Merchant Cash Advance Blog

If you are a small business owner whose sales vary, you must seamlessly manage these changes to sustain maximum profitability.  These types of fluctuations increase the pressure on your business drastically.  How should you plan for these variations?  What is the appropriate time to save money and what is the appropriate time to spend on additional inventory to satisfy your upcoming sales increase?

If you were to randomly stop and ask 100 small business owners what their number one problem is, they would likely say cash flow.  It takes significant financial investment to turn your great business idea into a reality and you need subsequent investments to keep your business afloat.  What do you do when your funds run short?  Have you been to a traditional bank and gotten turned away? What about the huge checklist that the bank needs you to fulfill to determine your “credit worthiness?” Their business loan checklist may include your personal background, resume, business plan, personal credit report, business credit report, income tax returns, financial statements, bank statements, and collateral. 

Your store may have competitive prices, excellent customer service and great products, but if your establishment is unsanitary, dusty and infested with bugs then your customers could potentially start looking elsewhere for their goods and services. 

The story of the holiday season for retail outlets has been the major increases in the number of orders placed at online payment processing terminals. In fact, the increase has been so stark that one retail outlet is opening a brand new, $170 million fulfillment center.

Businesses capable of accepting online credit card payments likely saw very significant increases in their sales this holiday season, according to two recent reports.

Bloomberg reported, citing figures provided by MasterCard Advisors, that holiday sales made at retail outlets between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 were up by 2.3 percent. Sarah Quinlan, senior vice president of MasterCard Advisors, said that consumers, though cautious in recent years, are starting to spend more regularly.