Leo Kanell

Category: Startup Funding

  • The New American Dream

    The New American Dream

    Decades ago, the American dream was to get to the middle class, have a good job, build up some retirement and the crowning achievement was to own your own property and home.  In the 1700’s and 1800’s, the dream was to have your own land that you could work, build up some crops, become self sufficient and raise a good family.  For millions of immigrants leaving Europe and other parts of the world this was so much more than they could hope for when compared to the feudal system type life in their own country.

    Fast forward a few decades and owning your home is  far from the American dream, in fact owning a home is not really the investment that so many believe it is.  If you pay cash for your home, you may feel great about owning your home free and clear, on the other hand if you were making 10% on that same money then you’d actually be making real progress and position yourself to build wealth and in that same time you’d “own your home free and clear,” then you’d be in a position to own 3 to 4 homes of the same value, that is the power of compounding investment income.

    So stop doing something you hate, quit that job, and take action, the first step is to become an expert in a field that you know well and can provide a unique product or service for.  Avoid trying to start a business or venture in an area that you do not have strong expertise in.  One of the biggest mistakes I see is when people go start a restaurant and they have absolutely no experience in the realities of the restaurant industry.

    All that said, it is not necessary to be the main business owner, maybe you should partner up with someone who brings different strengths and skills to the table or sometimes it is better to find an opportunity that you can join up in within the confines of a new startup and grow with that business.  Bottom line, get started now and build your business or join a new business now!

  • Introducing the BUSINESS FUNDING FORMULA book

    Introducing the BUSINESS FUNDING FORMULA book

    CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS THE BUSINESS FUNDING FORMULA?

    Now that you’ve come across this book you’re probably wondering what exactly is the business funding formula and how will it help me? If you’re reading this, then you are either an entrepreneur or an aspiring entrepreneur and you have realized that if you simply had access to capital and funding you would have a real chance at building not only the business of your dreams, but the life of your dreams as well. The ability to secure capital can be the difference between success and failure in business, it is absolutely that important.
    Before the recession of 2008 & 2009 it was not complicated to secure funding at your bank to launch or grow your business, but since then it has taken incredible creativity and knowledge to secure funding especially for a new business with unproven financials. Even for businesses with history and financials it is still difficult and even though several years have passed since the recession of 2008-09, banks and lenders still mostly lend to the top 5 to 10% of businesses and largely ignore the other 90% of small businesses who desperately need access to capital to have a chance to bring their products and services to market. To make matters worse the proliferation of many different high rate finance products and expensive lenders has made it even more confusing to find the best funding options to launch and grow your business.
    The Business Funding Formula was created to give all business owners a step by step process to follow in order to secure the best funding possible to turn your entrepreneurial pursuits into the truth. The funding formula has existed for decades and has had tremendous effect on some well known businesses that you recognize and probably use on a weekly or even daily basis. Without these business owners’ understanding of the funding formula it is very likely that their businesses would not exist any where near the level they do or may not even have survived without the funding formula.
    The business funding formula is the holy grail for jump starting your new or existing business. You’ve probably seen some studies done by ivy league schools and other organizations and many times one of the top reasons that new businesses fail is due to undercapitalization, a complicated term to describe running out of money. I don’t care if you are selling lemonade on a table outside of your house or a more complicated business model, it takes money to buy the cups, the lemonade, the table and the signs in the front yard to market your lemonade; so although it is popular to talk about starting a business without any type of up front money it is simply for the most part not part of the capitalistic world we live in. The business funding formula will break down the top funding options available for entrepreneurs including: SBA, unsecured loans, lines of credit, merchant cash advances, corporate credit, income and every funding option available on the planet today. Most importantly it will take all of this seemingly complicated BS and break it down into easily understandable steps to guide you to the best funding that you can possibly qualify for. It will also provide you with hacks and tactics to save thousands on any financing you need for the rest of your life. This book will also pull back the curtain to how your credit score is calculated and how lenders make lending decisions. The business funding formula is a tool that every entrepreneur needs in order to achieve massive growth for a business.

    Buy the Book here!

  • Fundability

    Fundability

    Fund • a • bil • i • ty – [adj. Fuhnd-uh-bil-i-tee]
    You won’t find “Fundability” on Dictionary.com, so don’t bother looking. Fundability is a phrase we’ve coined to describe how a business measures up in relation to the entire business lending and investing community.

    If you want to have the business of your dreams then often you need quite a few things to make that happen such as:

    • Equipment
    • A Better location
    • hire more Sales people and employees
    • run massive marketing campaigns
    • buy inventory

    Just to name a few, the common denominator with each item necessary to build the business of your dreams is that they all take a lot of capital and so that is why it is so important to be fundable so your business can qualify for the money it needs to become the business that will make your family proud of you.

  • Building a Business Foundation

    Building a Business Foundation

    When it comes to Funding your business, you must first begin by building a business foundation.

    Your business foundation is when your business is in compliance with basic tenets that most businesses have such as:

    1. Incorporate your business with you secretary of State department in the state you choose.
    2. Get an EIN (Tax ID) so you are registered in the IRS system as a business and other databases.
    3. Set up a business bank account.
    4. List your business with business directories
    5. Set up profiles with the major business credit bureaus like D & B, Business Experian and Equifax Business.
    6. Set up a business website and email (hint don’t use a gmail email.)
    7. Make sure you use the same address, business name and email address for each listing on all business documents including the business bank account, the EIN, the Secretary of state and so forth.
    8. Get appropriate City or County business licenses.
    9. Set up Social media pages for your business at least with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn at the minimum.

    By doing these simple steps now your business has a chance to receive funding.

  • Startup Business Funding Trends 2016

    Startup Business Funding Trends 2016

    Leo Kanell discusses the best funding and financing options available for entrepreneurs in 2016. For more tips and info regarding funding for entrepreneurs go to www.leokanell.com.

    For the majority of business startups bootstrapping is most often the path taken to launch your new business. For most they are under capitalized which puts them in a tremendously vulnerable position. In this video Leo Kanell explains the top 3 trending options for startup businesses to secure funding. These are options that can be available to any entrepreneur.
    #leokanell
    That said, some of these startup funding options are easier than others. So by following the newest movements with lenders you will increase your odds for successfully securing capital significantly. Leo Kanell teaches entrepreneurs how to creatively secure affordable financing to fuel the growth of their new or existing business. Nothing puts a smile on his face like knowing that the latest entrepreneur was able to secure funding and launch their business thanks to his expert guidance on the subject of startup business funding.

     

  • Startup Funding Options

    For most new startup businesses the task of securing some startup funding capital can be extremely daunting and in reality where to start is the most difficult thing to know.  Most new entrepreneurs immediately think of going to their local bank and seeing if they will qualify for some money, let’s begin by looking at that experience and then other options after that.

    When you go and see your bank it’s important to understand that most banks do not lend to brand new businesses since they are unproven and a high risk.  That means the only option you will find at a bank will be the infamous SBA option.  SBA has 3 loan types, the 7(a), 504 and the express.  The 504 and express almost always are exclusively for established businesses with 2 to 3 years of profitable business tax returns.  The 7(a) is the only option that can realistically be used for startup businesses.

    Qualifying for a 7(a) loan can be a difficult task, in reality it comes down to a lot of things like your business plan, industry type, your personal credit, but indeed the most important factor will definitely be whether you have any assets or collateral.  Acceptable collateral types will generally be significant equity in your home or other real estate properties, newer equipment with a strong value and generally a 401k or IRA.  So if you have those types of collateral then you stand a good chance at securing a startup SBA 7(a) loan.

    You will also need some type of down payment usually 10 to 25% is what most lenders want, for new businesses the percentage is usually much closer to 25%.  So you have to ask yourself what percentage of new startups actually have that type of collateral and down payment available for their business to secure startup funding?  Since I have personally spoken with thousands of new business owners in my experience it would seem that less than 5% of new entrepreneurs have those kinds of qualifications, assets and collateral.  So if you don’t possess those items then what other options are there?

    In reality the best option will be a mixture of unsecured credit lines.  These credit lines do not require extensive income documentation or collateral, in most cases you just need a 680 credit score to qualify for them.  The monthly payments are low and affordable and they are flexible tools.  Even if you are successful at securing an SBA loan, an SBA loan will often not be able to go towards working capital, so in reality you will still need additional funds for working capital like paying payroll, marketing and other costs.  For most startups unsecured credit lines are your best bet.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

    Leo Kanell teaches entrepreneurs how to secure affordable capital for their new or existing businesses.  For more info go to http://www.leokanell.com