• Emotion based vs. Objective … or better said: Not financial or market based
• Want based vs. Need based
• Advice based from someone with little to no practical experience in business

Much of business success is intuitive HOWEVER most of it is objectively founded based on that intuition so somewhere along the line vision and logic need to blend together so …

• First off: When you are starting up you are on a “cash flow” diet … accept it and get over it!
• Second: Your resources are limited to what you have … you cannot spend “tomorrow”
• Thirdly: Grow your sales and grow your assets and collateral … or get in line for the poor farm!
• Fourth: A business without a well thought out plan has the odds stacked against it to fail – miserably!!!

A most common failure: Many business owners, right out of the gate, want to flash the BMW and the Rolex … but if it taxes the business you might lose it all. Accept this concept: When you are starting up you don’t own your business … IT OWNS YOU!

FOLKS: I’d rather be eating oatmeal … and I have and sometimes still do when it’s appropriate … and know that I can react to an opportunity vs. having to let that opportunity go by the wayside because I was frivolous with my assets. Being “lucky” isn’t just a matter of being in the right place at the right time … it’s a matter of being ready when you are in the right place at the right time. That said I always keep a bumper of working capital or that extra availability with my credit line intead of spending it but I will also admit: I’ve been to the edge of the precipice many times and probably will again … but that’s what makes being an entrpreneur all that it is and damned do I love it!

What is the secret to making it? Grit and common sense … and mostly the latter. All too often business owners are not realistic in what they envision:

• Financial: They don’t assess what they really need to make it happen
• Market: They don’t really understand the market challenges they are attempting to enter
• Business Operation: They have no clue how to run a business

Sadly: They are pationate – and then some; they are great people – and then some; but they didn’t assess what they were doing or where they were going. I call this the “SUNSET SYNDROME” … where a person envisions themselves bathing in the majesty of the sunset and trip over the sidewalk at their feet because they didn’t even assess their first step.  Think on this …

Business success for some might be a quick leap that just happens and God Bless those that come about it that way but for the majority it’s a series of baby steps and short term goals that build up and grow and suddenly you’re there. If not? Hopefully you’re still safe and sound.

Think on these things … and be careful not to fall because you’re day dreaming about where you could be instead of knowing where you are!

(If you know of someone that overcame similar issues please share situations that you might know of with a blog of your own!)

With his only asset being a piece of raw land, we created a working capital line of credit against the property. He also fulfilled the contract on time and without missing any deadlines.

What made this complicated? Who would lend on raw land when nearly no one was building?

Considered a ‘hard money loan’, this loan was placed in a first position lien/UCC1 on the property and was completed in a rather short amount of time. The important part was the contractor had access to the funds he needed to buy materials and meet payroll through to his first draws from the State … and the timing worked well!

Working with the contractor, we reviewed his contracts and history of fulfillment, establishing a comfort level that allowed us to move forward. With our services, he was able to do what he needed on time while paying the money back without issue.

If you have questions about Hard Money contact me directly @ ebrown@finance-manager.com or feel free to enter your own blog here as we would love to hear your comments!