SBA Loan for Long Beach's Newest Craft Brewery

Congratulations to my client, Trademark Brewing, and Sterling Steffen on the successful close of your SBA loan!  Thanks for the opportunity to be of service! Looking forward to the grand opening!

Want more details about Trademark Brewery?  Check out Eater LA!

Are you a business who needs a business loan, equipment financing or working capital?  Marshall Lebovits of Asset Based Funding Solutions has over 30 years of experience in the secured lending industry.  He can be reached at (310) 344-2522 or via email at Marshall@Funding911.com.

Why does a food truck lender ask about capital in reserve?

When I’m talking to a food truck buyer, particularly a first-timer, I ask whether or not they have any capital in reserve.  I need to know if something goes wrong they can still make their monthly loan payment.

They often respond “if I had any capital, I wouldn’t be coming to you for a loan!"

Here are two recent stories about food truck entrepreneurs who suffered the consequences of a fire or a blown engine.

http://www.newsobserver.com/living/article209872724.html

http://nooga.com/215767/rolling-js-food-truck-owner-launches-kickstarter-for-new-restaurant/#.WtYfKfRIsZk.twitter

If you’re acting as a lender or lessor, you should make sure your operators have either capital in reserve or the right insurance coverages!

Need help with a food truck loan?  Please let me know.

Are you a business who needs equipment financing or working capital?  Marshall Lebovits of Asset Based Funding Solutions has over 30 years of experience in the secured lending industry.  He can be reached at (310) 344-2522 or via email at Marshall@Funding911.com.

Equipment Lease Line of Credit – Rates too Low to Mention!

A major telecom services company was recently referred to me as they were unhappy with the service and lease rates they were receiving from their existing leasing company.

After a quick review of their financials, I introduced them to a major independent leasing company.

Within seven days, they received approval and accepted an offer for a $2 million lease line of credit to cover their 2018 IT equipment purchases.  The lease line was structured with a fair market value purchase option.

The CFO was pleased with a great solution that will enable the company to better manage residual risk and equipment obsolescence.

 

The rates?  If I told you, I would be in big trouble!

Are you a business who needs equipment financing or working capital?  Marshall Lebovits of Asset Based Funding Solutions has over 30 years of experience in the secured lending industry.  He can be reached at (310) 344-2522 or via email at Marshall@Funding911.com.

Higher Sales and Improved Margins through Vendor Financing

“We would be out of business without vendor financing” according to the president of a distributor of commercial strength and cardio equipment.  Almost 65 percent of this company’s revenues are generated utilizing a vendor financing program implemented over ten years ago.   

Vendor financing programs provide manufacturers, distributors and dealers from a wide variety of industries the capability to offer customers a convenient way to acquire their products at the point of sale.  A few of the key benefits vendor financing provides include:

• Improved vendor cash flow through pre-funding, or financing of the down payment, and reduced receivables through collection of the balance upon delivery of the product
• Improved margins and higher sales by focusing the customer on monthly payments instead of price reductions
• A faster selling cycle – fewer worries about whether your customer has the money in its capital budget or if they can (or will try to) find financing on their own
• Transfer of the financing risk to a third party through non-recourse programs
• The ability to open up new markets including selling your products

With programs that can provide financing in amounts as little as $5 thousand, vendor financing can be implemented to cover most asset types and a variety of customer credit profiles including start-ups and early stage companies.  For amounts up to $100 thousand (and higher), many financings can be approved in as little as one hour after your customer completes a one page application.  For larger transactions, approvals can be obtained as quickly as four hours following the submission of financial statements and tax returns.  Lease terms can extend from 12 to 60 months for equipment with long useful lives sold to qualifying credits.

According to one manufacturer of equipment, the flexibility, creativity and extraordinary support it enjoys through its vendor financing program provides it with a competitive advantage.  Its vice president of sales firmly believes that choosing the right programs and leasing company can be the difference in winning a sales competition.  A few questions to ask in selecting the best leasing company for your business include:

• Flexibility – Can the financier fund my A, B & C credits?  Can soft costs be included in the financing amount?  Will all credits be financed without recourse to the vendor?
• Minimums and maximums – How small and how large of a deal can the financier fund?  Any limitations on how much credit it can extend to any given buyer?  Any overall minimum or maximum volume requirements to create a program for your company?
• Creativity – How many different programs structures and end user offerings can the financier provide?  Will the financier create unique programs to meet the special needs of certain customers? 
• Risk Management – Will the financier help you evaluate the creditworthiness of prospective customers?
• Service – What levels of support do you require for sales, marketing, administration and deal structuring?  Do your customers require a personal touch or will a highly automated system be a better fit with your sales methods?

If you can visualize your company as a one-stop solution provider to your customer’s needs through having the ability to offer fast and easy equipment financing, then vendor financing may provide you with new and profitable opportunities. 

Are you a small or medium sized manufacturer or distributor who needs assistance with a vendor financing program?  Marshall Lebovits of Asset Based Funding Solutions has over 30 years of experience in the secured financing industry and creates vendor financing solutions with Baycap.  He can be reached at (310) 344-2522 or via email at Marshall@Funding911.com.

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Back in the Saddle…Again

After almost six years in commercial banking, I have returned to advising growing businesses throughout the USA on a wide variety of asset based funding solutions.

Companies who can benefit from my services are often non-bankable credits who lack access to capital for reasons including short time in business, hyper-growth sales, weak cash flow and highly leveraged balance sheets.  These companies will typically have revenues of $500 thousand to $30 million and will have B2B accounts receivable, inventory and equipment that can be offered to a lender as collateral for repayment of a loan.

If your business has receivables, inventory and receivables and needs over $50 thousand of financing, please contact me at 310-344-2522.

Lunch Special of the Day

A residential foreclosure contractor hired by Bank of America reportedly not only padlocked the wrong house, but confiscated the home owner's pet parrot, Luke.

Earlier this week, The New York Times DealBook section reported that Bank of America has been instructed to shrink as regulators focus on banks that "are too big to fail".

One reader not only rejected Bank of America's denial of the guidance, but commented on the "parrot-napping" as well.

In an unrelated cost savings move, Bank of America has announced that any pets seized in a property foreclosure action will, in the future, be served on the lunch menu in the employees’ cafeteria.

— MJA

By the way, a traumatized Luke was eventually returned to his owner by the contractor.

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : Bank of America , too big to fail

Bank Lending - Sharpest Decline Since 1942

Shocker! U.S. banks last year posted their sharpest decline in lending since 1942 according to today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

I'm trying to figure out why this article was front page headline worthy for The Wall Street Journal no less. It's old news.

Senior bank lending officers have been reporting for two years about tightening credit. In fact, they tightened credit so much, they can't tighten any more.

Many banks are still amongst the walking wounded due to troubled commercial real estate loan portfolios. Yesterday, the FDIC announced its problem bank list hit a 16 year high of 702 troubled institutions. Many of these banks will likely fail and others will be unable to lend in support of an economic recovery for a long time to come. The FDIC shuttered 140 banks in 2009 and 20 banks year-to-date 2010.

In the meantime, the Commercial Finance Association (CFA) just released its Quarterly Asset-Based Lending Index, Q4 2009, revealing continued stability and signs that U.S. businesses are seeking alternative sources of stable funding from non-bank, asset-based lenders. In the fourth quarter of 2009, total committed credit lines grew by 1.2 percent among asset-based lenders, while 50 percent of respondents reported an increase in new credit commitments.

By the way, Harry Reid's stripped down jobs bill just stripped out additional funding for SBA small business loans. The original $85 billion "jobs" bill included additional funding for the SBA to continue offering small businesses enhanced loans guarantees and elimination of guarantee fees. The SBA just exhausted its $855 million of stimulus funds which it claims resulted in over $20 billion of loans to small businesses in the last 12 months.

Notwithstanding all of the backwards looking news, I am seeing the green shoots of recovery. A couple of very large banks may be feeling the populist pressure to pump up lending and are adding to their lending teams. Even Huntington Bank, notwithstanding five consecutive quarters of losses, has announced it is doubling its annual small business lending and has announced it will originate $4 billion of new loans in the next three years.

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : small business , bank loans , SBA loans , asset based loans , Commercial Finance Association , Huntington Bank

Asset Based Lending Grows

Asset based lenders have stepped up to fill the capital gap caused by the credit crunch for borrowers both large and small according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

According the Journal, asset based lending may have increased by double digits in 2009 after an 8.3 percent increase in 2008. Given the article was focused on small business, it would have been more interesting had the Journal been able to learn the percentage growth of asset based lending for deal size less than $10 million.

The Journal notes that drawbacks of asset based loans include relatively high interest rates. Asset based loans can range as high as 35-40 percent per annum when a borrower is using factoring or purchase order financing. However, there are some lenders that will provide asset based loans at rates in the single digit range. Even the SBA has a program that provides asset based lines of credit at rates currently below 10 percent!

Also this past week, the Federal Reserve's January 2010 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices was released.

The January survey indicated that commercial banks generally ceased tightening standards on many loan types in the fourth quarter of last year but have yet to unwind the considerable tightening that has occurred over the past two years.

Expect to see asset based lending continue to grow in 2010!

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : Asset based loans , factoring , purchase order financing , lines of credit , SBA loans

Who Will Fund Inventory Growth?

GDP grew at its fastest pace in six years in the last three months of 2009, expanding at a 5.7 percent yearly rate over the previous quarter according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

The largest portion of the growth, 3.4 percentage points, came from businesses shrinking inventories more slowly than in the previous quarter to accommodate increased demand. Shrinking inventories means increased production to prepare for future sales increases.

One can argue about how much of the inventory buildup came from one-time events such as government stimulus programs, but one thing is clear. Businesses will have to increase inventories as the economy recovers.

Where will the money come from to fund the inventory growth is a bigger question.

I know very few bank or commercial finance lenders eager to lend for inventory increases. In fact, one middle market commercial banker told me at lunch that inventory increases are the last thing he wants to fund. Don't expect to see improved appetite for inventory lending until cash flow improves.

Some asset based lenders will provide lines of credit when there the borrower is profitable and subject to sublimits tied to accounts receivable. I also know one lender who will lend against inventory only in amounts up to $10 million. The terms are tough and the pricing is not for the faint of heart.

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : inventory loan , GDP growth , line of credit , working capital

Extend and Pretend

The recent bank practice to "extend and pretend" was the focus of a commercial real estate panel discussion held last night at UCLA. The moderator, Jesse Sharf of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, questioned four leading members of the commercial real estate industry on a variety of topics including "when will deals reappear?".

About two hundred attendees listened attentively to the responses of John Brady (Oak Tree Capital Management), Samuel Freshman (Standard Management Company), Bill Lindsay (Pacific Coast Capital Partners) and Sean Mahon (Wells Fargo Bank).

Here are the highlights from my perspective:

• The October 30, 2009 (the night before Halloween) guidance issued by the FDIC and other regulators has made it very easy for banks to extend and restructure commercial real estate loans that otherwise could have been classified as troubled assets.
• Commercial real estate values will likely drop to 50 percent of their peak values as cap rates increase from 6% to 9%.
• There is a HUGE shortage of capital available to re-finance all of the commercial real estate loans maturing in the next three to five years due to the implosion of the CMBS markets and balance sheet challenges faced by the commercial banking community.
• Low interest rates are keeping a lot of commercial real estate loans from going into default. Look for the Federal Reserve to keep benchmark rates low for the foreseeable future.
• Deal flow for commercial real estate loans and investor opportunities will not recover until the unemployment rate starts to drop.
• All four panelists opined that commercial real estate values will continue to decline in 2010.

If you were looking for some good news from last night's meeting - well, they served a very nice chardonnay! Crisp, refined and a hint of pear.

I've still got some commercial real estate bridge lenders actively pursuing loan opportunities of at least $1 million. Give me a call if I can help!

Tags : extend and pretend , commercial real estate loans , FDIC , bridge loans , private money loans

Turnaround Management Association - A Hard Slog

Nearly half (49%) of the respondents to the Turnaround Management Association's (TMA) distressed industries forecast think durable improvement in the economy is unlikely until at least the second half of 2010. About three out of ten think the worst is over, but nearly 20 percent suggest the economy has yet to hit rock bottom.

Access to capital remains a big question for how the economy will fare in 2010 according to 52 percent of respondents.

Three out of four respondents think the commercial real estate industry will fare the worst in 2010 as debt matures and lenders remain reluctant to refinance.

"Overleveraged balance sheets are one of the primary causes of industry problems," said William K. Lenhart, CTP, a partner with BDO Consulting in New York. "In 2009, many lenders were more willing to 'extend and amend' terms so borrowers were not in default. It is unclear if these companies took this opportunity to improve operations, reduce expenses and sell off underperforming assets to reduce debt."

My own sources have referred to many commercial bank lender's actions in 2009 as more like "extend and pretend" or "delay and pray".

Happy new year? We'll see.

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : Turnaround Management Association , TMA , extend and pretend , commercial real estate , bridge loans

60 Minutes: You're Stupid and You're Fat!

President Obama told 60 Minutes last night that it was "fat cat bankers" that caused the US financial systems to almost completely fail.


Watch CBS News Videos Online

No blame for Congressional members who were taking campaign contributions from the financial services industry and then failed to adequately supervise the likes of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Bear Stearns.

No blame for borrowers who gorged on cheap money when the cash flow of their businesses couldn't demonstrate an ability to pay back those business loans.

Nope. Just the stupid bankers.

Now I'm not defending the fat cat bankers. Just trying to add some perspective that there's a lot of parties that should share in the blame of this financial fiasco.

However, that sound bite won't play as well on 60 Minutes. Or maybe something got left on the editing room floor.

I'm sure the President's meeting today with the banking community will go well when he tells them to lend more money while his regulators tell them don't be "stupid".

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : fat cat bankers , stupid bankers , 60 Minutes , President Obama

Business Lending Down Six Percent

Business loans in the third quarter of 2009 were down almost six percent according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

No doubt this decline will pit those in Congress who claim that TARP funds should lead to increased lending against bankers who claim regulators are demanding that lenders take less risk in these troubled times. With a fear of a second round of troubled loans primarily in commercial real estate, banks are as risk averse as ever.

The FDIC's troubled bank list now totals 552 problem banks - approximately seven percent of all banks. Fifty banks failed in the third quarter - the most bank failures in a single quarter since the fourth quarter of 1992. "Failure Friday" took a holiday break over Thanksgiving weekend. Look for bank failures to re-commence sooner than later.

If your business loan request is already in process, you still have a chance of obtaining funding in 2009 if you are working with the right lenders. Otherwise, a 2010 funding is the more likely scenario.

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Related Tags: factoring, accounts receivable, p.o. financing, purchase order financing, bank loans, equipment leasing, working capital, cash flow

Walmart Shifts to Supply Chain Finance

Wal-mart recently announced a new supply chain finance program according to this weekend's Wall Street Journal (subscription required). I first wrote about supply chain finance in April 2007.

This supply chain finance program will provide Wal-mart's suppliers with accounts receivable financing - a market which has experienced significant turmoil given the bankruptcy filing of CIT and the credit crunch, in general.

Wal-mart's partner banks, including Wells Fargo and Citigroup, will be providing factoring to Wal-mart's suppliers. It is unclear whether these rates will be any cheaper than those offered by other factors and accounts receivable financiers.

The article mentioned that other retailers, including Kohl's, are also experimenting with supply chain finance programs.

If you're having difficulty with your accounts receivable funding in light of the CIT situation or general market conditions, give me a call!

Tags : Walmart , CIT , supply chain finance , accounts receivable , factoring

CIT, Commercial Real Estate and Workouts

Lots of issues to think about these days with respect to loan workouts, CIT's bankruptcy and commercial real estate.

• Last week, I attended the Risk Management Association's panel discussion on loan workouts and restructurings. Panelists included three bankers from the loan workout departments and an attorney who crafts loan workout agreements. The panel's consensus was expect another year of increasing loan defaults in the world of commercial real estate and business loans. Until this workout activity starts to decline, new loan origination activity is not likely to pick up.
• I still cannot figure out the real impact of the CIT bankruptcy. Many borrowers won't be able to find new lenders because CIT's advance rates against inventory was too high and their interest rates were too low relative to current rates. Some borrowers won't find new homes because they won't find another lender with the back-office capabilities of CIT that has traditionally provided.
• The FDIC issued new guidance to commercial banks allowing them to keep commercial real estate loans on their books as "performing" even when the underlying property value has declined. I suppose this is similar to guidance issued for modification of residential real estate loans with the intent to avoid more losses for banks at a time when their balance sheets cannot afford the earning hit.

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : CIT Group , CIT , bankruptcy , factoring , accounts receivable loans , commercial real estate , FDIC

$5 Million SBA Loans if Your Name is Joe or Doug

Is the SBA considering increasing its guarantees for the SBA 7a loans program for loan amounts as high as $5 million?

Yes. But I think only if your name is Joe or Doug.

Here's a portion of what President Obama had to say about his thoughts on changes for the SBA ...

"The first thing we need to do is increase the maximum size of various SBA loans. So I am calling on Congress to increase the cap on what's called 7(a) loans to $5 million. These are the loans most frequently handed out by the Small Business Administration to help folks open their doors and buy machinery, equipment, land and buildings. These larger loans will help more small business owners and franchisees grow. We also need to increase the maximum size of what's called 504 loans to $5 million. These are the type of loans that Joe and Doug used to expand this business and create new jobs. And we should also increase the maximum size of microloans that go to start-ups and other smaller businesses."

By the way, the expectation remains that the current SBA loan stimulus money will be exhausted by the end of 2009. Don't wait if you want to take advantage of the current higher SBA guarantees and waiver of SBA loan guarantee fees.

Need help finding the right SBA lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : SBA loans , 7a loan , SBA lender , business loans , equipment loans , credit crunch

Commercial Real Estate - More Pain Ahead

Commercial real estate losses could reach 45 percent next year according to an internal presentation at The Federal Reserve Bank.

As reported in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), while not the central bank's formal opinion, the presentation by Atlanta Fed real estate expert, K.C. Conway, paints a bleak picture of sliding real estate values, increasing commercial real estate loan defaults and enormous amount of debt that will need to be re-financed in the next few years.

Banks have been slow to take losses on their commercial real estate loan portfolios because their balance sheets still have not recovered from their housing loan related losses. "Extend and pretend" has been the philosophy of some banks whose primary focus is capital preservation and avoiding enforcement actions by regulators.

I have personally seen three bank commercial real estate loans in recent weeks where the banks are in trouble on construction loans and first trust deeds gone sour. I'm working on sale leaseback solutions on two of the three that will necessitate the banks taking a significant discount on the loans. On the third, the value of the property is so low relative to the loan balance, it's not clear where the solution lies.

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : commercial real estate loans , commercial real estate , bank failures , real estate bridge loans , private money loans

Do You Really Want to be Banker of the Year?

Less than a year ago, then Chairman and CEO of Bank of America, Ken Lewis, was named Banker of the Year for the second time by American Banker.

Today, The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) announced that Mr. Lewis will retire from Bank of America by year end. This announcement comes just months after Mr. Lewis losing his chairman title over the Merrill Lynch debacle.

Mr. Lewis now joins Kerry Killinger (ousted CEO of Washington Mutual), Ken Thompson (ousted CEO of Wachovia) and Angelo Mozilo (ousted CEO of Countrywide) on the list of former Banker of the Year honorees who thereafter lost their jobs!

Sounds a bit like the Sports Illustrated cover jinx. Do you think any banker in their right mind wants to win next year's award?

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : Banker of the Year , American Banker , Ken Lewis , Bank of America

Lack of Refinancing Options for Maturing CMBS Loans

In Two Kinds of Pain for Commercial Real Estate Loans, I wrote that about the shortage of funding to refinance commercial real estate loans as they come due.

In a study for The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Trepp, which tracks the commercial real-estate market, found that, year-to-date, 528 commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) loans valued at $4.7 billion weren't able to refinance when they matured. About 75 percent of these commercial real estate loans were backed by properties that were throwing off more than enough cash to service their debt!

A quick calculation shows that the average loan size for these 528 CMBS loans was approximately $8.9 million. That's not really a large number - this lack of re-financing capacity is likely to impact small and medium sized commercial real estate owners.

At last week's ACG Conference in Los Angeles, I listened to a bank presentation on the state of the debt markets. This bank has tightened their lending criterion for loans including those secured by commercial real estate in part by raising the minimum debt service coverage ratio. If I recall correctly, a 1.35x debt service coverage ratio is the current minimum. By the way, this bank is not lending on commercial real estate without the borrower bringing its entire relationship to the bank.

Need help finding the right lender or telling your story the right way for your California business? Read "Matchmaking for Business Loans" and give me a call!

Tags : commercial real estate loans , commercial real estate , bank failures , real estate bridge loans , private money loans , California