2019 September

September 23, 2019
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Your senior year of high school is a time for preparing yourself for college and really having a good think about what you want to do with your future. Although you might not be ready to jump right into building your career, which is understandable, there are a few things you can do to get yourself a head start on building your career in the most effective way. Here are some tips that will propel you ahead of your colleagues, and help you excel at business even before your career gets off the ground.

Connect With Influencers and Business Owners

The world is moving more and more towards individual influencers and entrepreneurs, so it’s a good idea to start watching and with connecting with them. Since you’re most likely already  on Instagram, it’s a good idea to start following influencers and other profiles that were successful in areas of interest to you. If possible, try to connect with business owners (through Instagram or other means) and get the inside scoop on their day to day routines.

Get Experience Interning or Volunteering

The prospect of working for free might be a turnoff to some, but there is something invaluable about an internship or volunteering. As an intern at a place of business, you get the rare opportunity of learning the inner workings of that company without the necessary qualifications to get a paying job. Not to mention, an internship or two looks incredible on your resume. If you have the opportunity (and the time) to do an internship or volunteer somewhere, definitely go for it.

Actually Start Your Business

If you’ve been planning and thinking about your business for a long time, and the only thing stopping you is that you think you’re too young or that you need to finish school first – start anyway! Even if you are not ready to go full time, start building your website. Begin making connections and talking to like-minded people about your ideas. You can even start a Kickstarter campaign in the meantime to gather funding for your project. If you feel like you can get started now, give it a try! Worst case, you’ll gain some great experience and give it another go when you’re more ready.

You’re young and you have the whole world ahead of you. Now is the time to get yourself a headstart so, by the time you are ready to walk out into the wide world of business, you will be more than ready.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!

 


September 16, 2019
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Your senior year of high school is a time for preparing yourself for college and really having a good think about what you want to do with your future. Although you might not be ready to jump right into building your career, which is understandable, there are a few things you can do to get yourself a head start on building your career in the most effective way. Here are some tips that will propel you ahead of your colleagues, and help you excel at business even before your career gets off the ground.

Make Yourself a LinkedIn Profile

You probably already have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, but you really want to make yourself a LinkedIn profile. Once you create yourself a profile with a professional image of yourself, (even if you don’t have any working experience quite yet), you can utilize LinkedIn for its excellent networking opportunities. You can start joining groups surrounding topics you are interested in, and you can begin making connections (aka friend requests) to people in fields you might find relevant to you and your future career dreams.

Get a Job – Even If It’s Not The One You Want

Although miracles do happen, more likely than not, you won’t find yourself landing your dream job right out of high school. That being said, it’s a really good idea to get yourself a job, even one that’s part-time as soon as possible. Having a “real job” (one with a boss, when you are actually on the clock) will prepare you for the working world after you finish school. You will be able to dip your toes into the world of hours, shifts, taxes, bosses, and all types of coworkers. Not to mention it’s a great feeling to start earning your own money, and it might give you  that extra drive for success once you start your real career.

Find Yourself a Mentor

It could be a favorite teacher or professor, or it could be your best friend’s mom. Whoever it is, finding yourself a good mentor who you admire and trust is worth its weight in gold. Not only will you be able to see and learn, first-hand, from someone who has already been through it, but you will always have that person to ask questions to and to bounce ideas off of. A second (knowledgeable) opinion is priceless.

You’re young and you have the whole world ahead of you. Now is the time to get yourself a headstart so, by the time you are ready to walk out into the wide world of business, you will be more than ready.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!


September 9, 2019

There are a number of different types of small business loans entrepreneurs and company owners alike can take out to help them fund their businesses. In all cases, lenders require certain criteria to be met in order for them to approve your small business loan. They might ask for your credit score, your tax documents, even bank statements. Some lenders will even ask for you to put up one of your assets as collateral for the lent money. Although this is an option that many lendees take, we are suggesting that it might not be the best idea for a small business owner. Here are 3 reasons why you might want to pass on the collateral-required loans.

1. Long Processing Time

If a lender is asking you to put up an expensive asset as collateral, the idea behind it is that you have placed something of equal value to the money you’ve borrowed, on the off chance that you are not able to repay it back to the lender. This seems simple enough, however, unlike a solid loan amount which can be counted, the asset you put up (such as your home or your car) does not come with an exact price tag. It will take time for the lender to check in on your asset that you’ve offered up, to make sure of its value. This type of loan can take much longer to approve than a loan that only requires a credit check, where the numbers are laid out in front of you on your statements.

2. Lack Of Ownership

Maybe you’re just starting out in the business world, and you want to build your business and take it to the next level. Just because you have your business (or only your business idea), does not mean that you happen to own a worthwhile asset that could be used as collateral. The idea of your business is to eventually be making good money for yourself and your employees so that you will be able to buy your own home or your own luxury vehicle, but most people do not start out already owning them. Instead, go for a loan that doesn’t require you to put up assets as collateral, and then grow your business until you have enough to buy the assets of your dreams.

3. Risky Business

So, let’s say you take out a loan, go all-in for your business, and it fails. Unfortunately, this does happen from time to time, and sometimes it happens after you’ve already spent all of the cash you owe. If you’ve put your assets up as collateral, you will have a much harder time trying to find a new place to live, than finding a way to simply pay back the money. You could always take out other loans that can consolidate your debt until you get back on your feet. However, if you’ve put up your house to back the lent funds, you’d be in a much more difficult situation.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!


September 2, 2019
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Taking out a small business loan can be a great relief and help for many entrepreneurs and business owners. With the right knowledge and understanding, getting funding to help get a company on its feet can be rather simple to do and very rewarding in the end. However, if you are considering taking out a loan to help fund your business, there are a few questions you should ask yourself before putting in your application.

1. How Much Money Do I Actually Need?

When presented with the opportunity of a lump of cold, hard cash just handed to you, it might be tempting to just take out a bulk of it and use it to your heart’s desire. However, a small business loan is far from being “free money”. In fact, taking out funding without seriously understanding all of the costs and risks that come with it can land you in some very hot water. Before applying for a loan, it’s important to do the math about how much money you will really need to cover the certain expenses you deem important and urgent. Otherwise, you might find yourself stuck in some bottomless debt.

2. What Exactly Will I Use This Money For?

Just like knowing the exact amount of money you need to take out is imperative, knowing exactly what that money will go for is just as important. You need to have a plan for what you will use your funding for, so you can make sure that you don’t frivolously spend your funding. Without becoming too rigid, as the business world is always changing, you need to at least have a set of specific goals you wish to accomplish with this small business loan. Having written goals will not only keep you organized, but it will also help you track your progress and see what aspects of your business really benefitted from the loan.

3. How Confident Am I In My Business?

This is a big one. Unless you are sure that your business plans are solid, you should maybe wait with taking out money that will need to be repaid with the profits of your company. Of course, that’s not to say you should avoid all business loans because you are not 100% sure that you will be successful, nobody can actually know that. However, you need to have a pretty solid plan and a mapped out list of goals and expectations, as well as confidence in yourself and in your business idea before you get yourself into debt.

Ready to take the first step to reaching your financial goals? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding, and find the best loan with the lowest rates, today!