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Working Capital Loans
These loans are best used by seasonal businesses and business owners who need a temporary cash boost to stay afloat. The most common working capital loans are term loans, lines of credit, SBA loans (U.S Small Business Administration), and invoice factoring loans.
Generally, working capital loans are used to support a company's day-to-day operations, such as sales and marketing, wages, product development, and employee benefits. Do you want to learn more about working capital loans? Here is what you need to know!
Precisely What is a Working Capital Loan?
A working capital loan is financing the company's day-to-day operations.
The loan is usually not used to purchase long-term assets or investments but rather to provide working capital for a company's short-term operational needs by covering the cash flow required to cover the short-term requirements of the company. These expenses can include rent, payroll, and debt payments.
Understanding Working Capital Loans
Companies sometimes do not have sufficient cash or asset liquidity to cover daily operating expenses, so they secure a loan. During periods of reduced business activity, companies with seasonal or cyclical sales may need working capital loans.
It is rare for companies to have stable or predictable revenue throughout the year. Manufacturers, for example, may experience cyclical sales that correspond to retailer needs. The fourth quarter of the year is the busiest time for retailers, as the holiday season is when they sell the most products.
For the most part, manufacturing activity takes place during the summer months, as this is when manufacturers tend to complete most of the production work they need to prepare their inventories so that they are ready to meet the demands of retailers at the end of the year.
As retailers do their best to sell through their inventory before the end of the year, manufacturing purchases are reduced, reducing manufacturing sales.
When a manufacturer experiences seasonality of this nature, a working capital loan may be needed to cover wages and other operating expenses during the quiet period of the fourth quarter. Most loans are repaid once the company's busy season begins and the borrowed funds are no longer needed.
Important to note:
If the working capital loan is tied to personal credit, missed payments can hurt the business owner's credit score.
Types of Financing
The types of financing include term loans, business lines of credit, and invoice financing, which lenders use to extend short-term credit to business customers who are late on their invoices. A business credit card allows you to earn rewards and simultaneously provide working capital.
By taking out working capital loans, companies can bridge financial gaps, such as the time between collecting receivables and paying accounts payables, or cover periods of low activity in seasonal businesses (repaid during periods of high activity).
Loans taken for working capital are usually all taken at once, and the amount is all paid at once. Remember that these are demand loans, meaning the lender can "demand" repayment at any time.
Secured or Unsecured Working Capital Loans?
Working capital loans can be secured or unsecured. In the case of secured working capital loans. the company's assets back them.
Repayment terms—interest rate, term and amortization period—are determined mainly by how well the borrower can cover it’s debt payments and secondarily by the security provided for the loan. In the case of real estate or land loans, the payment terms are usually longer, and the interest rate is lower.
Unsecured loans have no collateral which means you have no assets at risk of being taken by the lender if you default on the loan.
How Are Working Capital
Loans Used?
In addition to supplying temporary shortfalls in working capital, working capital loans also aim to provide outside funding. Working capital loans can be used in several ways to improve the organization's tactical positioning.
Unforeseen circumstances, such as increased demand for a company's product, might present an organization with a unique opportunity. When a company's current production is insufficient to meet demand, it may seek funding to purchase additional raw materials to boost inventory if it lacks enough working capital.
A business owner may also seek a working capital loan if a supplier is offering discounts on large purchases. The organization may benefit from such an investment if the resource is needed.
Long-term assets and investments are generally not financed with working capital loans, as there are better rates available for such investment types.
Two types of working capital loans are: unsecured and secured. Most of the working capital loans are secured or backed by collateral. An organization will need a high credit score to qualify for an unsecured working capital loan, so the lender will have some assurance they will be repaid.
Benefits of Working Capital Loans
It usually takes money to make money
It is generally easy and fast to secure a working capital loan, allowing business owners to cover any current financial needs efficiently.
Funds come all at once in a lump sum, making them more effective.
It's not necessary for business owners to relinquish control and equity in their organizations.
Working capital loans can be aligned with businesses' cash flows, thereby avoiding additional pressure during periods of low activity.
Drawbacks of Working Capital Loans
Due to the lender's higher risk, interest rates on debt financing are generally higher than on other forms of debt financing.
The credit score of a small business owner with no track record of cash flows can be negatively affected if they miss a payment or default on a working capital loan.
Small-scale organizations may find it difficult to fund their efforts due to higher interest rates.
If you need working capital for your business, whether you have a small local business or a large nationwide company, AmeriCapital Solutions has multiple options to get the funding your business needs to grow, scale, and continue to be successful.
Rodney Wood
AmeriCapital Solutions
Call Text (541) 236-2930