Businesses that are growing require sources of capital . The capital in a company of course comes from the owner or borrowed funds. Generally speaking business owners prefer to borrow rather than sell equity in the company, as that sale of equity dilutes the ownership position , i.e. they own less of the pie! New equity can come from friends and family, venture capital firms, and angel investors . These parties are looking for good management, integrity, owner financial stake, and growth potential .

However, in the current difficult financial environment many lenders are in fact insisting that business owners put more of their own money into the company . There is never an easy answer when it comes to the debt or equity question.

I am often asked by clients for assistance in validating the price they are going to pay to purchase a small / medium enterprise . Business people should of course rely on their trusted advisors for professional help in that area, but this article will hopefully give them insight and advice into their challenge.

We also encourage our clients to talk to either their own peers, or in some cases our clients with respect to others experience in this area . This may help alleviate some of the concern around those business people who are ' non - financial ' in background and somewhat overwhelmed by discussion of terms such as EBITDA, intangible assets, capitalization and discount rates, etc!

We would point out that as technically overwhelming as some of those issues might be, there is even a whole additional layer of complexity around longer term issues down the road .

Business banking and business borrowing in Canada is significantly different than in the United States . That is primarily driven by the fact that our banking system is uniquely different . In the U.S. business finance is driven through various entities - which include major ' money center banks ' , Commercial banks, community banks, and what are know as S&L's, ( savings and loans ) . In addition the American landscape is populated by community banks .

The Canadian banking system is different , in that the country has chosen to adopt a more smaller ( by competitor ) banking system that is extremely concentrated and dominated by a handful of major players .

Franchise financing in Canada has some major similarities to the U.S. market, but is different in some key respects . This article will explore some of those similarities and differences that we have observed in the marketplace .

More and more entrepreneurs are of course looking at franchise financing for a combination of both employment and entry intro entrepreneurship under a reduced risk mode. That is to say that a proven franchise concept enhances chances of business success .

The potential franchisee has chosen his business , and has hopefully prepared either on his own or with professional help a business plan that ultimately has two purposes : to successfully finance the venture, and secondly, to monitor long term progress against initial goals and projections and assumptions .

' What is my rate? ' is a question I am often asked by customers when they work with us with respect to equipment and lease financing . They are surprised when I tell them that they get to pick their own rate ! ( All customers want the lowest rate !)

I am not trying to be facetious when we make that statement . What we are saying is that the over all credit quality of a customer, as perceived by the lender ( that's important !) is in fact set by the customer, thereby driving a final approval on rate , term and structure of the proposed financing request .

The role of the customer , or their trusted advisor is to understand the basic credit information requirements and how the overall risk to the customer and their industry will be perceived by the lender. The irony of a lot of business leasing is that the industry for the most part used historical analysis to project future ability to pay .

I am often asked by customers if there are grants and loans available for their business- on many occasions these firms are in start up and pre revenue stage.

There is a general belief that there is ' free money ' out there - and people are trying to find it - I categorically believe there is no free money available - if there was, can you imagine ...?

However, there are some excllent programs , 2 in particular , that in our opinion are two of the best government programs for companies .

The Canadian government has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars into what is known as the CSBFL program - The government provides a lot of useful data on the program on its website .

Many companies are not aware of the significant benefits related to acquisition financing in computers and technology segments . The proper term for this type of financing is ' Technology lifecycle management '. Most business owners simply consider the following question : ' Should I buy or lease my firms new computers and software and related products and services ? '

Two old adages related to leasing still ring true when it comes to the technological aspect . That is that one should finance something and depreciates, and one should buy something that appreciates in value . Most business owners, and consumers as well know very well that computers depreciate in value . Systems we paid thousands of dollars for years ago are now hundreds of dollars .

Many Canadian firms are not aware that they can finance their SR ED tax credit claims . Lets backtrack a little bit . The SR ED Tax credit program is a Canadian government program which allows Canadian privately controlled firms to recoup a very large amount of direct and indirect expenses related to their innovative business processes, research and development, and asset acquisition related to those very efforts .

Thousands of Canadian firms file such claims and the program has disbursed close to 2 Billion dollars annually to Canadian firms .

Funds received from the government, while taxable , are NOT repayable , we repeat, NOT repayable ! Claims are generally prepared by one of two parties, either the firms accountants, or , more frequently, an independent SR ED preparation firm who are experienced in the writing of these claims, and have amassed expertise and bench strength in that customers particular industry .

Have you decided what you are going to buy your man for Valentines day yet? I know a lot of folks are still concentrating on getting Christmas out the way first but before you know it Valentines day will be here and you won't have any ideas, right?!

Women are easy to buy for; Chocolates, Flowers, Lingerie, Jewellery - the list goes on. It's not quite the same story for a bloke though is it? Apart from going to your local gadget shop and finding something that will keep your fella amused for more than 5 minutes you're usually going to have a tough time finding something.

2010 is the year when all this will change. How people look has never been so popular, women always carry mirrors about but now loads of blokes carry lip balm and hand cream about with them. There are many blokes that won't even leave the house until their jeans are ironed now - and that's not because they're being OTT it's simply because everyone is becoming more aware of male fashion.

As we all know, a pair of quality eyeglasses is costly. If you go to buy a pair in specialty stores, such as Pearle Vision and LensCrafters, it may cost you a big portion of your monthly salary. Therefore, shopping online will save you a lot of money.

However, many customers never try purchasing glasses on line even if they are network fans who spend a lot of time in shopping on line. Because they consider buying glasses to be very complex, which needs one to do optician's practice, select spectacle frame and lenses and to process and assemble. They think that glasses bought on line can not be guaranteed to be qualified and suitable for them. As a matter of fact, all the above steps are necessary, but they don't have to be done simultaneously.