“Oh, I’m not good with numbers.”
“I’m not sure… My bookkeeper takes care of all the money stuff.”
“We just got last year’s financials from the accountant (now 11 months old), let me see if I can find them…”

Answer: A lot! It’s the equivalent of the client putting their fingers in their ears and yelling, “LA LA LA LA LA!”

And yes, I get it. Not everyone went to business school, and it can be intimidating to try to learn more about your finances. You’ve got more important things to do, right? Like increasing sales, dealing with suppliers, and handling a staffing shortage—you know, running your business? 

But here’s the thing—If you don’t know the numbers behind your business, you’re not really running a business, it’s running you.

It’s nearly impossible to grow your business without knowing the financial nuts and bolts as you scale up because you don’t know what you’re working with. It’s like trying to make something for dinner without knowing what’s in the cupboards. 

In today’s business skills post I am going to cover some key reasons you should make an effort to understand your financials, how often you should review them, and how you can put a plan into action. 

For more on the actual nitty-gritty details on how to improve your financial knowledge, check out our guide: Financial Management for Small Business.

Why should you make an effort to understand your business finances?

Data entry vs. financial management

Some entrepreneurs are pretty hands-off when it comes to financial management. They rely on their bookkeeper to enter the expenses and revenues into accounting software and rely on their accountant to prepare the financial reporting and taxes and review it with them once a year. 

These activities are important pillars of your business, but if you limit your financial management to this level of data entry and annual reporting, it can leave a giant gap. What really makes your data meaningful is when someone actually looks at the numbers on a real-time basis, analyzes them, and uses that information to inform decision-making and business strategy. 

This is the difference between data entry and financial management. The good news is, you don’t need to be a numbers whiz to understand your numbers. You just need to be curious and have the right people to help.

Why you need to make time for financial management

Okay, so you know you should be spending more time watching your finances. Here are some (hopefully) compelling reasons to invest the time.

It will give you information for decision-making:

Financial management can help you:

• Track your margins: Over time, your expenses can start to creep up (especially in today’s inflationary environment). By watching your finances, you will have a better idea of how much profit you are making from each unit you sell, which will help you decide whether you need to increase your prices.
• Monitor trends: Sometimes it can be easy to go into autopilot with some things, like paying invoices and signing off on payroll. If you look at your financials regularly and compare them to past performance, you can monitor trends and identify when a change is needed. Perhaps your ingredient costs are way up? Or has your phone bill increased? Catching this earlier will give you more time to react and adjust. Likewise, maybe you notice from your reporting that certain times of the year are busier than others—how can you capitalize on that trend for next year?
• Understand your ability to make new investments: Perhaps you are dreaming of opening a new location or hiring another staff member. Before you take the leap, your financials will be a great source of information to tell you if now is the right time.  

It will help you understand your cash needs:

Arguably, the number one financial issue faced by most entrepreneurs is balancing cash flow. You may have had a record month in sales, but if you also just placed a big inventory order and paid your taxes (oh, and don’t forget you had to fix a leak in the ceiling), you may find yourself out of cash. 

This is one of the main reasons entrepreneurs should make time for financial management. By reviewing your actual and forecasted cash inflows and outflows on a regular basis, you can plan for future cash crunches and make arrangements to bridge the gap in advance (like calling your lender for a business loan or line of credit).

It will help you stay friends with your lender

Having your financial information at your fingertips will help you maintain good relationships with the partners you want good relationships with. For example, if you want to apply for a loan, your lender is going to expect up-to-date financial statements. 

If those aren’t available, you might have a hard time accessing financing. Likewise, once you do get a loan, your lender will expect regular reporting—and it’s always a good idea to stay in your lender’s good books.

It will help you manage payables and receivables

Staying on top of your finances will also help you keep strong relationships with other partners, such as your suppliers. By reviewing your finances regularly, you can monitor payments to your vendors that have gone unpaid and strategize on how to settle the account. You can also keep on top of who owes you money and can follow up to inquire as to when you can expect payment.

How often should you review your finances?

Most entrepreneurs already do an annual review—but aside from that, how often you review your finances will depend on the nature of your business and the timing of your revenues and expenses. Every entrepreneur should be sitting down to review the books at a high level at least every month, with a deeper dive on a quarterly basis, and a very deep dive on an annual basis. 

Here are some other considerations:

• Weekly review: If you are a volume-based business like a restaurant or retail store—you absolutely should be looking at your sales on a weekly basis. If you’re working with cash and credit cards, you will already be doing settlements at the end of each day—so find a way to track that information. Your point-of-sale system may already provide reports for you, so use them! Also, be sure that you understand what’s included in your reporting. Does it include shipping and GST? That’s not revenue, so take that into account.
• Monthly review: On a monthly basis, all businesses should take the time to make sure all revenues and expenses are up to date and prepare a report that tracks your most important metrics. Many of your fixed expenses will be paid on a monthly basis, so this level of reporting will give you a full view of that month’s performance. This review doesn’t have to take a lot of time, and the more you do it, the faster you will get at doing the monthly review.
• Quarterly review: The next level of review is quarterly. This is the time for you to meet with your accountant (if you have one) to discuss higher-level trends and results and decide whether the results necessitate a change in strategy. Go back to your goals for the year—are you on track based on how things are going so far? If not, what are the highest potential opportunities to get back on track?

How can you get started to improve your financial management today?

Compile your data

Good financial management starts with good financial data entry. Maybe you are great at entering your revenues and expenses into an excel sheet already, or maybe you keep all of your receipts in a file somewhere for entry by your bookkeeper. That is a great start! However, for you to get the most out of that data, you also need a way to compile and look at the data in a way that is timely and meaningful. 

Use accounting software

This is why it’s so critical to consider using accounting software—AND (crucially) to learn how to pull reports from it.  If you are using excel, you are probably missing out on the powerful ability of software to slice and dice and compile your data. It can handle all the arduous tasks that you might be doing by hand. And how much money are you saving by not having a $20 subscription? How much is your time worth?

If you are working with a bookkeeper, chances are they already have you set up on accounting software. That’s great! That means that you can start using the software too. Ask your bookkeeper to walk you through the process and pick a few key reports to look at. Make a calendar date with yourself to pull these reports, and then look at them. This investment in time will be well worth it.

Choose your financial advisors wisely

Lastly, the most important resource you will have on this journey are your financial advisors, so choose them wisely. Before you choose a bookkeeper or accountant, make sure they have an understanding of your particular industry—this can make a big difference. 

Make sure you feel comfortable with them—you should feel okay asking a ‘silly’ question, and they should be able to communicate with you without using too much finance jargon. You also want to make sure that they will be available to you when you need them. Some financial professionals focus on working with small and medium-sized businesses, which can be a better fit than going with a large firm that may not be able to provide the support you need.

The most important thing is to get started! I hope this information helps give you the confidence to take a more hands-on approach to your finances. Just remember to stay curious!

The post Financial Management: Learn the language and get in tune with your business appeared first on WeBC.

To be fair, these are good questions and good ideas! But they fall into a very common trap—they assume all you need to do to drive sales is to tell more people about your product and persuade them to buy. 

In other words, to advertise. 

But marketing is so much more than just advertising. Marketing is about understanding your customer, developing the right product, putting the product in the right place, and pricing it correctly. 

Promoting or advertising your product is just one tool in your toolbox, and sometimes, you need to take a more strategic approach. In this business skills post I’m going to write about how you can get out of the advertising trap and use all the tools in your marketing toolbox to reach your potential customers and (hopefully) get a sale.

Marketing Skills for Entrepreneurs: First, Marketing 101 

If you took Business 101, you may have heard of a target market, which is the segment of your customer base that you’ve decided to focus on marketing to. You may have also heard about the four Ps of marketing, (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion), a.k.a. the Marketing Mix. Think of these as the tools in your marketing toolbox that you can use to reach your audience.  

In a business textbook these concepts are about as exciting as doing your taxes, but when you thoughtfully combine knowledge of your target market with the tools of the four Ps, it’s a powerful combination to unlock new ideas for your business. 

Target Markets – Everyone is not your customer

Finding your target market starts with market segmentation. This means asking questions to understand the characteristics of the people you want to market to:

• What are their demographics? 
• How do they make spending decisions? 
• What are they interested in? 
• What is important to them? 

Sample: 

Using an eco-friendly skincare business as an example, you may end up with a target market description that looks like this: 

• Professional/working women aged 35-45 living in Canada.
• Household income of over $100,000.
• Values environmental and social causes.
• Likes to research a lot before making purchasing decisions.
• Likes to share on social media and stay up-to-date on trends.

To segment your market effectively, make sure to do your market research to back up your assumptions. Who is actually purchasing the most of your product? How much do they spend? Where do they live? Dig in and you might be surprised. 

If you’re like most businesses, you will come up with more than one target market. That’s fine, but try to narrow it down to just one or two segments for your marketing efforts. Don’t fall into the trap of saying that everyone is your target market. 

The point of finding your target market is to identify your ideal customer. This is a person who will buy from you often, engage with your message, and hopefully, tell a friend! 

This helps your marketing efforts go further (saving you time and money). There are lots of tools online to help you refine your target market, so get started! Now that you’ve got your target market in mind it’s time to apply the marketing mix.

Product – You are not your customer

You may have heard this one before—“You are not your customer.”  This is especially relevant when it comes to product and product strategy. 

Often a business owner will start their business based on developing products and services that they themselves want or need. Maybe you created a product that you love, and think other people will love it too. 

Great! You identified a need!

But to make your business grow and thrive, you need to shift away from a product-focused mindset (people are going to love the awesome skin lotion I created) and towards a customer-focused mindset (what are the needs and wants of my target market and what products fill that need?) 

How can you do that? It’s relatively easy—ask your target market about their wants and needs, and then listen. What new products can you add or adjust? What products should you retire? Can you offer different varieties or packages?

Price – Your product is worth what someone will pay for it

Price sometimes gets overlooked as a part of marketing strategy—but it’s a crucial part of how a customer decides to buy from you. When it comes to pricing, there are some fundamental financial considerations that will constrain how much you can charge. You need to charge enough to cover your expenses and make a profit, but there are other variables to play around with. 

Build your marketing skills: Here are some things to think about:

• Try to understand your target customer’s willingness to pay. What is the most they will pay for your product, and at what point do you risk coming across as a lower-quality product compared to your competition? If you’ve identified that your customer values quality over price, trying to get more sales by undercutting your competition is probably going to backfire.

• Create a strategy for sales and markdowns. They say that everyone loves a sale, but is that true for your target market? If you use discounts and markdowns to try to improve sales, you may be training your customers to wait for sales. This can be a sound approach, but only if it’s tied to your overall business strategy and you can still make a profit while doing it. 

• Be strategic about shipping. Most businesses need to build shipping costs into their pricing strategy. What approach is best for your target market? Free shipping? Flat rate? Customer pays in full? Some customers will back out of the transaction if they have to pay for shipping, but others aren’t bothered in the least. What approach is best for your target market?

Place – Location, location, location!

The next element in the marketing mix, Place, is about more than just where to sell your product—it’s about all of the elements that come into play to get your product into the hands of your consumer in a timely and cost-effective way. 

Build your marketing skills: How can you re-think your Place strategy to better meet the needs of your target market?

• Consider your channel strategy. Some customers will prefer to buy your product through a direct channel—that is, directly from you. This may help make sure they have access to customer support and feel more confident in their purchase. Other customers may prefer an indirect channel, such as buying from an unaffiliated website or retailer. They may prefer this approach because it allows them to consolidate their purchases or because it’s just more convenient. The key is to determine what channel your target market prefers and incorporate that into your overall channel strategy.

• Help your customer find your product. Consider your target market when you design your sales environment. What kind of design elements and branding do they relate to? How can you organize your shop or website to help them find what they’re looking for? What purchasing support or nudges can you provide throughout the purchasing process? Some target markets will appreciate a hands-on sales experience, while others might just want to be left alone. Figure this out for your target market and think of how to execute on that approach. 

Promotion – Build relationships that last

We’ve arrived at the last “P,” Promotion, which is how this post got started. As I mentioned, many clients are quick to jump to advertising solutions when looking to drive sales, and sometimes, these solutions are expensive, time consuming, and questionably effective. 

But promotion is more than just advertising—it involves all the things you do to communicate with your target market and (eventually) persuade them to buy. 

Build your marketing skills: How can you use what you know about your target market to do promotion better?

• Build a relationship. Marketing communications is about building a relationship with your target market, not just trying to drive a transaction. Use your marketing communications to tell your brand’s story in a way that resonates with your target market. Tell a story about your product that aligns with their values, and incorporate that with other more sales-driven promotions. Think of it like planting seeds: each meaningful engagement you have with your target market has a chance of growing into a sale. Be patient and consistent with your brand to harvest sales down the road.

• Use the right kind of media. Your target market likely trusts messages from some sources more than others. How can you target those sources instead of taking a more scattershot approach (i.e. Facebook and Google Ads). Maybe you can approach micro-influencers in your area, set up a pop-up shop in a local boutique, or provide word-of-mouth referral bonuses to encourage people to tell their friends? If you had to get a sale tomorrow, what would you do? The answer to this question can give you a hint about how you can actually reach your customers. 

Your Target Market-focused marketing strategy

Trying to drive more sales to your business? Who isn’t! 

No matter where you’re at in your business, it might be worthwhile to take a step back and thoughtfully apply the marketing mix to your target market. Have an open mind and consider how your overall business strategy might benefit from some tweaks (or bigger shifts!) in how you approach Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. You can flex your marketing skills, and your target market will thank you!

Would you like to stop guessing what your customers want so you can connect with them better? Check out our free On-Demand SMART course, “Strategic Marketing: Build a Marketing Plan for Your Business.”

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The post Marketing Skills for Entrepreneurs: How to use a targeted marketing strategy to work smarter, not harder appeared first on WeBC.

EQUITY

Equity can be a confusing word because it means different things to different people. 

Lenders want to see that business owners are contributing and investing in their own company, therefore, every lender looks for the business owner to be investing some of their own money into the business. At WeBC we call this your equity contribution, but other lenders might call it an owner investment, or capital contribution, among other terms.

Equity could be cash that you’re investing in your business now, or it could be cash that you’ve invested in the business some time ago, for example, when you purchased business equipment or supplies. It could also be cash that someone has gifted to you. If you are an existing business, equity can also include profits that you’ve made in past years that you retained in the company (Retained Earnings).

Having equity is important to business viability. Starting a business that is 100% debt financed is VERY RISKY and makes it very difficult to secure a business loan.

At WeBC, the guideline for our business loans is that your equity contribution must equal 25% of total debt of the business. 

For example, let’s say you want to start a shoe store and it’s going to take $100,000 to get started.  We would look for you to contribute $25,000 (25%) of your own money and borrow the remaining $75,000 (75%).

Equity calculations can get quite complicated, especially if you are an existing business. If that’s your situation, we will ask to look at your balance sheet (if you have one), as this is where your equity will be recorded.

There are some limited situations where we may consider less than 25% equity. If you meet all of our other requirements but are a little low on the equity requirement, you should give our client services a call and ask to speak with a Business Advisor so we can talk about your specific situation.

SECURITY (aka Collateral)

People often confuse Equity and Security, but they are different things. As we just learned, Equity is how much money you have (or will) contribute to the business, and Security refers to assets that are pledged to the loan just in case something goes wrong and you aren’t able to repay the debt.

In general, lenders look for some security or collateral to support the loan.  In the context of financing, security and collateral mean about the same thing. For example, if you have a vehicle loan, the lender uses the vehicle as collateral and if you don’t pay the loan, the lender can collect that vehicle and resell it.  That is, of course, in a worst-case scenario.

So, collateral is things or assets that you pledge to the lender.  If something unfortunate or bad happens in the business, and you can’t repay the loan then the lender can go and get those assets and resell them and apply the proceeds to the loan balance. Business assets such as equipment, or personal assets such as vehicles, boats, houses and cash, would all count as collateral.

Some lenders look for 100% collateral or security. As a developmental lender, WeBC offers both secured and unsecured loans, although we always encourage you to pledge security if you have it available, as it can get you a lower interest rate and improve your changes of getting approved.

For our secured loan program (for any loans over $50,000), we require the borrower to pledge assets worth at least 30% of the loan value. 

For our unsecured lending program, also known as the Equal Access to Capital Lending Program, we can provide loans up to $50,000 without any security or collateral. To qualify for this program we look at the following:

• You must have a strong business plan
• You must have a credit score of 650 or higher
• You must be applying for $50,000 or less.

We take a holistic approach to lending and provide ongoing support throughout the duration of the loan. If you’d like to learn more about equity and security, as well as our business loans for women, connect with us in one of our free Business Loan Info Sessions.

The post Explained: Equity and Security appeared first on WeBC.

As a Business Advisor who has reviewed hundreds of business plans, I’m going to share some of the most important information you should always include and what information you should always leave out of your business plan. 

A note before we get started—WeBC largely works with people who are writing a business plan as part of the process to apply for a business loan. As such, I’m going to cover how to write a business plan that will be read by a potential lender. But even if you’re not planning to apply for a loan, the core elements will remain the same. 

Please see our guide, How to write a business plan for a full list of what we look for in a business plan. 

What should you always include in your business plan?

Background about you and your journey

This may seem obvious, but your reader will want to know the most basic facts of your business, and the journey that has taken you to where you are today. Some people forget this part! This should include:

• How your business started (if you’re an existing business), and how your core offerings and business model have changed over the years
• Your company’s mission, vision, and goals. In other words, where is your business headed?
• Ownership structure and how long the owners have been involved in the business.
• Background information about you and other core employees or advisors. This should show the reader that your team has all the skills and knowledge for the business to succeed. 

Market research 

Most people know they should include market research in their business plan, but a common mistake is to keep the research too high level. For example, it’s good to know how many women there are between the ages of 30-40 in Canada, but how does that translate into sales for your store in particular? Here are some tips to beef up your research:

• It’s all about targeting. Your reader will want to know who your target market is, why they’re your target market, and how you are going to reach them. Check out our guide, which includes the 6 keys to common sense marketing for more on this, or learn more about how to target your marketing in this blog post.
• Whenever possible, try to include some primary market research. This means that you have to go out and gather your own data to show your reader that there will be enough demand for your product. 
• Show that you understand your competition. What do they do better than you? What do you do better than them? It can sometimes be helpful to use a table or competitive matrix to organize this information.
• Be specific about your marketing plan. If your business plan says that you will promote your business using online advertising and you don’t provide additional details, that’s not going to be enough information. You should provide a sensible level of detail that shows the reader that you understand the ins and outs of your marketing channels, how much it will cost, and the sales you expect your efforts will achieve. 

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A breakdown of your financial plan and business model

Even if you’re not writing a business plan to apply for a loan, your business plan should include a breakdown of all the investments you plan to make in the next 1-5 years, as well as a breakdown of how you will make money. 

• If you’re just starting up, or have a big project in mind, your business plan should include details of exactly what you plan to purchase and how much it will cost.
• Once you have an idea of the cost of your plan, you’ll need to identify your sources of funds—where will that money come from: Personal contributions? Debt? Equity investors?
• Lastly, your reader will want to see a breakdown of how you make money. You should be able to provide a summary of things like your pricing strategy, what your target margins are, and how you handle things like discounts or markdowns. 

Financial Workbook for Small Business

This introductory-level guide takes you through practical exercises to help you understand the type of information financial statements provide.

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What should you always leave out of your business plan?

At WeBC we’ve seen our share of business plans and have some thoughts on what makes a good one. Here are some highlights of what not to include in your plan.

Too much high level market research

I just finished saying that you should include market research in your business plan. Now I’m going to turn that on its head and say that you shouldn’t include too much market research! In particular, you do not need to include pages and pages of high level research about your industry. You do not need to spend money on expensive market research reports or pay someone to prepare analysis for you. For the most part, the market research we want to see is going to be specific to your business only—so you’re the best person to do the work.

Flimsy language

Sometimes when people are writing their business plan there is a tendency to want to tell the reader how great the business is. For example, they may write, “it’s an incredible business opportunity,” or “our products will be the highest quality in town.” Those are wonderful statements, but your reader probably won’t be convinced by words alone. There’s a saying I like, which is “show, don’t tell.” In other words, you will need to show  the reader why it’s an incredible business opportunity, not just tell them. 

For example, you could write “Last year, the only pizza restaurant in town closed down after a major fire. There is now an opportunity to purchase a former fish and chips restaurant and convert it into a pizza restaurant.” This gives the reader more background and shows why it’s a good opportunity.

Unrealistic projections

This is a common one—a business owner starts putting together their revenue and expense projections and next thing you know they are earning enough in their first year to retire in the Bahamas. 

Don’t get me wrong, I want you and your business to be successful and earn as much as you can, but if your projections aren’t realistic, you’re not setting yourself up for success. 

I usually suggest that people create two cash flow scenarios — an optimistic scenario and a pessimistic scenario. Ask yourself what it would look like if your business just covered its costs. What would you need to change in your business model to keep the business sustainable in that scenario?

Weak analysis of risk 

All business plans should include a section that considers the key risks the business could face and how those risks would impact the business. However, sometimes people will provide a laundry list of risks without a real plan for how to manage them. 

A common risk is that you won’t have as many customers as you anticipated. So if that happened to you, what would you do about it?

Too much visual filler 

Everyone loves a nicely designed business plan. If design is your thing, then by all means, make that business plan as awesome looking as you can. But if your pages are more visuals than words (unless they are charts and graphs to present data) then the plan itself may be light on content. Remember, good design won’t be enough to distract from a flimsy plan.

Too many words

Like any other written document, a business plan needs to strike a balance between providing too much information and not providing enough. If your plan is 40 pages long and the pages are walls of text, you may find that your readers have a hard time making it through. They may start to skim or scan your plan instead of actually reading it. 

There’s no magic fix to this, but a good approach is to ask a trusted friend or colleague for their honest opinion. Is it too long? Is it hard to read? If it is, there are many resources online that can help you learn how to thoughtfully edit your work to make it more concise. It’s worth the time and effort. 

There it is! My top tips on what to always include and what to never include in your business plan. Hope you find these tips helpful. 

Looking for more support to create your Business Plan?

Join us starting September 14, 2023, for a three-part webinar series, “Building your Business Plan: Formalize Your Ideas.” Our Business Advisor, Archana Samtani Singhania, will help you through the first steps of transforming your entrepreneurial idea into a viable business venture. Learn more >>>

The post Information You Should Always Include & Information You Should Always Leave Out of a Business Plan appeared first on WeBC.

But how do you know if your business idea will translate into an actual successful business? 

In today’s blog post, I am going to discuss product-market fit; or, in other words, how to prove that there is enough demand for your product. 

What is ‘Product-Market Fit’?

There are a few components to product-market fit:

• It means there are enough customers out there who want to purchase the good or service you are producing.
• It means you are able to offer that good or service at a price that allows you to earn a profit.
• It means you and your team are the right people to start the business, and that the idea itself is feasible.
• It means you have found a solution for a problem that people will pay to have solved for them. This may seem obvious, but sometimes people create a solution in search of a problem. They have developed a product that they love, and work backwards to try to figure out how to make people want it. 

Why do I need to prove product-market fit?

First and foremost, you should want to prove you have product-market fit for your own sake. 

If you’re about to invest a lot of time, effort, and probably money into getting your business started or launching a new product, you want to make sure there is enough customer demand to justify the effort. 

Or, as I like to say, “Is the juice worth the squeeze”? 

Now, there are plenty of people who will start a business without doing this step first. Does it work out sometimes? Sure! But sometimes it doesn’t.

If you’re going to need some financial help for your business, it becomes even more important to take the time to confirm product-market fit. Whether you’re looking for a loan or trying to convince family or equity investors to take a chance on you, they will want some confidence that people want to buy what you are selling.  

As business lenders, this is one of the key things we will ask about during our loan assessment process, and it’s difficult to be approved for a loan if we don’t have confidence in the demand for your product.

How can I demonstrate Product-Market Fit?

Conduct primary market research

Reaching out directly to your potential customers  can be a great way to gather information. When you conduct research yourself and gather information from your target market, this is known as Primary Market Research. 

This is distinct from Secondary Market Research, which is information that you find online or through other publicly available sources. Secondary market research can tell you high level things like how many Canadian women aged 25- 45 purchased clothes online in the last year, but it can’t tell you how many women in the same demographic purchased clothing at a boutique in your town in the last year. 

If you’re opening a bricks and mortar boutique, what level of information do you think will be more valuable to you? For that level of detail, you’re going to have to ask the questions yourself. 

Three common ways to conduct primary research are:

1. Customer Surveys: I have seen many clients conduct surveys to learn more about the demand for their product. You can distribute the survey through your social media channels, as an online link, or even as a paper copy! I once saw a man with an iPad on a busy street asking people in his target demographic to fill out his survey in return for a gift certificate for a small treat. Not a bad idea if you are that kind of person! For a few hundred dollars you can gather valuable data from people who might not have otherwise participated.
   
   If you’re going to do a survey, however, make sure that you do a deep dive into good survey design so you get your questions right. If you ask dog owners a question like, “Would you be interested in a service that takes care of your dog when you’re away?” You’re likely to get a lot of “Yes” answers. But this question tells you very little about the demand for your particular product.
   
   Instead, you should ask about things like product attributes, price, and location. For example, you could ask, “How much are you willing to pay for one night of dog boarding within the city of Vernon?” That will tell you much more about if your service has demand. 
2. Observations: Another great primary research method is to simply go out into your community to observe and collect data that is relevant to your business.
   
   If you are looking to open a boutique, for example, you could observe other boutiques in the neighbourhood to see how many people enter the store, and how many of them make a purchase. This can be a great way to confirm your expectations for your own business. If you do this, make sure to observe the store at different times of the day and different days of the week. This can help you confirm busy times vs. slow times. 
   
   You can also observe the behaviour of customers to learn more about their needs and how they make a purchasing decision.
3. Interviews: The idea of conducting interviews with potential customers can be scary, but it is a really great way to confirm that your product or service has hit the mark.
   
   This can be a short but targeted conversation with a potential client, or a more formal sit-down where you go through a questionnaire. Either way, you’ll find that people are often happy to share their thoughts. Just make sure that you can be as objective as possible. Do not be too married to your idea, and be ready to hear open and honest feedback without reacting to it. If you are showing a negative response to their answers, they may stop providing honest answers to avoid an awkward situation.
   
   You should also make sure you are prepared for the conversation. Whether your interviews are formal or informal, take the time to prepare a short interview guide that lays out the questions you would like to ask. 

Measure testimonials and engagement

If you have a social media account, it can be a great way to demonstrate demand for your product. Find ways to incentivise your customers to engage with your social media content (liking, following, subscribing, commenting), and to leave detailed reviews. 

As a lender we like to see social media engagement, especially for brand-new businesses, because it shows that you have an audience and you are able to amass a following even in the early days. If your business isn’t a fit for social media promotion, try collecting client testimonials from your favourite clients instead.

Monitor client retention and return rates

Understanding your ability to retain clients and how often they return to you is another good way of demonstrating product-market fit. For some businesses this is easy to track, especially if you track your clients through a central system. However, you can also estimate client retention and return rates based on your knowledge of your customers (it can be easy to spot your regulars over time), or you can gather this information by simply asking people if they’ve used your business before.

Encourage and track referrals and word-of-mouth

Similar to client retention and return rates, understanding where your clients found out about you can help show product-market fit. If current customers are telling other people about you, it means they value your offering and think others will enjoy it as well. 

You can gather information about this by setting up a referral program, and by getting into the habit of asking new customers how they heard about you and tracking that information somewhere.

Measure growth rate (Market Traction)

Your revenue growth rate will tell you how many new customers you are acquiring over time—and/or—to what extent existing customers are purchasing more from you. If you have a consistently positive growth rate, this means that there is ever-increasing demand for your product and is a great way to show product-market fit. 

Capture pre-orders and mailing list sign ups

For many products, having potential clients sign up for pre-orders can be a great way to show demand. Platforms such as kickstarter have even created a way to raise funds by having supporters contribute to your campaign to help you get your product launched. 

If you can show a list of people committed to purchasing your product, that’s a great sign of product-market fit. Similarly, it can be valuable to set up a mailing list and have potential customers sign up to hear about your updates. A large mailing list before you’ve launched your business demonstrates demand.

Have an open mind

Above all, when you’re working on demonstrating product-market fit, it’s important to be open-minded. You need to be able to take honest feedback from your potential clients, but you also don’t want to let one or two people make you lose faith in your business. Using the above approaches, you can get a more well-rounded view of the demand for your product and can hit the ground running!

The post Product-Market Fit: How to Prove There is Enough Demand for Your Product appeared first on WeBC.

One of the first things I need to know is how much they’d like to borrow. It’s surprising how many people can’t answer this question! 

Often people want to know how much they qualify for, or just want to borrow as much as they can. As a business owner, this might make sense to you. The more money you can get, the more you can use it to grow. But as a business lender, we need to be confident that you will be able to pay back the loan. We need to understand the full picture—exactly how much you want to borrow, how you will spend it, and how that spending will help drive revenues.  

To get that information we will ask for a cash flow forecast (also known as a cash flow projection), and this is a big part of how we learn about your business and make our lending decisions. In this blog post I’m going to walk through a short guide to putting together a cash flow forecast to apply for a loan. 

What is a cash flow forecast? 

Put simply, a cash flow forecast is a forward-looking estimate of how much money you think is going to flow in and out of your business over time. Most lenders will be looking for a month-by-month forecast, which means you will need to estimate your cash inflows and outflows for each month. There are three main components: Revenues, Cost of Goods Sold (COGS), and Operating Expenses, which we’ll dig into in a minute.

What does a cash flow projection tell us?

Your cash flow projection tells you a lot about your business. It gives you a way to understand your revenues and expenses for one thing, which can help us understand business viability. More crucially, it helps you understand if you will have enough money to do what you’re planning to do. 

That’s why, in addition to understanding your revenues, COGS, and operating expenses, you also need to know your sources of cash (i.e. your own cash contributions, contributions from equity investors, and funding from loans), and any one-time costs that you will incur at start-up, such as leasehold improvements, or equipment purchases.

Put all of this together, and you’ll understand how much cash you will have at any time, and how and when cash is going to be spent. 

• If your projections ever show a negative cash position, that’s a sign you will need to either cut down on your cash outflows (expenses, capital purchases, loan payments, etc.), or increase your cash inflows (revenue, loans, equity investments, or personal cash contributions). 
• If you have consistently positive monthly projected cash flows, that’s a good sign. But if they’re too positive and you’re ending your first year with a huge amount in the bank, that can be a red flag. It’s all about being as realistic as possible.

You may be thinking: “But wait, I can’t see into the future!”

Predicting the future is tough. In fact, it’s impossible! But don’t get hung up on that. No one expects perfection, but it’s critical that your projections reflect a realistic (i.e. not overly optimistic) scenario.

Let’s walk through some tips. 

Sources of cash

The first number you need for the cash flow projection is starting cash. If you are an existing business, you can look at your bank account to see what’s available. If you’re starting fresh, you can think about how much of your own money (or someone else’s) you’re investing into the business. 

Then, you can add any other cash injections in the month they will be received. So if you are expecting a gift from Aunt Martha in May, or for your loan to go through in April, those entries should go in those months.

Projecting your Revenues

Projecting revenues is one of the most difficult parts of preparing a cash flow projection. Put  simply, revenues are the money that you earn for selling your goods or services. 

The easiest way to estimate your revenues is to break your sales down into smaller component parts. This could look like estimating the number of sales you’ll have per hour, per day, or per week. Then multiply that out by the average unit price to estimate revenue for the entire month. 

To estimate how many sales you will have, you can look at similar businesses in your area. How many people per hour are buying a coffee at the shop down the road during different parts of the day? 

Or you can base revenue projections on capacity. For example, if you have three dog groomers working, and they can each handle five dogs per day, you can conceivably groom 15 dogs per day. However, you should always scale the full capacity number back to account for slower days, sickness, and that kind of thing. Maybe you can base your estimates on 80% of full capacity during busy times, and scale that back for times you know will be slower. 

Just remember to give yourself time to ramp up. It will probably take more time than you think to get to full sales. If you’re a start-up, giving yourself a few months with little or no sales will help you understand your cash needs more clearly. You should also account for seasonality—will you have more sales during certain times of year?

Projecting your Cost of Goods Sold

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) are the direct costs that you incur when selling your product or service. This could include the costs of inventory you are reselling in your store, the cost of coffee beans, cups, and other ingredients at your coffee shop, or the cost of wages and shampoo if you’re a dog groomer. 

In many industries, you can estimate your Cost of Goods Sold based on a percentage of your revenues. For example, if you have a clothing shop and you always mark your product up by a certain percentage (say 100%), it is straightforward to estimate your COGS. For every $100 of revenue, you will have $50 in costs. This means you could estimate your COGS at 50% of revenues. But the best way to estimate your cost of goods sold is to really understand what goes into each product or service you sell. So take the time to break down your offerings to really understand your direct costs. 

Projecting your Operating Expenses

Operating expenses, sometimes also called fixed expenses, are the expenditures you make as a cost of doing business. This can include items such as: 

• Rent
• Utilities
• Management wages
• Insurance
• Professional fees
• Marketing costs 
• …and many others.

Unlike COGS, these expenses are not directly tied to producing your goods or services. So, for example, if you sell more ice cream in August than in December, your COGS will go down in December, but your operating expenses won’t. After all, you still need to pay rent and keep the freezers running! 

Many operating expenses are straightforward to estimate because they are fixed each month. Others may only be incurred sometimes, such as accounting expenses at year end or one-off repair costs when the freezer is on the fritz. 

Now, look at your cash situation

Once you’ve entered your revenues, COGS, and expenses, have a look at the actual cash flow. Are you cash flow positive most months? Are there any times when your net ending cash is negative? If so, how will you fill that hole? Debt? Cutting expenses? This is where the real magic of the cash flow projection comes in. It will help you look down the road and understand when you might see a cash crunch. This gives you time to come up with a plan.

Closing advice

• Don’t be too optimistic: We want your business to be successful, but if your projections are too optimistic, it may make your lender question whether your assumptions are realistic. 
• Consider scenarios: Your lender might want to see different scenarios for your cash flow projection. Whenever possible, build your projections in a way that lets you play around with different variables to see how that changes your results. Not good with excel? Sorry to say there is no quick fix for this, but know that the more time you can invest into understanding excel, the faster you will be with setting up and revising your projections. 
• Use benchmarking tools: Industry Canada has a small business benchmarking tool that provides information about business financial performance. You can look up your industry to get an idea of the revenues, COGS and expenses from businesses like yours. Just remember, there is a lot of variation between businesses, so you should only use this as a tool to help verify your own (well thought out) estimates.
• Consider timing: Another note is to remember timing—if you are a cash business, like a coffee shop or salon, you will get your cash when the service or good is delivered. However, if you invoice for your services, you will receive the cash a little bit later. Same goes for expenses. Maybe you have 60-day terms with your suppliers. That will keep cash in your accounts for longer. Make sure you account for this in your projections.

So there you have it, your quick guide to putting together a cash flow projection to apply for a loan. We hope you will find these tips to be useful.

Looking for more support?

• Check out our free WeBC Cash Flow Projection Template.
• Enroll in our free “Financial Fitness” on-demand course for a step-by-step look at each of your financial statements and how you can use them to make better business decisions.
• Join our free Business Loan Info Session to learn more about our lending program and what documents you need to apply for a loan.

The post Guide to putting together a cash flow forecast to apply for a loan appeared first on WeBC.

Suddenly, you find yourself in a situation where someone might be able to help you. Maybe you’re at a conference, or having an implausible run-in with a deep-pocketed investor in an elevator (has that ever actually happened?). 

They say: “Tell me about your business.” 

Now what? 

Do you freeze and stumble through your pitch? Or do you knock their socks off with a tight description of your value proposition? Hopefully the latter, right? But not everyone knows how to do that. In this blog post I’m going to dig into how to explain your business offering succinctly. 

First up, why it’s important to keep it short

There is a saying: Brevity is the soul of wit. Well, it’s not just the soul of wit, it’s also the soul of getting someone to understand your business. 

If you can’t explain your business offering succinctly, you’re likely to lose the attention of your audience. You need to be able to grab their attention and demonstrate why you deserve a few more minutes of their time to provide the full picture. Your pitch of a few sentences is kind of like the appetizer. If the appetizer isn’t very good, you probably won’t be asked to bring the main course. 

There are two common reasons why business owners struggle to get to the point:

• You’re in the weeds. You’ve been working in all aspects of your business for months or years, and when you think about the business, you’re flooded with the many different nuances and details that only you can see. Remember, the person you’re describing your business to doesn’t have that same lens, so you need to put yourself in their shoes. 

You’re excited about all the potential opportunities. As a result, you try to describe them all instead of confidently laying out a path forward that is easy to understand.

What to include when explaining your business offering succinctly

Here are the core things that you should cover when explaining your business.

What problem are you solving?

At the heart of any succinct business description is problem identification. If you’re not solving a problem for someone, you probably don’t have a sustainable business idea. The problem fix doesn’t have to be anything that will change the world, but it does have to be a problem for enough people that you will have a suitable target market. 

You want to make sure that you’re describing the benefits of your product or service, not the features.  Also try to make sure your description is not too abstract or flowery.  

Take this fictional problem statement for a gift basket company called Sally’s Green Gifting:

“We curate collections of the highest-quality locally, artisanally produced organic food and personal care goods that provide an elevated gifting outcome.”

Look carefully—do you see a problem in there? Now, how about this version: 

“We make responsible gift giving easy.”

Which statement is better at describing the problem that’s being solved? Hopefully it’s obvious that it’s the second one! 

Another great way at looking at problem identification is through the lens of jobs to be done. This is a theory out of Harvard Business school that suggests that customers hire businesses to do a job—whether it’s a product or service. Looked at this way, even a gift basket is doing a job. So what job are your customers hiring you to do?

Who is it a problem for?

Now you know what problem you’re solving, but who are you solving the problem for?  If you’ve already gone through the exercise of identifying your target market, you should know who you’re solving problems for. This part is important, because it helps people understand who is going to purchase your product, and what motivates them to buy.  

Using the example of Sally’s Green Gifting, maybe your target market is administrative staff at large professional services firms (such as lawyers and accountants), who regularly purchase gift baskets as a thank you for their clients.

Why is your solution special?

Next, you need to succinctly describe what makes your business better suited to solving your customer’s problems than your competitors. 

In other words, what makes you special? 

To understand what makes your product or service special, it’s a good idea to first understand your competitors by doing a competitive analysis. After all, you need to know what the competition is good at to understand how you compare. 

A great tool to help with this is a competitive analysis table or competitive matrix. This is a table that compares your business to your competition using some common attributes. Here is an example for Sally’s Green Gifting using a scale of 1-5 (5 being high).

Sample competitive matrix

Why are you the best person to be running this business?

To finish off your succinct business description, it’s often a good idea to help bring things back to you personally. 

Whoever you’re talking to might agree that you have a good value proposition and that you have a competitive advantage in some areas, but they also need to know that you are the best person to be driving the ship.  

Adding a personal touch can also help you bring the idea alive, which will make it more memorable and impactful. 

In the case of Sally’s Green Gifting, Sally might highlight her experience working as an administrative assistant at a law firm, where she would often be asked to order a gift basket at the last minute for an important client. The firm had made a commitment to sustainable procurement, so she had to make sure the gifts they purchased met certain criteria. 

Now, let’s bring it all together

You now have the building blocks you need to describe your business offering succinctly. Now you just have to put it together. How might Sally’s Green Gifting describe her business to someone using this approach?

“We make responsible corporate gift giving easy. I used to be in charge of corporate gifting for a law firm, and I struggled with finding gift baskets that were sustainable and high quality. We really wanted our gifts to make a good impression. I saw a gap in the market and started Sally’s Green Gifting. We’re now the leading sustainable gift basket company in British Columbia and are starting our expansion across Canada.”

Avoid these pitfalls

Before you get started, here are a few common pitfalls to avoid:

• Using too much technical jargon – Keep the language simple, unless you know the person has a good understanding of the industry and will appreciate you using specific terminology.
• Focusing on features instead of benefits – Remember, you’re trying to describe the job your product or service provides. Don’t put too much emphasis on the features of your product right out of the gate. 
• Keeping it too abstract – Find a way to bring your idea to life with a real life example if you can.
• Not knowing your audience – Whoever you’re talking to, try to put yourself in their shoes. If you were them, what information would be most valuable? 

The post How to Explain Your Business Offering Succinctly appeared first on WeBC.

At WeBC, we’ve provided business loans to women entrepreneurs since 1995, and we work with other lenders to help women get the financing they need to succeed. As a Business Advisor, I speak with women every day who are exploring their options. Here are some of my top tips for women who would like to access capital in BC.

1. Understand Your Lending Options in BC – Lenders 101

Let’s start at the very beginning by understanding what lending options are available to borrowers. You’re probably aware that there are a lot of different lenders, but who should you talk to first? Generally, I like to break down lenders into three categories.

Lending Option #1: Banks and Credit Unions

Banks and credit unions are sometimes known as ‘traditional lenders.’ These lenders will look at your credit score, personal financial history, and the financials of your business (among other things), and will compare those numbers against their lending guidelines to make a decision. This process is sometimes known as ‘formula lending.’ If you don’t meet their criteria, you are unlikely to be approved. Some banks and credit unions have special programs for equity-seeking groups, but there usually aren’t other demographic considerations. If you are in a good personal financial situation and have strong credit, a bank or credit union might be a good place for you to start your lending journey.

Lending Option #2: Developmental Lenders

Developmental lenders usually receive funding from the government to provide loans to small businesses as a way of supporting economic development. Developmental lenders in BC include:

1. WeBC – For businesses owned and controlled by women
2. Community Futures – For businesses in rural areas (i.e., not Vancouver or Victoria)
3. Futurpreneur Canada  – For folks under the age of 40 starting a new business
4. Business Development Bank of Canada – Generally for established businesses, but they have many different programs
5. Aboriginal Financial Institutions – For Indigenous-owned businesses

Developmental lenders work with a lot of small businesses who can’t secure the required financing through traditional lenders, so if you’re not having luck at your bank, a developmental lender should be your next stop.  These lenders can often also offer additional supports to help you on your business journey. For example, at WeBC we have a mentoring program, a skills development program, and a business advising service that are all included as part of your loan care.

Lending Option #3: Alternative Lenders

Alternative lenders can vary from emergency lenders who will give a loan to almost anyone (for a price, of course), to industry-specific lenders who have created specialized loan products to meet specific requirements. Alternative lenders definitely play a role in the lending ecosystem, but I would generally advise entrepreneurs to approach with caution. Make sure you have a clear understanding of the payment terms and conditions, and if something seems too good to be true or comes with high pressure tactics, listen to your gut.If you have a woman-owned business in BC and aren’t sure where to start, WeBC is an excellent first stop. To learn more about lending program, you can check out our bi-weekly Business Loans Information Session (BLIS) webinar, which will provide more information and connect you with a Business Advisor who can help you start putting together your funding puzzle.

2. Understand if you are Eligible for a Business Loan

My next top tip for people who are seeking a business loan is to understand your eligibility with each business lender. As outlined above, there are a lot of different lenders out there, so your next step is to research the different lenders and what their criteria are. You can learn a lot from a lender’s website, but once you’ve determined your basic eligibility, you’re often going to have to connect with a real person to understand if a lending program is a good fit.

Common eligibility requirements include:

• Demographics, especially for developmental lenders. For example, to apply with WeBC your business must be majority owned and controlled by a woman, and to apply with Futurpreneur you must be under the age of 40. 
• How long you have been operating for. For example, BDC will generally only lend to businesses that have been operating for more than a year, while Futurpreneur can only work with new businesses.
• Residency and citizenship, or operating in a specific geographic location, particularly for developmental lenders that are funded by the government.
• Minimum credit score. Some lenders will require you to have a minimum credit score to borrow from them, so it’s a good idea to pull your own credit report from one of the main credit reporting agencies in Canada (Equifax Canada or TransUnion) to check your score and make sure there are no errors on the report. 

Minimum qualifying scores vary from lender to lender and often aren’t generally posted openly, but if your score is in the 700s or higher, you are probably in a strong position to get a loan. If your score is in the mid-600s or lower, you may find it more challenging. At WeBC, the only time we use a credit score cut off is for our unsecured Equal Access to Capital loans; we do not have a minimum credit score for our main loan program. 

Another key eligibility consideration is security and equity – which leads me to my next tip:

3. Understand what security is, and how much you have available

Most people already have an idea of what security is—security is the lender’s claim on a borrower’s assets in case the borrower can’t repay their loan. Usually, specific assets (also known as collateral) are used as security. The lender will register these assets, and if you can’t repay your loan, the lender can sell the assets and keep the proceeds to recover some of the value of the loan. Lenders can often take business assets or personal assets as collateral.

Different lenders will have different security requirements. Some lenders want to be 100% secured, which means that you need to pledge assets to the loan that are worth the same amount that you are borrowing. At WeBC, we generally require you to pledge security that is worth at least 30% of the value of your loan, though there are exceptions.

So, before you talk to lenders, take a minute to think about what kind of assets you might be able to offer to secure the loan—do you have cash, a car, property, or equipment? 

Remember, when a lender values your collateral, they will need to discount it. This means its value as collateral will be less than what you paid for it, and will be less than its current market value (sometimes by quite a lot). You should also keep in mind that lenders usually can’t take an asset for security if there is already a lien on it. So if you want to use a vehicle for security, you can’t still be paying it off—you need to own it free and clear.

4. Understand what equity is and how much you have contributed (or plan to contribute) to your business

The other eligibility concept to understand is equity. At its most basic, equity is the money that you invest into the business. This could be personal cash that you have invested over the years (share capital), or it could be profits that you have reinvested into the business over time (retained earnings). When you apply with a lender, they may ask how much equity you have available to contribute, or they may ask how much equity is currently in the business. 

• If you have an existing business, looking at your balance sheet (if you have one) will be a good place to start to understand your equity position. If you don’t have a balance sheet, you may need to verify your equity investments another way.
• If you’re starting a new business, you’ll need to do some personal reflection to decide how much of your own money you are ready to contribute.  And remember, a personal contribution should come from cash, not from taking out additional personal debt.

All lenders will be looking to see that you have some equity in the business. At WeBC, our guideline is you must contribute at least 25% of the value of your debt as equity (with an exception for our joint loan program with Futurpreneur). So if you are planning to take out $100,000 in total debt, you should be able to contribute at least $25,000 of your own money, or show that you have already invested that amount. If you don’t have any of your own money to contribute to your business, or if you have low or negative equity on your balance sheet, it may be difficult to secure a business loan.

5. Prepare a strong business plan

Your lender is going to need to know a lot about your business before they can make a lending decision, and the best way to communicate that information is with a business plan. Your business plan should lay out the fundamentals of your business, and should inform the reader about where you’re currently at in your business journey, where you are going, and what it will take to get there. 

Check out our free guide, How to Write an Effective Business Plan for more details, but here are a few key questions to make sure you cover in your plan:

1. What problem are you solving? 
2. Who is your target market? 
3. How have you established Proof of Concept? Or, in other words, how do you know that people actually want to buy what you are selling?
4. How are you different from your competitors?
5. Why are you the right person to operate this business?
6. What do you need to execute your plan? (people, equipment, space, etc)
7. What is your action plan?
8. What are the main risks you may face, and how will you manage those risks?

How long should your business plan be? The answer, of course, is: it depends! The trick is to make sure that it includes all of the essential business planning information without going overboard with nonessential information. I have seen excellent business plans that are 10-15 pages, and 30 page plans that are still missing a lot of information. Try to review your plan with an eye towards taking out the ‘fluff’—your lenders will thank you!

Once your business plan is prepared, don’t forget to keep it alive! I recommend having a look at your business plan every few months to see if you’re still on track. If your plans change, take some time to update the business plan—this process may help you identify potential roadblocks or opportunities with your new path.

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6. Prepare a realistic cash flow projection

Along with your business plan, a cash flow projection is the other main way that you will tell your story to a lender. Cash flow projections are very important, so make sure you take the time to be thoughtful and thorough.

Your cash flow projection is a forward-looking estimate of how much revenue you think your business will earn, and what costs you will incur to earn that revenue. Your cash flow projection should also include all the one-off costs associated with starting or expanding a business, such as purchasing equipment or doing leasehold improvements. 

Your lender will look at your sources of cash (revenue, loans, and personal contributions), against your uses of cash (expenses, asset purchases, etc.), to make sure you will have enough money to execute your plan.

A common challenge with cash flow projections is that people are often too optimistic. If your projections look too good to be true, your lender may not be confident in your estimates. My advice is to prepare at least two cash flow scenarios: one optimistic version that shows your revenues and expenses if everything goes well, and one pessimistic scenario that shows the business just breaking even. This provides the lender with valuable information. 

You also need to be able to back up your revenue and expense estimates. If you are an existing business, you can use past financial data to get an idea of what your revenues and expenses will be in the future. If you’re a new business though, it can be more challenging – after all, you don’t have a crystal ball!  

If you’re just starting up, operating expenses can often be verified by doing research and calling your service providers to get quotes. To estimate your Cost of Goods Sold, you can look at industry benchmarks to understand what a good Gross Margin is for your business and how that translates into Cost of Goods Sold. 

Revenues can be a bit trickier to estimate, because no one really knows how much they will earn until they open their doors. However, there are techniques you can use to make an informed guess. For example, you can estimate how many customers you think you will have in a day, and how much you think they will spend per visit. That will get you an idea of your potential daily sales. Then you need to adjust daily sales to account for your busier days and slower days. You also need to consider any seasonal changes to your sales. For example, if you’re in the ice cream business, you might see sales pick up in the summer and slow down in the winter. 

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7. Get your timing right 

When you’re planning to apply for a business loan, it’s important to get the timing right. If you apply too early, your lender won’t have enough information to do a full assessment, but if you apply too late, you may find yourself running into trouble financially, or you might not be able to meet your own timelines. 

A good rule of thumb is before you apply you should have some level of certainty about the main expenditures you will need to make. This means you should have quotes for equipment or major work that needs to be done, and, if you need a location for your business, you should have a specific place in mind, and should have already started talking to the landlord. Of course, you probably shouldn’t sign a binding lease or purchase order before you’ve been approved for the loan you need, but try to get as far along as you can without fully committing.

You should also make sure you understand your lender’s timelines. It can sometimes take a while (especially for developmental lenders) to make a lending decision, so it’s a good idea to work those timelines into your overall plan. Make sure you have enough time to commit to the process, because the faster you respond to your lender, the faster they can get back to you with a decision.

8. Get your ducks in a row

Lastly, applying for a loan can be a lot of work! In addition to preparing the business plan and cash flow projection, your lender will also ask you to gather and send all sorts of other documentation as well. The better organized you are when you apply, the better the experience will be for you and the lender (and it’s always a good idea to keep your lender happy!) 

Here are a few things to get ready:

• If you’re an existing business, make sure you have your most recent year end financials ready to go. Also be prepared to send year-to-date statements showing your revenues and expenses from the date of your last financial statements up until the present.
• If you’re planning to make some big purchases with your loan funds, try to get detailed quotes. This is especially important if your project involves construction work; many clients can be surprised at the difference between the ‘ballpark’ estimate they put together and the detailed quote for how much it will actually cost.
• Make sure you’re available. Your lender will have lots of questions for you, so make sure you have the time to invest in the process. 

Applying for a business loan can be a daunting process, but don’t let that scare you! Lenders are there to provide information and help you through the process. 

And remember, you may need to talk to a few lenders to find the right fit for you—it’s all part of the process. Hopefully the tips in this blog will help you move through the process more smoothly. 

Join one of our free Zoom sessions to learn about our loans program and how you may be able to access $150K to start, buy or grow your business.

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1. Are you eligible for the lender’s programs?

I go into high-level eligibility criteria for the main categories of business lenders in a previous post. This includes factors like your credit history, financial situation, demographic profile and the financial health and overall viability of your business. 

Most lenders have a website with the main eligibility considerations listed, but sometimes there are other criteria that are not covered, or they will need to ask you some detailed questions before they can determine your eligibility. 

It is always a good idea to reach out to potential lenders to make sure you’re eligible to apply (before you get your hopes up!)

2. How much do you need, and when can you pay it back?

Some lenders can lend more than others. If you require a small loan, or you need a financial buffer to help you when you are short on cash,  you might find that a business line of credit is a better option for you than a term loan. 

Lines of credit can be drawn down only when required and may take less time to approve. They offer flexibility because you only need to pay interest on the funds you are actually using. 

If you need a larger amount and would like to pay the loan back over a longer period of the term, a term loan might be a better option. For a term loan, you will be placed on a payment schedule for a number of years. 

WeBC offers business loans for up to 5 years, but other lenders can offer longer terms, which might be beneficial if you are purchasing a major asset. Interest rates may be variable or fixed. If the rate is variable, that means your payment could change over the life of the loan. 

3. When do you need the funds?

If you need loan funds as soon as possible, or if you need funds to cover an emergency expenditure, this may be a key factor when choosing a lender. 

At WeBC, for example, it can take up to 4-6 weeks to make a lending decision, and sometimes longer, depending on your situation. If the loan is approved, it can then take additional time for the funds to be disbursed to you. If time is an important consideration, make sure to discuss that with potential lenders. 

Also, be aware of lenders that promise they can approve anyone for a business loan quickly. These lenders may charge high-interest rates or have other unfavourable terms to make up for the risk they are taking on. 

4. Are you in a specialized industry or do you need a specific kind of loan?

Lenders may specialize in a particular industry or may have loan products that are created specifically for certain needs. There are lenders that specialize in working with farmers, manufacturing companies, e-commerce sellers, or restaurants, among countless others. 

For example, some e-commerce lenders can provide loans that are repaid based on a percentage of your sales, or an agricultural lender might accept seasonal payments due to the nature of a farm’s revenue timing. 

Because these lenders understand their industries, they have developed products tailored to the needs of their borrowers and may be more flexible on some eligibility criteria than a non-specialized lender. 

5. What stage is your business in?

If your business is just starting up, you may be limited in how much you can borrow, and from which lender. Developmental lenders such as WeBC, Futurpreneur, and Community Futures are able to provide loans to new businesses, but you will need to have a strong business plan. 

If you have an existing business, you may have some additional options, but it is often a good idea to start by approaching your current bank for a loan, as they have a history with you and may already understand your business and ability to take on debt.

6. Do you need flexibility in your repayment terms?

Is there a chance that you might want to pay back your loan early? Would you benefit from a period of interest-only payments? If so, these are important things to discuss with potential lenders. 

Some lenders (such as WeBC) can offer a period of interest-only payments, which is especially helpful if you are a new business that is still growing its revenues. Other lenders will expect payment right away. 

Some lenders can also be more flexible than others if you want to pay back your loan early. At WeBC, we do not charge any fees or penalties for early repayment, and you can make lump sum payments at any time. Other lenders may limit your ability to make extra payments or charge additional fees to do so.

7. Are interest rates and fees important factors for you?

Everyone is familiar with interest rates, but many lenders also charge additional fees on top of interest. They may charge a penalty to pay out the loan early or may charge a monthly fee or a one-time administration fee. 

Make sure you understand all of the fees associated with your lender’s products and when they will be charged. Some lenders, like WeBC, offer an interest rate range, and the final rate is determined once your loan is approved. This means that you may not know exactly what your rate will be when you apply. However, we can certainly give you an idea of what to expect. 

Generally speaking, the higher the risk for the lender, the higher the interest rate will be.

8. Would you benefit from having access to advisory, mentoring, or skills development services?

As a developmental lender, WeBC offers wrap-around support, including complimentary business advising, mentoring, and skills development sessions. If you think this kind of support would be valuable to you, make sure you ask your lender what they offer. Some lenders may offer advisory services for a fee, while some are offered as a complementary service. 

9. Do you feel comfortable working with them?

As I said off the top, when you get a business loan, you are often entering into a long-term relationship with your lender. Along the way, you may encounter both good days and less good days in your business, so it’s a good idea to feel comfortable talking to your lender. 

When you meet with your lender, you should feel comfortable asking any questions you have, even if you’re afraid they might be “stupid questions.” Do they answer your questions in a way that you understand? If your lender uses a lot of jargon and confusing language, don’t be afraid to speak up and ask for more clarification. 

If they keep using confusing language or if you start to feel pressured, that might be a sign to talk to a different lender. 

When you’re looking for a business lender, it’s important to make sure you feel comfortable with whoever you are working with, and that the loan terms and support are appropriate for you. Don’t be afraid of reaching out to different lenders, and, if you can, take your time to make your decision. Hopefully, these tips will give you something to think about as you start your business lending journey!

The post Choosing a Lender for Your Business Loan appeared first on WeBC.

1. Have a Strong Business Plan and Cash Flow Projection 

Your business plan and cash flow projection are the true heart of your loan application, and they are your key tools to demonstrate that you have a viable business. If you don’t already have these prepared, have a look at my previous post for a deep dive into how to write a winning business plan.

2. Make Sure You are Eligible

Different lenders have different eligibility criteria and will evaluate your application using their own parameters. Before you apply, make sure you understand what your lender is looking for so you don’t waste your time on an ineligible application. Your best bet is to talk to the lender directly, and you can also check out my post on determining your eligibility for a business loan. 

3. Confirm That Now is the Right Time

When is the right time to apply for a business loan? Well, you don’t want to apply too early (because there may be too much uncertainty in your plan), but you also don’t want to apply too late (because lending decisions take time). Here are some things to consider:

When do you need the money?

Hopefully, you have already prepared your business plan and cash flow projection and have a good idea of how much money you will need for your project, and when. If you will need the funds within the next 3-6 months, it’s a good idea to start the process now, especially if you are working with a development lender like WeBC, because we can take a longer time to make a lending decision. If you need the money within the next few weeks, a developmental lender like WeBC is probably not a good fit, and you may need to work with someone more suited to emergency lending. See more about different lenders for small businesses.

Are you reasonably certain about your plans?

Sometimes people contact me about a loan when they’re still not certain about their plans. Maybe they don’t have a location yet or are still waiting to line up a potential supplier. 

For a lender to make a lending decision, they will need to assess many factors that go into your business, including things like your proposed location, where you will source your products, and who will carry out any necessary start-up work (like construction or leasehold improvements). If you don’t have all the answers yet, the lender may not have enough information to make a lending decision. 

Understandably, there can be times when you don’t want to commit to something (such as signing a lease or purchase order) until you know if you will be able to get a loan. In that case, try to get as far along as you can without fully committing, and check in early with your potential lender to confirm what information they will need.

Are you ready to launch?

If your business is centred around a product or piece of technology, where you’re at in the business development process can be very important to a lender. 

For a WeBC loan, you must be able to show that your product is ready to launch—in other words, you can’t still be in the research and development phase. If you are seeking a loan to help with developing a prototype, doing product testing, or other pre-launch activities, it may still be premature to apply with us. 

4. Get Your Ducks in a Row

When you apply for a loan, your lender is going to ask (seemingly) endless questions, and you will need to gather a lot of documentation. It can feel overwhelming! If you don’t have the answers ready, it can set you back in the process and may even result in a declined application. Here are some things you should get sorted before you apply:

Historical Financial Statements

Even if you are a sole proprietor operating out of your garage, your lender is going to want to see a breakdown of your historical income and expenses. If you aren’t already working with a bookkeeper and using accounting software, you might need some time to get your books in order. 

Your lender will ask for an income statement and balance sheet for past years (if applicable), as well as year-to-date statements that show your results up until the end of the previous month.

Personal Statement of Affairs

Your lender may ask to see a detailed breakdown of your household income and expenses, as well as a list of your assets and liabilities. Time to dig out the bank statements!

CRA Statement of Account

Some lenders who are funded by the federal government, such as WeBC, will check to see that your taxes are up to date with the CRA. If they’re not, it could impact the lending decision. To check, pull a current statement of account, which will show your balance. If you have an amount in arrears, it’s a good idea to pay it off in full (if possible), or make arrangements for a payment plan. 

Proof of Product Market Fit

If your business doesn’t have a track record yet, your lender is probably going to ask you for more details about how you know your business has product market fit. In other words, you need to show that people want to purchase what you are selling. 

You can do this by doing some primary market research like a survey, showing letters of intent, or providing customer testimonials or letters of support. If you’re a new business, the more support you can demonstrate, the better!

Incorporation Documents (If applicable)

If you are incorporated, you will need to provide some core corporate documents. This may include:

• Incorporation Certificate
• Shareholder Agreement
• Notice of Articles
• Central Securities Register

Other Documents

Other documents that may be requested include:

• Business Name Registration
• Lease agreement (if you rent a space)
• Loan agreements with other lenders
• Quotes for things you plan to purchase with the loan funds including construction quotes for leasehold improvement, quotes for equipment, or purchase orders for a product
• Agreement of purchase and sale (if you are purchasing a business)

If you’re planning to apply with WeBC, please refer to our loans checklist for a list of what we require you to submit with your application. 

5. Be Ready to Put in the Work

There is a lot involved in making a lending decision, so when you start the process, you need to be ready to answer questions, prepare or revise additional information, and potentially re-work your assumptions. We often hear from clients that applying for a loan is a lot of work. That’s because it can be a lot of work! But the more prepared you are, the more streamlined the process will be.

6. Make Your Lender’s Job Easy

Lastly, it’s always a good idea to make your lender’s job as easy as possible. That means presenting your information in a clear and understandable way and making it easy to find important data.  Where possible, provide excel sheets instead of PDFs, name your files thoughtfully, and if you’re providing a summary of costs, break out each item in a table and sum them up instead of sharing a stack of scanned receipts and invoices. This makes your lender’s job much easier and shows that you are organized. 

While there’s no way to guarantee approval when you apply for a business loan, I hope these tips will give you some new ideas to help you put your best foot forward.

Want to learn how to stay ahead of the competition? Check out our free On-Demand SMART course, “Step-by-Step Market Research: Build a Viable Business,” to learn the fundamentals of market research so you can make informed decisions and build a viable business. 

The post Top Tips to Make Sure Your Business Loan Application is a Success appeared first on WeBC.

But before you approach any lenders, you need a way to tell your story. This is where a business plan comes in. I can almost hear some people groaning through the screen already “Do I really have to write a business plan? They’re so boring!”

The answer is yes—if you want a loan to start or expand your business you need a business plan. But if your business plan is boring, then you’re not doing it right! In this post, I’ll provide some tips on how to write a business plan to secure a loan approval. 

1. Start with the Fundamentals

Some business advisors suggest that a good business plan can fit on the back of a napkin. While that’s a bit extreme, you should be able to answer some essential questions about your business succinctly and confidently before you start writing the plan. 

If your business idea isn’t fully fleshed out yet, it doesn’t matter how well-written your business plan is— lenders probably aren’t going to take a chance on you. Here are some questions you should be able to answer: 

• What problem are you solving?
• Who is this a problem for, and who are your most important (target) customers?
• How do you know your customers will value what you are offering? Have you done the primary or secondary market research to back up your assumptions? Have you done a trial run or pilot to show proof of concept?
• What makes you different from your competitors? Why will your customers choose you instead?
• How will you deliver your service/product (operating model)? Why is this the right approach?
• Why are you the right person to solve this problem? Who is available to help you fill your gaps? (Advisors, staff, partners, etc.)
• What do you need to get started with your project (people, equipment, space, etc.), and how much is that going to cost you?
• What is your Action Plan to execute your project?

Remember as you’re answering the questions that your objective is to demonstrate to a lender that your business will be successful, and, by extension, that it will create enough profit to pay off the debt you are applying for. But it’s not enough to just tell the reader that you will succeed—you need to show them you will succeed by showing your research and work to date.

Side note: Another good tool in the early stages of business planning is called Business Model Canvas. This is a one-page tool to help you dig into the fundamentals of your business. 

2. Draft Your Business Plan with the Lender in Mind

Now that you understand the fundamental business case for your business, it’s time to put it into a business plan, along with all the other background information your lender will need to make a decision. As you write your business plan, keep the above questions in mind and always ask, “What additional details can I provide to support what I’ve just written?”

What format should I use?

WeBC does not require that you use any particular template, but we do suggest you look at our guide that digs into what we look for in terms of content. There are many good templates available, such as through Small Business BC or Futurpreneur.

What information should I include?

I won’t go into detail about each business plan section (there are many other resources available for this), but here are a few essential components to include to make life easier for your lender.

• Provide a timeline: If you’re an existing business, when did you first start selling your product? When did you introduce new products? Move into a new space? Bring on employees? Reach profitability? If you’re a new business, what is your launch timeline? Your lender is going to ask these questions, so why not put it in your plan? 
• When it comes to marketing plans, more is more, but ditch the fluff: Your lender wants to know that your business will make enough profit to repay the debt, and one of the ways they will investigate is by looking at your marketing plan. This is one place in your plan where you don’t want to skimp on the details. For example, If you say you’re going to advertise on social media, what platforms are you going to use? What is your budget? Posting frequency? How will you monitor results? Also, who is your target customer? You might want to think about creating customer personas to bring your (fake, but realistic) clients to life. 
• Dig into risk: It’s a sad fact that many businesses do not survive their first few years. And the last few years have reminded us of the impact that larger systemic issues can have on small businesses. Take the time to really frame out the risks that your business might face, and how you will manage those risks. Try to be realistic about it—a common risk is that you won’t have as many customers as you’d hoped, or that expenses will be higher than anticipated. How will you handle that, really? Play through the scenarios in your head and be realistic about how you would respond.
• Know what you are asking for: When you’re applying for a loan, your lender will want to know how much money you need in total, and what all the proposed sources are (including your own personal investment, grants, and/or funds from other lenders). If you don’t know exactly how much you need yet, your cash flow projection should help you figure that out.

To SWOT or not to SWOT?

Many business planning templates suggest including a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. A SWOT can be a powerful tool to help you understand the internal and external factors that can help or hinder your business. Unfortunately, many SWOT analyses are not very well done.

If you want to include one, think about it in terms of these questions: What are we better at than anyone else (Strengths)? What do we need to improve (Weaknesses)? What factors outside of our control could be positive for our business (Opportunities)? What factors outside our control could harm us (Threats)? 

How long should it be? 

The answer, of course, is: it depends! Instead of focusing on how long the plan needs to be, you really need to focus on the content. It’s a bit like Goldilocks and the three bears. You don’t want to provide so much detail that your reader gets overwhelmed, but you also need to provide enough detail to answer the reader’s questions. 

I have seen beautiful and comprehensive business plans that are 8 pages long, and I have seen bloated business plans that are 50 pages long and leave me with questions at the end. Regardless of how long it is, make sure your plan is well organized. Include a Table of Contents, and make it easy for the reader to find the information they’re looking for. 

Can I pay someone to write my business plan?

There are many people out there who are happy to take your money and write a business plan for you. They may even do a good job! But why not write it yourself? It does not need to be written in perfect prose. It does not need to have beautiful charts and graphs if that’s not your strength. What it does need to do is tell the story of your business and why your business is viable. No one is going to do a better job of that than you are.

 If you feel stuck, try to start writing it as if you are talking to someone—don’t worry about using ‘businessy’ language. Just tell your story. Once your draft is ready, if you want a second opinion there are paid business plan review services.

Remember to align with your Cash Flow Projection

A Cash Flow Projection is an essential companion to your business plan, so you need to make sure they match up. If your business plan says you need $100,000 in start-up funds, this should match up with your cash flow projection. Likewise, if you provide a breakdown of your estimated margins and product costs in the business plan, this should match up with the Cost of Goods Sold in your cash flow projection. 

3. Keep the Business Plan Alive

Lastly, many people write a business plan and keep it on the shelf once it has fulfilled its purpose. This is understandable, but I strongly suggest you try to keep your plan alive, even if it’s a shorter version than what a lender would look for.

Your business plan is a chance to reflect on your core strengths, main risks, and all of the assumptions that go along with planning for your business’ future. An up-to-date plan will also come in handy as you grow your business and need to communicate with lenders and investors.

Now, Get Writing!

I hope this gives you a better handle on how to write a business plan to secure a loan approval. My best advice is, just get started! If you’re feeling stuck, you can always get in touch with us for a complimentary Business Advising Session.

The post How to Write a Business Plan to Secure a Loan Approval appeared first on WeBC.

 If you’re new to the world of business lending, it can feel intimidating. How do you start? Can you just walk into a bank and ask for money? Well, sometimes! But before you do that, it’s a good idea to understand what lenders are looking for, and what programs you might be eligible for.  

In this blog post, I will go over some key considerations to think about so you can take this important step with more confidence.

Not all lenders are created equal

Let’s start by going over the different types of business lenders. At a high level, there are three different categories of lenders, and lenders within each category generally take a similar approach to make lending decisions.

1. Banks and Other Financial Institutions

This includes Canada’s ‘big’  Schedule I Institutions (RBC, CIBC, and the like), as well as credit unions.  These lenders are usually formula lenders which means they will look at the hard numbers of your business and personal finances to make their decision; However, some have special programs for equity-seeking groups that are more flexible. These lenders can offer fixed-length term loans or more flexible products like lines of credit.

2. Private Lenders

This category includes a diverse array of private companies (sometimes called alternative lenders) that lend to businesses. They often focus on specific financing products (for example, inventory financing, receivables factoring, emergency short-term loans, or debt consolidation),. Like banks, private lenders are formula lenders. They generally can’t lend as much as a bank, but can usually get you a decision quickly and may have a streamlined application process. If you’re thinking of applying with a private lender it is very important to understand their terms and conditions, as some lenders have extremely high interest rates and fees, and may have strict lending terms. 

3. Developmental Lenders

These are lenders that have been set up by governments to drive economic development and support businesses that have trouble accessing traditional lending from banks. In British Columbia, developmental lenders include WeBC, Community Futures, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Futurpreneur, and Aboriginal Financial Institutions. Developmental lenders usually have a holistic approach to lending, and do not make their decisions based solely on a formula. While developmental lenders are set up to help entrepreneurs, they do have eligibility criteria they must follow, and they may need more time and documentation to make lending decisions.

Eligibility Considerations

All lenders will have slightly different lending criteria, but here are some questions to ask yourself to understand how you will match up with common eligibility considerations.

1. Financial Considerations

• Have you invested in your own business? All lenders want to see that you have (or will be able to) contribute some of your own money to the business. This will usually be called owner’s equity, and maybe looked at relative to your total debt (including the new debt you wish to take on), by calculating a debt-to-equity ratio. WeBC usually looks for a debt-to-equity ratio of no more than 4:1, but other lenders may require more or less. If you are starting a new business and do not have any money of your own to invest, it may be challenging to get a loan. It may also be difficult if you are an existing business and have many years of negative earnings resulting in negative equity on your balance sheet.
• Do you have any security (collateral) to offer? Some lenders, such as WeBC and WEOC, offer smaller unsecured loans to borrowers with good credit history and a strong business plan, but other lenders will need you to offer some collateral that they can recover in case you are unable to repay the debt. Cars and property are common security, but you might also be able to use business assets like equipment or inventory. Each lender will have their own policies so make sure you ask. Before you talk to a lender, you should have an estimate ready of what your collateral is worth. 
• Will your business create enough income to pay your debts? To understand this, lenders may look at your Debt Service Ratio, which measures your total debt payments against your net earnings. If you are an existing business and you have not been profitable in the past, or if you are a new business that is projecting low income, it may be more difficult to get a loan, because your lender needs to know you will have enough money to make your payments. Developmental lenders can take a more holistic view, but other lenders may have strict requirements. 

2. Personal Considerations

• What are your personal net worth and personal income and expenses? Many loan applications will ask for a statement of personal affairs, where you provide information about your personal assets and liabilities, and about your current earnings and personal expenses. This information will help them understand if you’re in a good position to repay the debt should something bad happen in your business. If you have a positive net worth and other sources of income, that is more favourable than if you have significant debt and no other income outside of your business.
• What is your Credit History? When you apply for a loan your lender will pull your credit report, which allows them to see how you have handled other debts in the past. Many lenders have credit score cut-offs, and if your score is lower than the cut-off, you will be declined. WeBC does not have a credit score cut-off for its secured loans, but for an unsecured loan, we generally require a score of at least 650. It is always a good idea to check your credit report before you apply for a loan to make sure there are no mistakes.

3. Demographics

• What is your citizenship status and where is your business located? WeBC requires applicants to have Canadian Citizenship or Permanent Residency, and to reside in BC. Other developmental lenders may have similar requirements. 
• Are you a member of our target group? Lenders may have a mandate to serve specific groups of people and will ask about your business ownership to make sure you meet their criteria. For example, WeBC requires that businesses be at least 51% women-owned (with exceptions for businesses owned jointly with a spouse), and Aboriginal Financial Institutions require 51% Indigenous ownership. Community Futures requires you to live in a rural area, and Futurpreneur requires the owner to be under the age of 40. 

4. Other Considerations

• How long have you been operating? Some lenders have a mandate to work only with start-ups (such as Futurpreneur), while others can only work with businesses that have been operating for at least a year or two (such as BDC). Similarly, many banks will be looking for you to have a minimum number of years of operation before they can consider lending to you. 
• Are there any social concerns related to your business? Developmental lenders sometimes have other criteria that limit them from lending to businesses that have social acceptability risks. For example, there can be limitations to lending to bars, cannabis shops, adult entertainment shops, or gambling businesses, among others. 
• Is your business earning revenues yet? Many lenders have limitations when it comes to lending to ‘tech’ businesses that are still in the start-up phase, or businesses that are focused on a product that is still in the research and development phase. Your lender may ask you if your product has been fully launched yet, and/or if you have any paying customers. If you are still in the pre-revenue phase, it may be difficult to access a loan.
• Do you have a strong plan? Lastly, all lenders will want to know that you have a strong plan in place for your business, and many will ask for a business plan and cash flow projection so they can understand the risks of lending to you. For this reason, it’s a good idea to prepare a business plan and cash flow projection before you start contacting lenders. This will also make you more confident about how much you need to borrow.

Approaching a lender for a business loan can be intimidating, but if you can understand the above eligibility criteria, it will help you have a better conversation with potential lenders, and if they aren’t able to approve a loan, you will have a better idea of what you need to work on to be ready for a loan. If you would like to learn more about WeBC’s lending program, be sure to register for our Business Loans Information Session, which is the first step to determining your eligibility.

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