It’s less than two months before Christmas, and you can still make sure that every dollar counts. Expenses during the holiday season can go out of hand, especially when you don’t stick to a budget. Foresight, commitment, and discipline will make you win in the rush of money this coming holiday madness. If you make a solid plan beforehand, you won’t have to worry about losing too much cash for unexpected reasons.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to make sure that you cover all bases in Christmas budgeting.
1. List Down Incoming and Outgoing Cash
List down all the things you need to spend on – stocks, wages, bills, payments to vendors, and others. As for income, check out last year’s sales for a projection of this year’s sales.
You can also make a projected cash flow from the expected income from your stocks prepared for Christmas. However, you will never know if all of your stocks will be sold. It’s best that you determine other sources of potential income from your business or personal projects. Anything extra that you can earn will help you cover other expenses.
2. Plan Ahead for Bigger Expenses
The big expenses for small business owners this Christmas would usually be bonuses for employees, company parties, vacations, gifts, and paying invoices. Take note of those which will take out a big chunk from your income. If you encounter a cash crunch, seek out help and inform your vendors.
3. Set Aside Money for Contingencies
One thing’s for sure on the days leading to Christmas – there will be reasons that you’ll get to spend more money than what you have anticipated. One effective way to solve this is to set aside a fixed amount of money for miscellaneous expenses. Stick to this budget and don’t spend anything beyond that. When you allow yourself to have a fixed budget, your spending won’t go out of hand.
4. Take a Look At Your Overall Budget, Then Adjust
Take a look at your overall list of income and expenses. You can do this in a spreadsheet where it will automatically calculate things for you, or with a budgeting app. Which expenses can you go without? Curtail those unnecessary expenses, or delay paying for them by next year. Another thing to ask yourself is: how can you further boost your income this year? What are the other ways you can supplement your income for you to have more cash reserves? Amplify your savings by lessening expenses and finding ways to improve your income.
5. Pro Tip: Get a Business Loan While You Have Peak Sales in Business
Financial advisors highly recommend that the best time to get a small business loan is during the busy season. Paying off a loan becomes easier when you have a bigger cash flow. The loan can also be particularly useful when the slow period starts after the holidays. It’s part of planning in advance when the heat starts to turn down during the first part of the new year.
Get the Necessary Funding to Grow Your Business
You can take out the hassle in finding the right lender and business loan through the smart proprietary software of Bizzloans. We match you with the perfect financial product out of hundreds available in the market. You can get the funding you need for the holidays within just 24 hours by getting a free quote below.
No Security Necessary
The main thing that makes unsecured loans more attractive than secured loans is the fact that they’re no security. It might be an obvious thing to highlight but it clearly matters. You won’t be weighed down by the pressure and worry associated with having collateral hanging over you and potentially being lost to the lender if you fail to make repayments. If you don’t want to take the risk of losing your collateral, you just need to opt for an unsecured loan instead. It’ll allow you to avoid any risks associated with secured loans.
Build Up Your Future Credit Score
By taking out a loan and then paying it off on time, you will help to build or repair your credit score. Many companies are dealing with poor credit, but by taking out an unsecured loan with a lender that is happy to lend to companies with poor credit, you can start to turn the situation around. Meeting regular repayment deadlines shows the world that you are able to stay on top of your financial obligations and pay off the money you owe, and that will only help your business going forward.
Why Your Business Might Want to Take Out an Unsecured Loan
There are lots of reasons why your business might take out a loan, as well as reasons not to. You shouldn’t take out a loan to cover running costs, but if you want to do other things, such as the things we’re going to discuss below, an unsecured business loan can be ideal.
Grow and Expand
Most entrepreneurs have big plans for their businesses. They want to ensure that their business is one that’s got a bright future. So if the time has come for you to grow and expand your business, you should think about whether taking out an unsecured business loan might help you to do that. It could be exactly what you need to get your business moving in the right kind of direction. It takes money and investment to grow your business and a loan might just be the ideal solution.
Take on More Clients and Customers
If your business doesn’t currently have the resources to deal with more customers and clients, it could be time to scale things up. However, that’s something that costs money, whether you like or not. Taking out an unsecured business loan could help improve the resources your business has available. It could mean hiring more people so that you have the human resources needed to take on more clients and make more customers happy. The loan will cover the costs associated with doing that and it’ll pay for itself if you’re able to improve your profits as a result.
Fund a New Marketing Campaign
Maybe it’s the case that attracting new customers to your business is where your problems lie. It’s not always easy to get your voice heard and make people aware of why they should be taking notice of your business. An unsecured loan could be used to fund a new marketing campaign that gets your message out there and makes more people interested in your business and what it’s offering. So if you have an idea for a marketing campaign that you think might work but you don’t have the financing for it, consider a loan.
Improve with Fewer Risks
The chance to improve your business in the many ways mentioned above offers you a real opportunity that you might want to grasp. Secured loans can offer the same access to financing but come with more risks to your business. With an unsecured loan, you can reap all the rewards that come with having the cash to invest in your business without having to worry about the risks adversely affecting the business in the future. The chance to improve with fewer risks attached to that chance should not be ignored or dismissed.
The Requirements for Getting an Unsecured Business Loan
There are some requirements you’ll need to be aware of before you take out an unsecured business loan. These aren’t too harsh or restrictive at all, but they are important.
24 Month Limit
When you take out an unsecured loan from Bizzloans, you have to pay the loan back within 24 months. That’s the maximum repayment term that’s on offer. Of course, that won’t be a problem for the vast majority of businesses out there. It’s important that you look at the finances closely and decide for sure that this is something your business is going to be able to do. You’ll have a chance to do this when you get a quote from us, so you’ll know exactly what you’re signing up to.
Business Bank Statements
To ensure your business is in a financial position to take on a loan of the size you’ve applied for, you’ll need to simply submit your business’s bank statements. This allows us to ensure that we lend responsibly and don’t burden you with a debt that is too much for you to take on. It’s in both your best interests and ours that you’re able to handle the loan that you take on.
Photo ID
To ensure everything is correct and proper, and you are who you say you are, you have to submit a photo ID. This is common practice and ensures that all financial transactions are above board and in order. It’s very easy to do and needn’t be a headache for you. Once we are satisfied with your application, you’ve provided the bank statements and we’ve checked your ID, it won’t be long before you have access to the loan you applied for.
Getting an unsecured business loan for your company could be just what it needs right now. It’s a much safer option than taking out a secured loan and you’ll be accepted much faster. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at Bizzloans if you’re thinking of taking out an unsecured business loan.
