In a small business landscape where cash flow is king, seeking out alternative sources from which to supplement your business' access to this resource is generally worth the time and effort. Tax credits with cash refunds are some of the incentives which small business owners would be wise to investigate. They vary from province to province, but many offer significant refunds that could help your business improve its cash flow. Doing your homework on these credits may be well worth your while!

• Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credits

If you hire an apprentice who is in the first two years of a Red Seal approved apprenticeship program registered with the government, you could be eligible for a credit of 10% of their salary. In Ontario, the Apprenticeship Training Tax Credit provides a 35 per cent to 45 per cent cash refundable credit based on the salaries and wages paid to apprentices, with the maximum annual credit per apprenticeship being $10,000, and $40,000 over a four year period.

• Hiring Credit for Small Business

As an employer, you could get a credit of up to $1,000 toward your payroll account if your EI premiums increased in 2013. For this credit, you don't even need to apply! The credit will be calculated automatically using the information from your T4 slips filed for 2012 and 2013

• Digital Media Credits

The media, film, music and digital sectors are rapidly expanding, and represent a significant number of Canadian small businesses. Various provinces have offered incentives for the production of digital works. The Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit, Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit, Refundable tax credit for film production services (Quebec), and others specific to individual provinces, are all excellent examples of credits available to businesses in the digital and creative industries.

• Small Business-Specific Tax Credits

Canadawide, the Small business Deduction is calculated when you complete your corporation's T2 income tax return. If you are not associated with any other corporations, the allowable business limit you can claim is $500,000.
There are many, many more credits available, but the province in which you operate may determine those for which you could be eligible. A relatively comprehensive list is available through the Canada Business Network page. These small business tax credits offer hardworking businesses and their owners a chance to improve their cash flow and incentivize consumer participation in local economies.

I will admit that it seems a little bit cruel to be bringing up this subject mere days after most Canadians have settled into their couches to recover from Thanksgiving, but for small businesses of all kinds it paramount to look ahead at the winter season to come. That's right. Christmas and New Year holidays approach, and with them what will likely be one of the busiest times of year for retailers, restauranteurs, creative professionals, and a myriad of other small businesses.

That being said, lest your thoughts turn to panic at the prospect of preparing for the holiday rush, there are some simple and effective ways to ensure that it won't overtake you in a wave of things to do and deadlines to meet. Your small business holiday preparations will help you make the most of the seasonal change while keeping financially stable and low on stress.

• Start Early

This is the big one. If you haven't thought about your plans for the winter season, there's no time like the present. Whether winter is a high season or a low one for your business, think well in advance about how you will need to retool, adjust and launch new initiatives. If your goal is to roll out a new marketing campaign or promotion, set a hard date on it well in advance of your "real" target: allow customers to slowly but surely absorb the new message rather than rushing them into it. Take consumer momentum into account as it builds throughout October and November. Build a promotion schedule that will aid you planning what offers and channels will be promoted when. Remember to build in production time for design and content that needs to be created – for example: gift guides or staff picks. This schedule can be weekly or daily – so long as you remember what you’re doing and when.

• Look Back

As Christmas approaches across the world, children will start to think to themselves: "have I been good this year?" - and it's not a bad question to ask of your small business, either. Look back at what you did last year at this time, and consider how you might improve it. Did a particular order sell exceptionally well? Or did a specific promotional strategy fail to bring customers through the door as readily as you expected? What did your balance sheet look like? Have new trends emerged in your industry that you need to be on top of? Did your e-commerce website have the resources ready to meet the increased demand?

• Think of Your Customers

As you get busier during the run up to the holidays, it's important to set out a clear picture for your customers' expectations. Identify the schedule that might determine when they should order items that need to ship before a critical date. Make any changes to your operating hours clearly visible on all the channels through which you connect to people. Allow your customers to prepare with the same prescience and confidence that you have applied to preparing your business.

• Consider Your Staff

Increased demand can beget the need for more staff in order to have enough hands on board to cover the necessary bump in business. Looking at the trend map from previous years will help with this decision, but ensure that you have the time, money and space to pick the right short term help during the holidays. Don't forget that this time of year can be stressful for employees as they themselves need to adjust to working pressures as well as the external demands of family, social gatherings, end-of-year financial number crunching, and the desire to take time off where available.

• Don't Forget January

The holiday rush is exciting and challenging, but don't let the spike in activity melt away like so much snow. You're likely to connect with new customers, foster supplier relationships, and partner with other local small businesses during this time period: make sure that you can convert these opportunities into longer-term sources of revenue and advocacy for your small business year-round. This would be a great time to increase your business' newsletter circulation, offer promotions that might be redeemable in the future, and incentivize online-savvy individuals to follow your social media channels.
 

Did you know that October is Small Business Month in Canada? Well, it is - and it’s time to make the best of it! In Merchant Advance’s home province of BC alone, 98% of firms are classified as small businesses - those with under 50 employees. With such overwhelming statistical importance, it is fitting that the small business sphere of influence is increasing, gaining important political traction in the upcoming election as well as being recognized as a focal point for the energies and ideas generated by young entrepreneurs.
Small Business Month offers opportunities for small business owners and operators to network, develop and share business ideas, and learn about government programs and resources. Informative seminars are available all month on topics ranging from your choice of financial management tools and getting the most out of your balance sheet, to picking the right name for your business and using SEO and SEM tools that will inspire customers to engage with your brand. If you're in BC, you can check out a full list of available seminars here.
This is an amazing time to think about the things your small business needs in order to succeed and grow. In roundtable discussions, major contributors to the Canadian SMB sector have identified priorities such as getting 100% of small businesses equipped with high speed internet, promoting financial literacy, creating opportunities for young and growing businesses and those run by women, and starting meaningful discussions about succession planning. What issues are most important to your business’ success? How can you learn to be more profitable while at the same time making your voice heard in the pursuit of change and better infrastructure for small business in Canada?
We believe that the pursuit of sustainable financial models for small businesses at all levels - in advocacy, in government, and at the grassroots level - will be one of the key elements in the growth of the small business economy and the Canadian economy in general. We’re accomplishing this by working to make access to financial resources easier for business owners through technological innovation combined with holistically minded underwriting, and reducing the impact of predatory or exclusionary lending practices.
Consider the month of October to be your time to rally for change and to expose your mind to new ideas! You can change the way your business is perceived. You can change your goals and meet new challenges. You can change the way you think about finding a small business loan or financial product that meets your individual needs.
Have a fantastic Small Business Month!

This week, we welcome another new face to the Loans 101 series: Head of Underwriting, Dominik St-Denis!
When it comes to small business lending, perhaps one of the biggest and most recurring sets of inquiries we get from new applicants centers on their personal credit score. As the blog has investigated in numerous past instances, credit score is a complicated part of the lending picture. Bigger banks will often refuse to lend to small businesses on the basis of a low credit score that may have been impacted by an unforeseen event in the borrower's history: alternative lenders offer a more holistic approach to business funding appraisal, but still need to include the personal credit score of the business owners in their assessment in some capacity.
Take in the video below to get all the facts about your credit score - and how it doesn't have to be an obstacle to finding the right funding solution for your small business!

This week's edition of Loans 101, our ongoing video series, is a little bit different in a couple of key ways. First, it features the video debut of Merchant Advance's VP of Marketing and Operations, Alex Chisholm! Secondly, it deals with a side of the Merchant Advance model we don't often discuss here on the blog - the creation of affiliate partnerships. Many businesses have contacted us asking about opportunities to work together in an affiliate relationship or as brokers. This video should clear up all the details!

We know that creating meaningful partnerships with our small business customers is part of what makes us unique in the lending market in Canada.  But what about those other organizations out there with a Rolodex (or email list...) full of awesome small business clients? By connecting your network and sales abilities to Merchant Advance's infrastructure, we are able to reach out to even more Canadian businesses who may be in search of funding solutions for their ongoing operational expenses or other plans for improvement.
Becoming a referral partner is simple. To be a referral partner, all you have to do is give us the name and number of a potentially interested client and our sales team will do the rest.
Affiliate partners can leverage small business traffic by advertising our service using our tools, banners, and creative on your site or store.
Broker Partners are involved in our entire process. You work with your clients and our underwriting team to help close the deal, having access to our resources to help grow your business.
Contact us today to learn more about the partnerships we offer!

Note: This Blog Originally Appeared at the UrLoan.com blog. 
Would you sign up for a loan from your text message service or favourite social network?
That’s the question that China’s Tencent Inc, makers of the popular WeChat messaging app, are asking users with their introduction of a new feature called Weilidai — which literally means “a tiny bit of loan”— allowing users to borrow up to 200,000 yuan ($31,350) without guarantee or collateral. WeChat is used by an estimated 600 million or more people, making it one of the world’s most popular IM services.

Asian messaging apps often feature multipurpose functionality that you wouldn’t otherwise expect to see in a chat client, from cab-hailing to ticket-buying, and WeChat is no exception. Now, this multivalent approach will extend to the world of personal and peer-to-peer financing.
The Wall Street Journal notes that the credit assessment process, which reportedly includes assessing individual loan status information from the People’s Bank of China, could take less than a minute. Interest rates can vary depending on individual credit levels; the average daily rate is believed to be 0.05%, while the terms for loans could stretch up to 20 months.
One of the most interesting (or arresting) features of Weilidai is its reliance on at least some degree of social-network data mining to come up with algorithmically generated loan terms and rates. In an age when mobile data privacy has become a hot-button issue, especially in one of the most internet-restrictive countries in the world, this method of data collection will need to be closely scrutinized so as not to push past users’ privacy boundaries. Reportedly, simple payments such as how much you spend on taxis and restaurants will be taken into account as they feature in WeChat’s e-commerce functionality, as well as any number of micro-transactions and large payments alike.
While a number of online, peer to peer and emergent financial technology-driven lenders in North America are beginning to take such contextual information into account in their approvals process, effectively allowing customers the chance to be represented by more than their hard credit scores, this analysis is not often carried out in such a directly linked or automated manner. Fully automated approvals can indeed increase the speed with which borrowers can access funds, but come with the caveat that they may not be able to contextualize individual borrowers’ needs and personal situation with the clarity of a traditional application process.
So, can North American financial consumers expect a Bank of Facebook to pop up in their news feeds in the near future? Certainly, the monolithic status of such entities as Google, Facebook and others makes these corporations the butt of criticism for their efforts at expansion into nearly every conceivable facet of the tech-connected world. However, differences in the regulatory environments and legal precedents for financial corporations may stall the development of such services in much of the world.

Canadian small business data provider and risk management institution, PayNet, has released new data showing improvement in commercial borrowing at the end of the second fiscal quarter. The Canadian Business Lending Index offers 19 distinct indices measuring lending activity of small and medium businesses in Canada: it rose to 135.8 in June from 134.0 in May.

This index shows that small business loan activity is reflective of a general trend toward organic growth and recovery from what some economists termed a mild recession in the first half of 2015.
The increase in small business loan activity was offset by slight increases in delinquency. According to Paynet, moderate loan delinquencies - those that are behind in payments by 30 days or more - edged up to 1.08 percent of loans in June from 1.01 percent the month before. Loans that were more than 90 days late similarly rose to 0.32 percent from 0.29 percent.
PayNet’s data reflects the fact that Canadian small businesses are outperforming the broader national economy, but that material strains exist in certain portions of the country - notably those affected by the decline in oil prices. This province-by-province conclusion is corroborated by other metrics such as the CFIB's Small Business Barometer, which takes into account the expectation of growth or expansion by small business owners.
Business owners seeking a small business loan should take advantage of this transitional period in the Canadian economic climate. Merchant Advance products are designed to continually adjust to the sales volume of your business, helping mitigate the effect of the ups and downs inherent in the small business marketplace and keeping your business funded without creating undue pressure on your finances due to repayment.
 
 

Our Loans 101 video series is back and better than ever! This edition of the series, which should herald a return to more frequent updates, features Merchant Advance CEO David Gens addressing one of the most important questions we get from Canadian small business owners every day: how long does it take to go from application to funding?
For the majority of small businesses, the time to receive funding is very short: generally less than a week. We recently blogged about the importance of organization and bookkeeping in small business environments - keeping your financials in order and having the right documents in an accessible, legible and current format can help your application move as quickly as it possibly can. Our team is ready to take your application and help to get your business the funding it needs when you need it!
Take a look at the video below for a more detailed explanation, and stay tuned for further entries in the Loans 101 series in the weeks to come.

I recently read an article, written by a fairly large SMB issues blogger, aimed at helping businesses understand the reasons that their small business loan applications may have been rejected by one provider or bank or another. Most of these were fairly standard concerns about credit score or proof of business history. However, this blog pointed out one potential reason that stood out to me: organization.

Now, no responsible lender is reasonably going to come into your store, see a cluttered shelf or two, and reject your loan application outright. However, an organized business reflects an organized management mindset - from the inventory to the sales records, to the tax records and financial statements, to the shelves, desks or counters you work from.
At Merchant Advance, we've always thought that applying for a small business loan should be easy. Reams of paperwork and proof are not required - though having well-organized records puts your business ahead of the curve when it comes to the speed and accuracy with which you can apply for a loan or merchant advance funding.
Click the link to find an awesome chart, sourced from the folks at Dummies.com (the ones with the ubiquitous yellow books), provides a comprehensive base of categories from which to build a records organization system. One study found that the average person wastes over 4 hours per week searching for papers: to combat this, you can condense your records digitally, or archive information that exists outside of a critical date range in your company's history. From a records management perspective, less is often more: choose one system that works for you and your employees, and stick with it. The results will prove themselves over time: when it comes time to provide key data for applications such as those for a small business loan or merchant advance, you will be ready to provide the right info with little or no downtime.
Organized financial management will help you succeed when it comes to small business loan applications. By taking steps to monitor and improve your business' cash flow, separating business and personal finances by opening dedicated accounts and cards, and finding options for critical services like web hosting, payment processing, banking and telecommunications/internet that aren't overcharging you for the services you need, you will see an improvement in bottom line profitability that small business loan providers will notice and factor into their assessments.
Beyond just using technology to make your business more efficient, use outside resources that may help elevate your business and take it to the next level. Consider reaching out to local small business development centres for assistance and networking opportunities.
With the right organized mindset, your financial history, important documents and other elements that represent the "best face" of your business will all be in order when it comes time to apply for a small business loan.