What Are Business Working Capital Loans And Why Are They Important?

By Nancy Smith


Working capital loans (WCLs) are short-term loans that are used to finance daily venture operations. While these loans are not intended for acquisition of long-term assets or investments, they can ease the handling of day-to-day expenditure. Routine venture operational costs may vary across businesses but in general, they are categorized into fixed and variable costs. Business Working Capital Loans are integral to the survival of any venture.

For some types of ventures, such as grocers and convenience stores, they are in the fortunate position of requiring very small amounts of cash by virtue of the fact that they will receive instant revenue whenever they sell an item, and the expected turnaround time for the sale of their inventory is fairly minimal. However, other types of ventures (a whisky distillery is a prime example) will have to wait for prolonged periods of time before their inventory reaches a sufficient level of maturity that will mean that it can be competently sold to customers.

Normally, these credit advances require at least three months for appraising property, underwriting, reviewing securing funds and financials. In addition to that, getting an approval from SBA is very difficult in today's environment. However, if credit and time are not an issue, a small venture should explore their options on this choice first.

Ventures that have a large number of physical assets like office, furniture, computers and equipment may get a loan secured against these assets. These types of loans are usually subjected to long terms like 3, 5 or 7 years. Depending on the venture and assets, the loan is secured against, the interest rate varies widely. A venture loan broker generally provides such credit and is available in most areas by doing a simple search.

You could need a WCL under different situations. These include during expansion, starting a new venture, or for restructuring your current venture. Seasonal ventures also require funding to assist them remain afloat during lean times. For example, a ski equipment rental venture may require external funding to keep them operational during summer months. Most lending institutions require you to provide the cash flow details, credit history, and projected revenues of your company to approve your loan application. The approvals can take up to 2 to 3 months.

The venture is kept more solvent, and insulated against the risk of insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings. By having sufficiently high levels of working capital to hand, the business will be in a much stronger position to negotiate with banks and other commercial lenders in order to secure additional financial support.

Successful businesses are aware of every possible option while looking for a working capital loan. All the positive and negative aspects of a proposal should be taken into account before finalizing it. If you need a venture loan and are in a situation where your loan wouldn't get approved by a bank, click here for to find out more information about a cost effective option and receive expert advice.

The loan also has its own inherent drawbacks. The company must ensure that they strictly adhere to the repayment schedule mandated by the lender, otherwise, they run the very real risk of suffering an adverse credit rating that will have long term ramifications as they are alienated from conventional financial support. These types of loans are primarily used and intended for short term items of expenditure only, thereby reducing their usefulness.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment