The Big Deal About Small Business, Part 1

Think big? Think again…

A January 24, 2015 article in the New Yorker exposes the advantage that small businesses have over their larger rivals, namely “true differentiation”.

“Most profoundly, the trend creates an industrial upheaval important to the long-term strength of the economy. It suggests an economy that is alive and reinventing itself, that is mutating from within, that is engaged in the never-ending process of creative destruction.”

BusinessUS supports the growth of small businesses by providing timely and affordable small business loans. If your small business has a true differentiation it wants to promote, contact Norris Lozano for information about new capital to get it done.

SBA says: Small Businesses Create 2 Million Jobs

From an early January post from SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet: “Last week’s jobs report offered more evidence that our economy is gathering a head of steam as we ring in the New Year. Last month, American businesses added back 252,000 jobs and our unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since June 2008. We’re in the midst of 58 month of consecutive job growth – the longest streak on record since the mid-1990s.

Read the article here.

~ Norris Lozano, CEO of BusinessUS

Small Business Loans: hot… or not?

The media is hungry for clues about the direction of the American economy. And as we know, small business is a key engine of this economy, providing 55% of all jobs and 66% of all net new jobs since the 1970’s, as well as 54% of all US sales.

Here are a few positive snippets from recent news:

• “U.S. small business confidence at eight-year high; job openings rise“

U.S. small business optimism jumped in December to its highest level in more than eight years, the latest sign of strength in the economy even as dark clouds settle over global growth….The outlook was further bolstered by other data on Tuesday showing job openings approached a 14-year high in November.

• “Small Business Transactions Signal Improving Economy”

  The number of purchases and sales of small businesses, at an all-time high in 2013, grew even more during 2014…Participating business brokers reported 7,494 closed transactions in 2014, an increase of over 6 percent from the 7,056 transactions in 2013.

• “Survey finds 54% small business loan approval rate“

But perhaps these headlines grabbed you:

• “Small Business Loans Up at Big Banks, Down at Small Ones“

So 2014, on the whole, seems to have been a good year for small businesses seeking capital from banks to grow…..But if you look at the numbers another way, you’d see that this increase is only telling part of the story. It’s a story of success mainly for small businesses seeking big money from big banks.

• “Too Little to Borrow? Small-Business Lending Lags“

U.S. small-business lending never quite regained the ground lost during the Great Recession, ceding significant market share to larger firms that have benefited from a gradual but lengthy economic recovery, research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland finds.

Seems to be a mixed bag… so here’s some clarity. Big banks are stepping up to the plate for small business after almost 6 years of kicking them to the curb. But only in larger amounts. No surprise here: big banks make big loans to make big profits.

Where small business lending is growing is sub $150,000 loans, which many new online lenders are happy to provide – at massively high rates.

What’s still missing in the picture is the traditional meat-and-potatoes of the small business lending picture: community banks lending to small businesses in their communities.

Says Carly Fiorina in Inc. Magazine: “Unlocking capital is very important, and of course since the financial crisis, the surviving big banks have gotten bigger, but the community banking system is really struggling, and that means small businesses are struggling. It is community banks that provide most of the capital to small business, and [we need to] start unlocking small business loans again. We have got to get capital to them so they can form and thrive.”

If you want to learn more about small business loans, contact BusinessUS

Small business time-saver: automate your social media posting

Small business owners rejoice (happy feet under the desk will suffice) – there’s an easy way to save yourself from a major social media time-suck.

Scene: You’re a big believer in developing new marketing content, and then sharing it across your social media.

(Excellent, you’re right on-trend!)

The deal: You write the piece, and post it on your blog (and you only post with pictures, right? … Of course you do)

The problem: You have to then post on Facebook, and Twitter, and LinkedIn, and Google+…. Half an hour… times 2 times a day… 5 times a week…

Srsly?

Our good friends (BFFs, really) over at Talent Zoo turned us on to an app called IFTTT – – If This, Then That.

With IFTTT, you can automate all the re-posting, and save yourself a ton of time.

The solution: Read all about it here

~ Christopher Smith, BusinessUS

What makes a small business “small”?

We are asked all the time “What defines a small business?” and “Why does it matter?”

Many would answer that small businesses are anchors of a community, creating jobs and opportunity in cities and towns across America.

According to the SBA, “The two most widely used standards to qualify a business as small are 500 employees for most manufacturing and mining industries and $7.5 million in average annual receipts for many non-manufacturing industries.”

And to the second question, only a qualifying small business is able to provide certain services to the SBA, and qualifies for certain financing programs from the SBA. These include SBA 7(a) loans, the most common and popular small business loans which are provided by traditional bank, community bank and non-bank lenders, and up to 85% of which are guaranteed by the SBA.

Learn more about SBA loan programs here.

~Norris Lozano, CEO of BusinessUS

Programming expert Chris Serra joins BusinessUS technology team

PRESS RELEASE: “We are extremely fortunate to have a programmer of Chris Serra’s stature join our technology team,” says Norris Lozano, CEO of BusinessUS. “Chris’ deep knowledge and 16 years’ experience in solving complex technology issues will help us develop the best-in-class technology platform we need to compete.”

Read the full release here

Congrats to the SBA’s California Small Business People of the Year

BusinessUS congratulates Ricardo Robles, Jacqueline Robles, and Pablo “Rene” Robles of Anita’s Mexican Food on being selected by SBA as 2014 California Small Business People of the Year!

Mauro Robles emigrated from Mexico, acquired U.S. citizenship, and created La Reina, a company that makes tortillas, in 1958. Today, all five of his children own it and its subsidiary, Anita’s Mexican Food, with Ricardo as president, Jacqueline as secretary and GM, and Pablo as the vice president of operations running the company day to day.

The company now ships a wide variety of products to customers around the world, and its East Los Angeles factory produces at least 1.5 million tortillas each day. In 2012, Anita’s took an SBA loan to dramatically expand its operations and in the past three years has grown revenue by over 100% and grown to 359 employees.

 

Read about all 2014 Small Business People of the Year here.

~Norris Lozano, CEO of BusinessUS

It’s National Small Business Week!

“This country’s 28 million small businesses create nearly two out of three jobs in our economy, so we can’t have a conversation about creating jobs and economic growth in America without talking about ways to support our entrepreneurs.”

~ SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet

READ: National Small Business Week Starts Today

~Norris Lozano, BusinessUS CEO

WSJ Video: Robert Irvine’s Advice for Aspiring Restauranteurs

Many of our small business borrowers are likely to own restaurants.

We think it’s a good idea to watch the video here: “Robert Irvine’s Advice for Aspiring Restauranteurs”.

In the video (and the show), the host of “Restaurant: Impossible” on the Food Network explains his method for turning failing restaurants into a success.

See the video here: http://on.wsj.com/RpgG3E

~Norris Lozano, CEO of BusinessUS, a California-based small business lender

7 Powerful Business Women to Watch This Year

“These seven innovators are having a major influence on technology, healthcare and the government. Their ideas are changing the ways we do business and are addressing broader issues of national security, gender bias, world poverty and the state of the startup community at large. We’ve got our eye on these powerful women. You should, too.”

Read the article here

~ Norris Lozano, BusinessUS

17 Coolest Small Businesses in the Big Easy

“The city’s economy took a big hit after Hurricane Katrina devastated the cityscape in 2005, but it has since rebuilt and reinvented itself….”

Read more: rris Lozano, CEO of BusinessUS

Coleman weighs in on the downturn in lending to black business owners

Nice clean summary of the Wall Street Journal article here.

If you recall, we wrote about this trend 6 months ago here.

At that time, I stated the following: “Where there are concerns across the industry about particular markets that are underserved by banks, we see a real opportunity. One of our primary goals is to help provide new capital resources to small businesses owned by minorities, women tribal groups and those located in underserved geographical locations.”

BusinessUS is missioned to provide 60% of our loan volume to underserved markets.

~ Norris Lozano, CEO of BusinessUS

Manufacturing Jobs Return, Small-Business Lending Increases, says Inc.

Manufacturing jobs are slowly returning to the U.S., presenting an opportunity for small businesses, witnesses told the House Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access.”

Or so it says in this article in Inc.

Not so fast, says Charles Green in the Coleman Report, titled “CITIBANK’S EMPTY CLAIMS ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS LENDING SUPREMACY”.

We’re not picking sides, just passing along the news…

Would love to hear from you about small business growth and loans, use this link: Norris Lozano, CEO of BusinessUS

Boomers in Business: the 411 on 50+

This brief article reinforces several we’ve read recently about a stealth “target small business owner” – the Boomer Entrepreneur.

“A study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation reported that the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity over the last few years is not Gen-Y upstarts, but Baby Boomers in the 55-64 year age group.

Here’s a link to the study

~Norris Lozano, CEO of BuisnessUS, a national small business lender missioned to provide Innovative Lending to American Small Business

Stephanie Bitters presenting at NAGGL Lending Leadership Summit

REMINDER: Stephanie Bitters is presenting at the the Lending Leadership Summit of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders (NAGGL), a national organization focused on loans guaranteed by government agencies. The presentation is titled “Delivering Capital to Underserved Communities”.

Ms. Bitters, Managing Director of SBA Lending and Chief Credit Officer of BusinessUS, will be presenting with CEO Norris Lozano during the morning session, February 20th.

Read the whole release here