We all know times are hard these days. Money is hard to attain, and most don’t want to part with what money they do have. Small businesses are the bread and butter of our economy, but what happens when they can’t find the capital they need to stay afloat during hard times?
The government understands how important small businesses are to our society, and has asked banks to start lending again. It seems they have listened. Bank of America for instance, announced back at the beginning of June that it would, “purchase $10 billion in products and services from those companies over five years, with the spending amount expected to grow by an average of more than 5 percent each year.”
Even with banks like BOA pledging to give more, “credit is still pretty tight for small businesses,” said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James and Associates to Market Watch. With that being said, what can you do as a small business owner to get the gears rolling again?
Tax Incentives
Getting creative with your taxes can be extremely beneficial—and there are some out there to help you do this. A bill passed this week will allow, “long-term investors in some small businesses [to] escape capital gains taxes. The bill [will] also increase tax deductions for startup expenses by new small businesses.”
Another bill passed earlier this year, will allow businesses to receive tax deductions for hiring the unemployed. “Companies will be exempt from paying their share of Social Security payroll taxes, normally 6.2% of a worker's wages, for any new worker who was unemployed for the prior 60 days. The legislation extends a provision to that allows small businesses to write off as much as $250,000 of their capital expenditures in 2010,” reported CNN.
Factoring
If you aren’t familiar with factoring, basically factoring is when you “sell” your outstanding invoices from a client to a factoring company. The company then pays you a certain amount of money, takes over the debt, and works with the outstanding balance on their end.
Although you won’t get the full amount owed by the customer, you will be attaining more money. Getting your advance from the factor usually happens within two to five days following the validation of your clients’ invoices, though a factoring company allows online invoicing, you may be able to receive your funding in as little as twenty-four hours.
Marketing
Many times businesses cut down on their marketing efforts when business is hurting. When in fact the opposite be happening. Investing in marketing can help get the exposure you need to attain more sales. A major reason small businesses are hurting currently isn’t the bank lending problem but, “businesses of all sizes are telling us they need most right now is more business," said Brian T. Moynihan, president and chief executive officer, Bank of America.
Online marketing efforts such as new media tactics are very cost effective, and can help get you more brand exposure. Even the B2B marketing is starting to implement social media, according to eMarketer, “studies from HubSpot have found B2Bs can find leads for less through inbound social marketing, and that social participation can help increase B2B leads.”
Telemarketing services may also be able to boost brand awareness, and help with promotions. There have been some reports lately of companies getting in hot water with “robocalls” where people have not signed up to receive these calls. If you do find this tactic useful, make sure you are calling only people who have signed up for the call list.
What types of tactics have you found useful to keep your company afloat? Let us know in the comments below.
Shannon Suetos is an expert writer based in San Diego, California. She writes extensively for an online resource that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs such as b2b telemarketing at Resource Nation.
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