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Finding Financing Online
Now you can put your ISPs financial plan together without ever leaving the office. Of course, it pays to do some research.
[December 21, 2000]
A number of ISP owners have discovered that the Web has done something comparable to what e-Bay has done for auctions—it has created a global market that gives buyers leverage they lacked in the past.
There are number of Web sites that allow a borrower to complete one loan application that is then reviewed by hundreds of potential lenders, all eager for your business. The Internet offers every ISP owner both advice and solutions.
|
An ISP seeking to compare the amount of time other credit card processing companies take to credit payments to their accounts from those utilizing their services merely turn to the Internet. Unhappy with your present bank and the limited number of services it offers? Internet banks are competing for your business and the services that they offer can easily be compared—along with their costs. |
BusinessFinance.com
America's Small Business
Center
|
|
Shop around |
|
AllBusiness
|
For those ISP owners who require financing and have a pretty good idea of what type they need, the amount required, the length of time it will be needed, and how it will be repaid—the Internet offers sites that can refer you to specific lenders or investors. |
|
Or you can turn to sites such as Capital.com, which specializes
in arranging loans in the $250,000 to $100 million range for small-
to mid-sized businesses. |
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Mark Opel, Capital.com chief operating officer, said "we're offering a level of services to small- and mid-sized companies that they usually don't get from banking and finance firms." The site can also help an owner place a value on his or her business as well as help with buying or selling that business. What's more, Capital.com's clients aren't required to pay a fee—the site makes its money from a fee paid by lending institutions. |
Bankrate.com
Business.com
|
Another site, fairly new, has recently entered the financing market. It's primary purpose? To bring together "angels" with ventures that have unique funding needs. Aptly dubbed Angel.com, naturally this type of funding carries greater risks. [note: site has disappeared and a company called angel.com is now a VoIP provider] |
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At many Web sites, visitors can fill out a basic application, then use it to apply for a range of loan types. Many sites, especially industry-related sites, have loan criteria from lenders who are associated with the site, so applications for financing can be pre-qualified in seconds. |
GE
Business Solutions
General Electric financial solutions site, provides news, case studies and, of course, access to GE's extensive line of financial products and business services. |
| As already mentioned, many sites only automate part of the process. Loan applications may be submitted and sometimes accepted online, but often require conventional means of transmitting information to potential lenders. So remember, specific arrangements, frequently off-line ones, are normally made to formalize the agreement and transfer funds. |
Reliable sources
Every ISP owner should also be concerned about who gets a look at his
or her financial information. Virtually all finance-related sites have
a "privacy policy."
Remember, the current attrition rate among dot-com companies in general is very high. If a dot-com financing firm fails, all financial statements and applications within their system may become just another "asset" placed on the auction block. The next owner of that "asset" may not be subject to the same privacy policies as the previous operator.
The actual application process, made far safer today by developments in Internet security, may nonetheless, be a step that you would feel safer accomplishing via the mail, Fax or in some cases in person. The experts claim that the entire financing transaction can be safely accomplished online but most systems are flexible enough to offer options for the cautious.
Today's tool
Any ISP owner who ignores the Internet for his or her financing needs
is overlooking a tremendous resource. Today, an owner can determine what
type of financing best fits his or her needs, do the research necessary
to compare rates and terms from a number of sources and apply directly
online.
How you take advantage of the tremendous amount of information that is available, the many financing options or the services that continue to grow on the Web is up to you. But to ignore those services or those volumes of information can mean drastically curtailing your opportunity.
Final word to the wise
Because of the number of sites that are available and the relatively short
period of time many of them have been in business, it is virtually impossible
to recommend any one site. Even those sites established and run by major
financial institutions can change radically from one month to another
and, of course, may disappear completely after a merger.
— End
| Related articles: | |||
| [Nov. 15, 2000] | Tax-Saving Tax Strategies for ISPs | ||
| [Nov. 8, 2000] | Securing a Small Business Loan | ||
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