The day that you opened your business or assumed your leadership position, you probably never imagined that you’d be staring at a balance book that told you there weren’t enough funds to maintain your company. This is an entrepreneur’s nightmare, but it happens far more often than many people realize.

As we’ve reported in the past, cash flow issues and cash management mistakes are the most common reasons that businesses fail in their first five years of operation. Here at The Commercial Finance Group in Atlanta, we’re dedicated to making sure that a growing number of small to mid-sized businesses make it well past that terrifying benchmark. We do this by offering a variety of business financing solutions, from factoring to asset-based lending.

If you’re looking for a solution to your cash flow issues but aren’t quite sure where to start, we’d encourage you to keep reading. In the sections below, we’ll take a look at the different types of commercial finance options available to small and medium-sized businesses as well as how to determine which is right for you.

Why Do You Need Business Financing?

Before you start shopping around for factoring or asset-based lending solutions, it’s important to stop and ask yourself WHY you’re looking for business financing. Is it because your business is having trouble paying its bills during the off season? Is it because you’re woefully behind in collecting on unpaid invoices? Is it because you’re growing faster than you anticipated and you need to upgrade your staff or equipment as soon as possible? Basically, is the cash flow problem one that needs to be solved immediately or are you looking for a solution that provides relief over time?

Your answers to these questions will help you discover whether a short- or long-term business financing solution will best meet your needs.

Short-Term Business Loans

If you’ve decided that your cash flow problem is acute, meaning that it’s very urgent and once solved is unlikely to occur again, you’re probably a good candidate for short-term business financing options. Short-term business loans, including asset-based lending options, generally mean loans of less than $10,000 that are designed to be paid back in a relatively short amount of time.

Short-Term Business Financing Solutions

However, even short-term traditional loans can take a long time to be approved. If what you’re in need of is quick access to capital to solve an acute cash flow problem, there are other short-term business financing solutions available. These include working capital, receivables financing, and factoring; all solutions we offer here at The Commercial Finance Group in Atlanta.

Long-Term Business Loans

If you’ve decided that your needs are more long-term and you’re looking for more flexibility in payment terms, more traditional business loans might be the way to go. However, even if your business goals suggest a long-term business loan, you might not be considered “bankable” by traditional lenders. In that case, The Commercial Finance Group can still be helpful in the form of asset-based lending.