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Business Loans In Canada: Financing Solutions Via Alternative Finance & Traditional Funding

Business loans and finance for a business just may have gotten good again? The pursuit of credit and funding of cash flow solutions for your business often seems like an eternal challenge, even in the best of times, let alone any industry or economic crisis. Let’s dig in.

Since the 2008 financial crisis there’s been a lot of change in finance options from lenders for corporate loans. Canadian business owners and financial managers have excess from everything from peer-to-peer company loans, varied alternative finance solutions, as well of course as the traditional financing offered by Canadian chartered banks.

Those online business loans referenced above are popular and arose out of the merchant cash advance programs in the United States. Loans are based on a percentage of your annual sales, typically in the 15-20% range. The loans are certainly expensive but are viewed as easy to obtain by many small businesses, including retailers who sell on a cash or credit card basis.

Depending on your firm’s circumstances and your ability to truly understand the different choices available to firms searching for SME COMMERCIAL FINANCE options. Those small to medium sized companies ( the definition of ‘ small business ‘ certainly varies as to what is small – often defined as businesses with less than 500 employees! )

How then do we create our road map for external financing techniques and solutions? A simpler way to look at it is to categorize these different financing options under:

Debt / Loans

Asset Based Financing

Alternative Hybrid type solutions

Many top experts maintain that the alternative financing solutions currently available to your firm, in fact are on par with Canadian chartered bank financing when it comes to a full spectrum of funding. The alternative lender is typically a private commercial finance company with a niche in one of the various asset finance areas

If there is one significant trend that’s ‘ sticking ‘it’s Asset Based Finance. The ability of firms to obtain funding via assets such as accounts receivable, inventory and fixed assets with no major emphasis on balance sheet structure and profits and cash flow ( those three elements drive bank financing approval in no small measure ) is the key to success in ABL ( Asset Based Lending ).

Factoring, aka ‘ Receivable Finance ‘ is the other huge driver in trade finance in Canada. In some cases, it’s the only way for firms to be able to sell and finance clients in other geographies/countries.

The rise of ‘ online finance ‘ also can’t be diminished. Whether it’s accessing ‘ crowdfunding’ or sourcing working capital term loans, the technological pace continues at what seems a feverish pace. One only has to read a business daily such as the Globe & Mail or Financial Post to understand the challenge of small business accessing business capital.

Business owners/financial mgrs often find their company at a ‘ turning point ‘ in their history – that time when financing is needed or opportunities and risks can’t be taken. While putting or getting new equity in the business is often impossible, the reality is that the majority of businesses with SME commercial finance needs aren’t, shall we say, ‘ suited’ to this type of funding and capital raising. Business loan interest rates vary with non-traditional financing but offer more flexibility and ease of access to capital.

We’re also the first to remind clients that they should not forget govt solutions in business capital. Two of the best programs are the GovernmentSmall Business Loan Canada (maximum availability = $ 1,000,000.00) as well as the SR&ED program which allows business owners to recapture R&D capital costs. Sred credits can also be financed once they are filed.

Those latter two finance alternatives are often very well suited to business start up loans. We should not forget that asset finance, often called ‘ ABL ‘ by those Bay Street guys, can even be used as a loan to buy a business.

If you’re looking to get the right balance of liquidity and risk coupled with the flexibility to grow your business seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor with a track record of business finance success who can assist you with your funding needs.

Skin Care For Your Everlasting Beauty

In a previous article I talked in general about the secrets of how to get a Natural makeup look. Now I will cover in more detail all you need to know about a good skin care regimen. I will unveil the skin care secrets that will be the foundation of a lifelong healthy, beautiful face. This will create, support and reinforce a solid basis for astonishing looks and healthier skin.I have to start by telling you that knowing your skin is the first step to a beautiful and healthy skin. We cannot pick the correct skin care regimen without this knowledge. There are four general types of skin: dry, which is generally manifested by a lack of shine, has fine pores, and it has the tendency to develop early wrinkles; oily, which is exactly the opposite, having extra shine and dilated pores, but without the proper skin care regimen, it can develop blackheads, acne and other problems; normal skin is the dreamy skin just perfect and with a balanced grade of hydration; sensitive skin is not that uncommon, and without the correct skin care regimen can lead to serious skin problems where you least want them. This type of skin has reddish appearance, it may itch, peel, and it feels very tight. Finally mix skin, which combine one or various types of skin in different parts of the face generally on the “T” zone (forehead, nose and shin).We are continually expelling many toxins from our skin through our sweat. When the water of our sweat dries we are left off with those toxins. Over time, these accumulate, and they damage our skin and make it dry. To remove the makeup of the eyes and mouth we need to use a makeup remover that has the same hydration as the tears. The skin around the eyes and mouth is more prone to wrinkles due to the lack of hydration. When removing the makeup, don’t rub your eyes and mouth. Just use soft and slow movements, doing this will prevent wrinkles. Finally, for the rest of your face, use a product that is for your skin type. Apply the cleaner softly to your face for a minute or so to avoid wrinkles. Some homemade face cleaners are: Lemon and yogurt Milk Cleaner, Strawberry milk cleaner, etc.A good skin care regimen cannot be complete without a tonic that matches your skin type. The tonic eliminates the rest of the toxins and dirt from your skin leaving it fresh. It is preferable to use a non-alcohol tonic. Alcohol based products can produce more problems to the skin because they can give you the false impression of controlling the oil of your skin, but at the end, can produce even more, causing more unwanted acne and oily skin. It is very important to apply the tonic over very clean skin to get the complete benefit from it. Some good homemade tonics are: Rose water, Chamomile tonic, etc.Our skin is changing constantly and produces new and young cells every day. These will replace the dead cells, but to allow those new cells to reach that superior level of regeneration, we must get rid of our dead ones. That is why exfoliating our skin, the next step in our skin care regimen is so important. When we don’t exfoliate we are just leaving those dead cells blocking the way to the new cell giving our skin a dull and opaque appearance. Exfoliation removes dead cells leaving a free way for the new ones to regenerate your skin and support a youthful look. This rejuvenating effect is the natural result of removing the dead cells stimulating the production of young and new cells. In addition, with a good exfoliation the lotions and treatments for the skin will have a better absorbtion and will work even better at deeper level. Some homemade exfoliators are: oatmeal, salt, etc.Let’s talk about a good skin care regimen masque. Incorporating this into your skin care regimen will give your skin a boost of beauty; it will help to prolong and support the good health and look of your skin. With the continuous use of the masque the face will recuperate the firmness and will diminish wrinkles. To maximize its effects, exfoliate before using any masque. This will help the masque to penetrate better and work at the molecular level of your skin. Before applying it, heat the masque a little bit in your hand, this way it will work better. Avoid the eye area, there are masques made specifically for the eyes. By following these simple tips, you will always experience the best of your favorite masque. Some homemade masques are made with: clay, egg, etc.Now let’s hydrate! After giving your skin all these pampering, it is important to hydrate it. The environmental hazards and aging can change the production of collagen. This has the effect of causing loss of hydration giving your skin a dry, dull and unhealthy look. Fortunately, finding a good moisturizer to complete your skin care regimen will solve the issue. The moisturizer’s function is to keep the water molecules and form a protective shield that avoids water evaporation. When we feel that our skin still feels tight and dry, means that you need more water, and that its time to use the replenishing serum. These are an extra hydration to the skin, it’s more watery, and will be absorb by the skin completely. Some of my recommended homemade moisturizers are: coconut crème, honey crème, etc.To close, remember that a good skin care regimen is the difference between a beautiful, youthful looking skin and the undesired alternative. Do not skip your daily skin care regimen, and the difference will be happily obvious to you… and others!

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What Are The Greatest Changes In Shopping In Your Lifetime

What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.

As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.

That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.

Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.

Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.

Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.

Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.

That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.

Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.

Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.

My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.

Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.

And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.

All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:

• Farm eggs

• Fresh vegetables

• Cow’s milk

• Freshly baked bread

• Coal for our open fires

Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.

Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.

Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.

Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.

My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.

The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.

Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.

Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.

People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.

In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.

Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.

• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.

• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.

• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.

On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.

Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.

We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.

Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.

My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.

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