FastUpFront Small Business Blog

Small and home-based business owners in desperate need of financing are increasingly being targeted by a flood of scam artists hoping to capitalize on wide spread confusion and economic hardship. The Better Business Bureau recently released its list of the top 10 scams and rip-offs for 2009. Here are a few examples from that list [...]

For numerous small business owners who are being heavily affected by the current economic turmoil, the road ahead remains tough. Though the Fed (with a lot of help from the media) has been all too happy to call an end to the U.S. recession, the statistics paint a grimmer picture: the rates of unemployment, home [...]

Even as the economy shows subtle signs of a future recovery, many economic experts agree that it is far from over and that spells bad news for small businesses in search of financing. Lenders continue to be tight-fisted when it comes to extending credit, and this dearth of financing has dealt a tremendous blow to [...]

It all seemed so promising… Last year, Senator John Kerry’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee managed to not only save several small business loan programs that were effectively reduced or completely nixed under the President’s proposed 2009 budget, but they also managed to secure over $100 million in additional funding. This additional funding was supposed [...]

Having a good business credit rating is a golden key that can help open the doors of financing- whether from the bank, vendors and suppliers, or potential investors. And with the current economic environment making it harder for small businesses to get the financing they need, this key is all the more vital to the [...]

Many small businesses rely on a bank-approved business line of credit as a convenient source of short-term financing. But preserving this credit-line is not always so easy. Most banks make a commitment for one year. At the close of the year the business’ financial statements, tax returns, and credit rating are reviewed. If the bank [...]

As the economy continues to sputter along, the sources of traditional small business financing have been quickly drying up. Collectively, banks and commercial lenders are requiring more collateral while simultaneously approving smaller loan amounts. And this is coming as other personal financing products, such as home equity loans, are getting harder to come by. As [...]

At a time when the American economy is reeling from the effects of unfettered credit card debt, housing foreclosures, and price increases on everything from a gallon of gas to a can of tuna, bank loans are fast becoming a shrinking commodity. According to a recent Federal Reserve survey, the banking world is responding to [...]

We all know that it is hard for small businesses to get financing these days from banks – it was never a piece of cake, and now that the credit crunch is on for so long we see it has gotten ridiculous.  But… did you ever wonder what a bank does when it needs financing?  [...]

In today’s economy even the banks need to find creative ways to fund business loans!