, make sure you can answer most of these questions from SBA.gov:

Am I prepared to spend the time, money and resources needed to get my business started?
What kind of business do I want?
What products/services will my business provide?
Why am I starting a business?
What is my target market?
Who is my competition?
What is unique about my business idea and the products/services I will provide?
How soon will it take before my products/services are available?
How much money do I need to get my business set up?
How long can I have to finance the company until I start making a profit?
Will I need to get a loan?
How will I price my product compared to my competition?
How will I market my business?
How will I set up the legal structure of my business?
How will I manage my business?
Where will I house my business?
How many employees will I need to start up?
What types of suppliers do I need to contact?
What kind of insurance do I need to invest in?
What do I need to do to ensure I am paying my taxes correctly?

Once you are ready, you can begin your business with these simple steps below:

Write a business plan. The best way to show bankers or investors that you are worth of financial support is to write a solid business plan. You want this guide to be clear and realistic. Your answers to the above questions will be your guide for your business plan. Writing a guide for your business will help you discover how you will market and manage your business and your financial projections. Find more information on how to write a business plan here.
Name and register your start up. When naming your new business, start by searching your ideas on Google. That will give you a clear indication of what’s already out there. Also, there are many free tools available on the web that will give out free worksheets aimed at helping you brainstorm. Remember when naming your business, you must check available domain names for your (soon-to-be developed) website. Check out NameChk.com for availability. Once you determine a name, you need to register it with your state government.
Finance your business. You should have determined your financial needs when you wrote your business plan, and now you should know how much capital the business will require and what your overhead is going to be. There are many different options for loans out there. There are small business loans accessible through many different outlets, including the government. We provide Merchant Cash Advances, which offer you $5,000 to $500,000. For more information, please email us at info@advancedfundingsolution.com.
Determine your legal structure and get a Tax Identification Number. S Corp, C Corp, or LLC? Your form of business determines which income tax return form you must file. This is an extremely important step you do not want to overlook. Read more information on determining your company legal structure here. Get your employer Tax ID number here.
Register for State and Local Taxes. Once you have obtained your employer Tax ID number, you must register with your state for workers’ compensation, unemployment, and disability insurance.
Obtain business licenses, permits, patents or trademarks. There are many types of businesses, and many require federal, state and local licenses or permits to begin doing business. Find more information about it here. If you think your product will require a patent or trademark, find out more information here.
Obtain the necessary insurance. This is very important, whether or not you hire employees. There are many types of coverage for businesses, including Property Insurance, Casualty Insurance, Liability Insurance, Health Insurance, Life and Disability Insurance, etc. Determine what you and your business will require and meet with an agent of your choice. Click here for more information on the various types of business insurance.
Know your employer responsibilities. If you plan on hiring employees, you need to know your employer responsibilities from the United States Department of Labor.
Design a logo. Your business will need a logo (and possibly a slogan or tagline). This is your decision. Find a freelance graphic designer online or meet with a marketing agency to get your logo created.
Set up a website. At this day in age, there is no need to explain the worth of a website. You know you need one. There are many ways you can create your site, and it’s in your control. Depending on the nature of your business, your site could have many different functions. It could contain general business information, products and services, an e-commerce/retail store, blogs, etc. Once you determine what features your website will need, you will need to research resources available for developing a website. You must decide whether you will try a low-cost method (such as developing a site using a service with a pre-built template and a content management system like wix.com) or a more high-cost method, such as using an agency to help meet your needs. There are positives and negatives to both – pick the options that best meets your business needs.
Pricing and getting paid. Since this is just a list on the basics to starting a business, I’m not going to dive into methods for obtaining customers. I’ll leave that for another time. For now, however, I’ll discuss the steps for determining pricing.You need to consider your product, costs, audience, and competition. The very basic rule (that you should already know) is that you should charge more money that the product cost you. Here is an article on tips for determining pricing. Another important service you need is credit card processing. Everyone pays with credit cards. Your business needs to take them. Banc Certified Merchant Services offers services such as credit card processing with all major credit cards, online invoicing, accounting help, pre-paid payroll, etc. that can get your business off the ground. Contact us toll-free at (877) 861-8008 for more information.
Help. It’s tough to own your own business. There are many pitfalls and obstacles. You may find that you start your business and after awhile, you need additional cash. It could be for a number of reasons, including needing more employees, purchasing new equipment, more advertising, a new location, etc. You can use the funding for whatever you like, no questions asked. If you are in need of $5,000 up to $500,000, Advanced Funding Solution can get you approved in 24 hours! Contact us at info@advancedfundingsolution.com or apply online today!

Merchant Cash Advance 101

Posted on February 24, 2012 by admin

Everyone knows it takes money to make money. Running your own business can be tough. There are challenges at every corner. Sometimes, we need a little help. Maybe you want to expand your business, add another location, purchase new equipment, do some advertising, hire more employees, etc. Whatever your reason may be, Banc Certified Merchant Services is here to help. With our Merchant Cash Advance, you can receive up to $500,000! You can use the funds to do whatever you’d like for your business, no questions asked. In a few short steps, you can be on your way to revitalizing your business. Contact us at info@advancedfundingsolution.com or apply online today!