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B2B CFO Partners Place Over $111 M in Loans - Jun 23, 2009

Posted by: Linda J. Donegan in

What's the trick?

In a recent article published by the New York Times, Doug Tatum, president of Tatum, suggested that business owners stop trying to get loans for their small to mid-sized businesses. B2B CFO® completely disagrees and in an effort to set the record straight, we took a quick survey of the B2B CFO® partners and asked for the amounts of all loans placed with small to mid-sized businesses since October, 2008 in which a B2B CFO® partner participated in helping place that loan. That number came to up over $111 million with the possibility of a total of $250 million to close by year end! That's a lot of money considering that there are approximately 120 partners. You do the math; that's a lot of loans per partner.

So, what is our secret? Why can we place this level of loans in such a tight credit market? There are several reasons. Below I have touched on the most important of those reasons.

Have good numbers. A commercial lender will want to see your financial statements. They must be in good shape to be presented to the lender. They need to be maintained according to Generally Accepted Accounting Standards (GAAP). This assures the lender that the numbers can be relied on to fairly reflect the financial condition of the company. All of my clients have financial statements that are prepared in accordance with GAAP.

Have timely financial statements. If a lender knows that a business owner does not look at his financial statements on a timely basis, he will not have confidence in that business owner. Every business owner must have a complete set of financial statements by the 10^th, no later than the 15^th, of each month. Each client of mine has their financial statements completed on a timely basis.

Understand your numbers. Lenders want to know that you understand your numbers and that you use them to manage your company. When they question a small to midsized business owner regarding what a number represents, they expect an explanation that makes sense. Each client of mine receives a "dashboard" report on their financial statements monthly and we review those statements in depth.

Relationships with lenders. Lenders are looking for good clients. They do, however, receive lots of unqualified requests for loans. A relationship with a lender will carry weight when a loan package is presented. I have relationships with lenders that trust me to guide them to qualified clients. When I present a lender with a potential lending opportunity, the lender will take extra consideration knowing this company works with an experienced and well qualified CFO.

To read the complete article regarding the loans placed by B2B CFO® partners, please visit

http://www.b2bcfo.com/partner/jmills/2009_06_11_B2BCFOLendingFinal.pdf

If you are ready to seek a loan, make sure you have the advantage in your corner!