Blog – Page 3 – ONEBOX FUNDING

June 20, 2019

When running your own company, there is never a shortage of work to do. However, even though the number of tasks seems to grow as you complete them, there are ways to stay organized and complete your work in the most efficient way possible. Here are three tips to work smarter, instead of harder, by eliminating the busy work and running your business in the most optimal and effective way.

1. Learn Which Tasks Are Necessary

Most business owners have more tasks at hand than they know what to do with. The unfortunate thing is, many of them keep on completing old tasks and habits that have become obsolete or unnecessary just because “that’s how they’ve always done them.” It’s a good idea to start keeping track of which tasks make you more productive and profitable, and which ones you could do without. You will start to see patterns after a few days or weeks, and you can begin eliminating tasks that are no longer serving you.

2. Get Another Opinion

Even though your company might be your baby, and you trust only yourself to get the job done right, it’s a great idea to ask the opinion of someone else. A fresh pair of eyes with a different perspective could easily pick out mistakes or redundancies that you might have missed. Especially if you’ve been working for hours on end on the same task, someone else with a new perspective might be able to come at it with a new, fresh take.

3. Get a Dream Team

No one person can do everything him or herself, because no one person is excellent at everything. While running a company, it’s best to surround yourself with a trusted team of people, all with different strengths that can benefit your business. For example, if you are very creative but not so good at organizing yourself, it’s good to have another reliable team member to make sure you are staying on track. Building yourself a solid team of people who all have impressive skills is a recipe for a very successful company.

Although it’s important to work hard in your business, it’s more profitable and efficient to cut the unnecessary chaos, and be as productive as possible. Work smarter, not harder, and you’ll find yourself running a successful company, in the most efficient way possible.

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!

by Eli

June 17, 2019

Taking out a small business loan can be a huge help for any business owner. Whether you want to grow your business, purchase updated equipment, or consolidate past business debts, a loan can take a lot of pressure off and allow you to reach your financial goals, quicker.

However, just because you apply for a loan, does not automatically mean your application will be accepted. There is a process that you must follow, and documentation you must provide in order to qualify for funding. Of course, there is no need to be intimidated or worried that you won’t get the funding you need to grow your business, if you are prepared. Aside from having the correct documentation and information at the ready, there are certain circumstances you’ll want to wait for, to give yourself a better chance of being accepted.

Firstly, when applying for a loan, the lender will look at the status of your business. This means that he will want to know if you are earning enough money to where you will have the means to pay the loan back according to its terms. Unless your business has a steady rate of cash flow all year round (which is, admittedly, very rare) you will want to apply for your loan during your high season. So, if that means that most of your demand is during the summer months, you will want to apply at the peak of your strong season. This will look good to the lender, and he or she will feel more at ease with lending you some of their money, knowing that you have the cash to pay it back eventually.

Second, you’ll want to take a look at your credit score. Even if you’ve just broken into your high season, and you are making money, if your credit score does not reflect a good, steady cash flow, you will most likely be turned away (or at least be giving a higher interest rate to pay). Be sure that your credit score looks good enough to show the lender that you do pay back your debts, to the best of your ability. This is one of the first things that lenders check when deciding if they will accept your loan proposal, so be sure that you have everything in order beforehand.

Although it might seem scary to apply for a small business loan (especially if it’s your first time), it is very doable if you know what to do. By applying for the loan when your business is in its strongest and your credit score is healthy, you will most likely be accepted and in a matter of days, you will receive the funding you need to achieve your financial and business goals.

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!

by Eli

June 13, 2019

1. Learn Which Tasks Are Necessary

2. Cut Meetings Times

Unless you are working entirely by yourself, and you never have interactions with your clients, you will most likely have to conduct meetings here and there. Depending on the frequency of your meetings, it’s a good idea to try and keep them as efficient as possible by using the “short and sweet” method. Use your time wisely and efficiently by limiting face to face interactions to only the necessary issues. Anything else can simply be sent via email!

3. Take a Breather

Not doing work when you have mountains of it can seem counter-productive, but there comes a point where taking a total break from all of it is necessary to keep up productivity. Avoiding worker’s burnout and mental block is imperative to keeping your productivity flowing. And sometimes, this requires you to step back from your full schedule and do something else for a while. This will help your brain (and your body) recover to its full strength and mental capacity. Allowing for you to have a more productive time when you do return to work.

Although it’s important to work hard in your business, it’s more profitable and efficient to cut the unnecessary chaos, and be as productive as possible. Work smarter, not harder, with these tips, with more to come in the following Part III of our blog post covering Ways To Reduce Busy Work and Be More Productive.

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!

by Eli

June 10, 2019

1. Focus on One Thing at a Time

When you have a thousand and a half things to take care of, it’s only natural to want to have your hands in all of them. Unfortunately, this is not the most efficient way to get through your work. In fact, multitasking effectively is almost impossible for the average human being, and simply results in many tasks getting done, half-assed. The best thing to do here is to tackle one thing at a time, and give all of your focus and energy to it. This will result in a completed task, done correctly the first time, in less time than it would take to try and complete it with only a piece of your brain.

2. Take on Your Biggest Challenge First

It may seem tempting to take on what some would call the “low-hanging fruits” first, and leave the big tasks to the end. However, this can actually cause you to use all of your energy and focus on the smaller, possibly less important tasks, leaving none for the more intimidating, bigger issue. Although it may seem scary, it’s best to buckle down and take on your biggest challenge(s) first and get them out of the way early. This way, when you’ve completed the big guys, you won’t have to use so much of your time to tie up the loose ends, and you’ll get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time.

3. Write a List of Your Tasks

Some might look at this as adding more work to your day, however writing a list of your tasks for the day, week, month, and year will actually save you a lot of grief. Writing a list will help you organize your thoughts, and take what may seem like a mountain of work, and make it more graspable and organized. Also, having everything written down will ensure that no task slips through the cracks when business stress comes calling.

Although it’s important to work hard in your business, it’s more profitable and efficient to cut the unnecessary chaos, and be as productive as possible. Work smarter, not harder, with these tips, with more to come in the following Part II of our blog post covering Ways To Reduce Busy Work and Be More Productive.

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!

by Eli

June 6, 2019

Virtually any type of business will, at some point, require you to have some sort of physical equipment in order to maintain it. Whether it be brick ovens for a pizza place, building materials for a construction business, or even a simple laptop for an online e-commerce shop, you will need to have equipment at your beck and call to perform your daily tasks.

The slightly unfortunate thing is, that even if you take meticulous care of your business equipment, eventually, you will need to spend money on things like maintenance & repairs, replacement, updates, and other expenditures that come with having “things” that you work with daily. Keeping up with your equipment can cost a pretty penny, and often times business owners cannot afford to make such big expenditures on their equipment when there are so many other costs involved in maintaining and growing a company.

Luckily, Equipment Financing loans are available to a wide range of business owners. Of course, taking out a loan does not come without its risks, so it’s important to be sure that an Equipment Financing loan is right for you. Here are three signs that it’s time to finance your equipment with a small business loan.

1. You Are Growing

Unless your entire business is conducted online, which is becoming more and more prevalent these days, if you want to grow your company you will more than likely need to purchase more equipment. Maybe you need more pizza ovens because you’ve expanded your restaurant to fit double the amount of people. Or maybe you’re opening up another branch and you need more inventory to stock up on. However you are growing, you will need to scale your equipment to match with your larger demand.

2. Your Equipment Has Broken

This is a fairly obvious one, but nothing in this life lasts forever, and that goes for equipment as well. Sometimes things break from damage or simply from overuse, and must be repaired or replaced altogether. Don’t let a malfunctioning appliance lose you customers. Instead, get funding for the money you need to have your equipment working at its optimum capacity, and keep your business running as usual.

3. It’s Time For an Update

Maybe everything is working “just fine” but the newest pizza oven technology has just been released, and can up your productivity 3X! Even though your equipment is functioning properly, sometimes it’s a better business decision to spend a bit of money to make a lot more of it. If having the newest, most updated equipment will help your business, it’s a good idea to make the purchase.

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!

by Eli

June 3, 2019

Unless you’ve been in the industry for a while, or you happen to have a lot of experience in taking out loans, it can be very intimidating to know how to choose the right one. Fortunately, there are loan brokers who are there to help get you the right loan with the best rate and most fitting terms for your situation. However, not all loan brokers are equal when it comes to their knowledge and success rates. So how can you know which loan broker to go with? Here are 3 criteria to consider when choosing your loan broker.

Their Experience and Track Record

You wouldn’t want to have surgeon performed by a doctor who has only had his title for a few days, would you? The same should go for the person you trust to get you the best small business loan for your company. You should look into the loan broker’s past, including his education and previous work experience, to see just how much experience he or she has had in their position. Also, you’ll want to check their credentials and make sure that they are legally working in your state, as each state has different levels of requirements in order to broker loans.

Their Payment Model

Of course, you will have to pay for the services of a loan broker, but not all brokers charge the same amount of money in the same way. For example, just like with a loan itself, you might have to pay the broker up front, before any work is started on your behalf. This could mean a no refund policy, even if he or she does not successfully obtain the loan for you. Others will charge their fee only after you’ve signed for the money.

Their Relationship With Lenders

Just because you’ve paid a loan broker to act on your behalf, does not mean that you are his only client. In fact, there is a good chance that your broker is also working for certain specific lenders, which he or she may favor and therefore direct you toward, even if the lender is not the best loan for you. Try to double-check that your loan broker is acting in your best interest, and not in the interest of a big-time lender who will probably give him or her a cut of the money when he gets a signature from you.

Getting a loan can seem scary, but with a trustworthy loan broker, your life will be a lot easier. Just make sure to do your research first, so you don’t find yourself signing for a bad deal.

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!

by Eli

May 27, 2019

Any business owner will agree that an increase in their cash flow is never a bad thing. Although selling more products or gaining more customers may seem the most obvious ways to do this, there are other, more behind-the-scenes ways to go about bringing more money into your business. Here are three ways to increase your business’s cash flow that don’t have to do directly with selling more.

Stick To a Budget

Sticking to a budget is important to do in any aspect of life, but especially so when it comes to your business. Having a clear, set budget when you begin the day, month, quarter, and year will ensure that you always know about where you stand when it comes to your money. If you don’t have a solid budget to stick to, you will almost definitely get muddled up in all the transactions and expenses in your daily business dealings. Budgeting out all of your expenses (and planning for the ones you might not see coming) will keep the maximum amount of working capital in your hands, and you won’t lose money on poor planning.

Never Have More Than a 50% Income-Debt Ratio

While nobody wants to be in debt, often times it’s unavoidable when you’re opening or growing your own business. In fact, if done smartly and well-planned, it could be very beneficial to business and get you more profit in the long run. However, you never want to get yourself into a situation where you are making less money than you owe. If you find yourself in a situation where you are coming to a breakeven point, don’t take out any more debt until you get it handled. It’s a very slippery slope when you are not pulling in enough cash to at least equal what you are putting out.

Only Put Business Expenses On Your Business Account

If you start making money from your business, it can be very tempting to start buying yourself personal things here and there. Even if these expenses are small, it’s very important to keep your business expenses and your personal ones completely separate. It can be only too easy to get caught up in spending on things you want here and there and find yourself in a situation where you don’t have enough revenue to take care of your business’s expenses (this is especially dangerous when there are unseen/emergency costs). It’s better to create a budget (see tip #1) and set aside revenue coming from your business, to pay for itself. Once you finish this, and you have your profit, you can put that into your own personal account, and use it as you will. This clear separation will help you stay organized and make sure you aren’t left high and dry when it comes to keeping your business afloat.

Want to learn more about business loans with the best rates? Click here for a FREE quote from Onebox Funding.

by Eli

May 23, 2019

“Time is money” is probably a phrase you’ve heard before, especially if you happen to be one of the hard-working people who start their own small business. Whether you wanted to work with something that you’re passionate about, or you just want to be your own boss and make your own hours, having your own business is something that you can be very proud of. However, it’s not all fun and games. In fact, it is an unimaginable amount of hard work to start your own company, which is why most business owners are losing sleep (especially during the first 6 months to a year).

So if time is money, that means that every minute you spend working on growing your empire is another dollar coming your way. This is true, to an extent, however, there is a peak and plateau that comes with working all hours of the day. It’s great to work hard and passionately in order to build the business of your dreams, and it’s even better to have goals for the future of it. But, working day in and day out for extended periods of time without a break is actually a recipe for disaster. Here are 3 big reasons to disconnect fully from your company from time to time.

1. Preventing Burnout

Burnout is one of the leading causes of failed new businesses, and it can happen if you are not taking enough breaks. When you first come up with an idea, you are full of passion, innovation, and excitement, and you are running on pure adrenaline to put your ideas into motion. Unfortunately, this burst of motivation does not last forever, and you’ll find it quickly leaves you once tedium and struggle (which are inevitable for any business) set in. Make sure to pace yourself and distribute your energy evenly by taking intermittent breaks from your work, so that you don’t burn out after a few months.

2. Having a Fresh Perspective

When you find yourself looking at the same problem for a long time, without a break, you begin to lose clarity and focus. However, if you were to take a step back and do something else for a while, most likely you’ll find that when you do return, you will be able to look at the situation in a different, refreshed way.

3. Appreciate Your Life Outside of Business

Focus on something other than your dream company? Absolutely. It’s so important to remember that there are always other aspects of your life, like your family and friends, your health, your hobbies, etc. To have a truly full life, you need to make sure that your business doesn’t take you away from the people you love.

Want to learn more about the best business loans? Check out Onebox Funding here and get a FREE quote.

by Eli

May 20, 2019

Nobody wants to find themselves in a situation where they owe more money than they can pay. Being in debt is no laughing matter, and it doesn’t ever feel good. But what if we told you that going into debt can actually make you a profit in the long run. Of course, this is not the case with every kind of debt, but if you are a business owner falling on some hard times, taking out a small business loan (therefore, going into debt) could be the answer to increasing your revenue and reaching all of your financial goals. Here are three ways that getting yourself into some (reasonable) debt can actually grow your business and have you earning more money than ever before

1. Equipment Financing

If your business is failing, it might well be because you don’t have the latest, most updated equipment, appliance, or technology needed to keep up with the competition. Of course, if you have little to no cash flow coming in, you probably cannot afford to buy that new industrial-sized pizza oven or restock your building material inventory. But, if that new piece of equipment will mean the difference between a failing business and a flourishing one, it’s a good idea to take out a loan for equipment financing, spend the money on whatever new tools you need, and then start running your company more efficiently. With the money you’ll make, you can pay back the debt in no time, and you’ll find yourself in the black from now on.

2. Debt Consolidation

When you’re already in debt, the last thing you want to do is take out more money. However, sometimes in order to pay off your debt in the quickest, most efficient way, you need to take out even more of it. A debt consolidation loan is basically a lump sum of money that can be used to pay off each of the debts you already have. Why take out more debt to pay your current ones? Well, if you have multiple loans with varying interest rates, payment terms, and due dates, it is much more difficult to keep track of everything and to keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed. Instead, you can take out a debt consolidation loan, pay off your multiple lenders, and then only have to worry about one payment with one interest fee.

3. Merchant Cash Advance

Ever head the phrase “you need to spend money to make money”? Well, this is very true in many cases, and that’s where a Merchant Cash Advance comes in. Maybe you don’t need to purchase a solid piece of equipment, but you do need working capital, on-hand, in order to get things moving with your company. Having this cash, up-front, can take the burden off of trying to earn the money in order to do what your business needs. You take care of the beginning payments and let your company pay for itself.

Ready to start reaching your business goals? Check out Onebox Funding for a FREE quote, today!

by Eli

May 16, 2019

You’ve completed the application, filled out all of the paperwork, and were finally accepted for the small business loan you need to grow your company. Although you’ve done all of the hard work, there are still a few things to be done before the day the loan money will be deposited into your account. Here are the 3 steps to take before funding day, so the process goes as smoothly as possible, and you can get back to focussing on reaching your business goals.

1. Make Sure Your Online Banking Is All In Order

The days of hand-to-hand cash transactions are long gone. Most, if not all, official loan payments are sent via the internet, so it’s imperative that you have your account all set up and working flawlessly for the transaction to go through. When applying for the loan, you must provide the lender with a year’s worth of bank statements, so that they can determine what your revenue flow looks like, so they can tell how long it will take for them to be paid back. While you may have provided these documents, the lender will most likely want to check and see if they have been forged or manipulated. An online baking account will ensure the lender that nothing fraudulent has happened and that the statements are completely true.

2. Make sure Your Account is In The Black

When the day finally comes that the money will be transferred, you’ll want to have a positive balance in your account, even if it’s not a huge amount. With most accounts, if you are in the negative, and money comes in, it is automatically used to cover your deficits. If that loan money was intended for a different purpose (for example, to grow your business and pay off your deficits with the revenue), you will instantly lose a chunk of it to cover your previous debts.

3. Be Available For a Call From the Lender

It is common practice that, on the day you get your funds, the lender will call you to confirm the last minute details. You should, to the best of your ability, make yourself available for a 15-30 minute call to make sure that the lender has your bank and business details. He will want to confirm that he is sending the money to the right account and that he has the correct information regarding your business and the intended purpose of the funds.

Ready to start reaching your business goals? Check out Onebox Funding for a FREE quote, today!

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