5 Ways to Achieve Financial Independence

Managing a small business is challenging. One of the common challenges for business owners is financing. Your company might not have a lengthy credit history or collateral to apply for a bank loan. Whether you want to grow your business or cover unforeseen expenses, you have come across other financing options. Merchant cash advance and cheques factoring are some of the available options for small businesses.

What Is Merchant Cash Advance?

A merchant cash advance is an alternative financing option for small businesses. You can take the funds upfront and pay them off with a percentage of future sales. The MCA is an ideal solution for businesses that need fast funding and might not be eligible to take a bank loan. The availability of funds is another excellent advantage. If your business needs the funds fast to proceed with the operations, the cash advance will be approved within a day or two.

PROS

Fast access to funds

When timing is crucial and you can't go through the lengthy bank approval process, the MCA is your solution. Small businesses can get funds within a day or two from submission. Unlike the traditional bank process, the financial institutions that issue MCAs don't do rigorous checks. They will check the business's past sales to determine whether they qualify for a cash advance.

Ideal for businesses that work with cash and credit cards

Retail and restaurant businesses rely on a high volume of credit card sales, making them ideal for obtaining MCA. If your business depends on cash or credit cards, a cash advance is the ideal financing method. This opportunity is perfect for the ones that don't rely on invoices. Instead, they take a percentage of the credit card sales to repay the loan.

CONS

High-interest rates

Merchant cash advance comes with higher interest rates than traditional bank loans. The convenience of having the funds fast will cost more. However, the price is worth paying when you need urgent funds to proceed with the business operations.

What Is Cheques Factoring?

A post-dated cheque is a cheque that can be cashed on the indicated date on the document's face. It is a form of advance payment and can be cashed on a specific date. According to Canadian laws, a cheque can't be cleared before this date. If you still need cash to keep your business's liquidity, you can sell the cheque to a factoring company.

PROS

Fast approval

Depending on the date indicated on the check face, you might have to wait long to receive the payment. If you need to meet your business needs urgently, factoring your cheques will provide you with funds quickly. They will pay off a particular value of the face value while keeping a specific percentage as a fee.

No credit score checks

When applying for a traditional bank loan, they will do a rigorous check on your financial history. When your small business is relatively new and doesn't have a credit history, you might be restricted from obtaining such loans. Your ability for cheque factoring isn't assessed with credit history, and you aren't required to disclose collateral. This is very important, as you don't need to put your property or equipment at risk. The factoring company will check the check for authenticity.

Not deal with cheques

Having to deal with cheques is a tedious job. Passing this responsibility to a third party means less time spent sorting out cheques so that you can focus on the more important aspects of your business.

CONS

Higher cost

The factoring company will charge fees to provide you with the cash in advance. They will usually pay 80% of the amount indicated on the face. However, the high cost might pay off if you need money urgently.  

Requirements

Cheques factoring companies might have specific requirements for cashing out your document. For example, the check drawer should be a reputable entity. Also, the factoring company might have particular requirements on the cheque's active time.

Merchant Cash Advance vs. Cheques Factoring

For cheques factoring, you will pay a fee to the factoring company expressed as a percentage of the total amount. On the other hand, you will pay off your MCA as a percentage of your future sales. When choosing the suitable financing method for your company, select the one that is a better fit for your needs. We at 2M7 are dedicated to providing the needed funds to enhance your business's liquidity without restrictions on how to use them. Get in touch with us, and we will answer your specific needs!

As a celebration of Small Business Month, 2M7 Financial Solutions is proud to announce its team will be featuring its simple, flexible funding alternative at the 2022 Small Business Summit in Toronto to help more Canadian companies succeed. Since its inception, 2M7 has been dedicated to providing small business owners in Canada with a simpler and faster borrowing solution – providing the cashflow they need to run and grow their operations, even if they don’t qualify for traditional business loans.“

It’s getting exponentially harder for small business owners to qualify for loans from banks and other financial institutions, so 2M7 strives to provide the fastest and least complicated alternative to help support our Canadian entrepreneurs,” said Avi Bernstein, CEO of 2M7 Financial Solutions. “We believe it’s more important than ever to help small Canadian businesses grow, and our team is excited to take part in this year’s summit to meet the small business owners who are the true backbone of our economy.”

2M7 has helped thousands of businesses get funding to hire staff, buy inventory, repair equipment, expand to new locations, and more. Designed specifically for Canadian small business owners, 2M7’s merchant cash advance solution gets companies the funding they need – faster. Based around simple terms and flexible repayment structures, small businesses can easily get the cashflow they need, while having peace of mind that repayments are based on their month-to-month sales performance. Unlike banks, 2M7 provides its clients with fast funding, depositing funds directly into their bank accounts within 24-48 hours to invest almost immediately in their operations, however they see fit.“

In this fast-paced era, 2M7 has been proudly helping Canadian companies bring their businesses online to establish a global reach, as well as financing the digitalization of their processes in order to streamline operations, so our team is excited for this year’s summit theme of Embracing Digital Disruption,” said Avi. “With an increasingly competitive business landscape, and the ease of accessibility to a global market, we’re proud to give small businesses the competitive edge to grow even faster.”

To learn more about 2M7’s merchant cash advances for small businesses, please visit the 2M7 Financial team at booth #014 in the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, on Wednesday, October 26^th, or to see how much funding your business qualifies for, click here.

About the 2022 Small Business Summit

The Small Business Summit is an annual event in Toronto that celebrates Small Business Month and focuses on helping entrepreneurs grow and succeed. The summit will bring together start-ups, business owners, and experienced professionals for a day of networking. Hosted in Toronto, the third-largest tech hub in North America, the 2022 event will be themed “Embracing Digital Disruption” and feature major keynote speakers.

And The Winner Is...

The results are in. This year’s winner of the 2M7 Forward Thinkers Scholarship is Claire O’Brien. As a member of The University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, Claire was able to overcome stiff competition in this year’s contest. To do so, Claire not only demonstrated a strong performance in her academic journey thus far, but also clearly  communicated a keen interest to harness the knowledge she acquired to this point, to succeed in the world of business as she moves toward her professional goals. Claire exhibited the enthusiasm, and aptitude that 2M7 Financial Solutions’ CEO, Avi Bernstein was looking to reward, and intended to encourage with the creation of this scholarship opportunity.

“Each year, university students face multiple challenges in their pursuit of their academic goals; and these stretch far beyond the classroom. Post-secondary schooling is extremely expensive and places a significant financial burden on those who attend, which can potentially negatively impact the studies of these students as they see to the financial obligations that arise with school funding. That is why I made it one of my goals to help lessen this burden: these students have enough “on their plate”; I want them to focus on what they are paying to study not on how they are going to pay for it. Claire’s essay not only exhibited her potential for business success, but also showed me a character that the 2M7 team strives to promote when we do business. Congratulations, Claire.

The 2M7 Forward Thinkers Scholarship is an annual scholarship that is available for post-secondary students studying in a business related field; and offers the winner a reward of $2,500 so they can better manage the expenses of their schooling. This year we had another strong applicant pool; and we encourage those not selected this year, to re-apply during next year’s contest, for their chance to get a generous amount of financial assistance. We at 2M7 would like to thank all those who participated in this year’s contest; and we wish all those that did decide to vie for this scholarship all the best in their future endeavours.