http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/blog A financial blog from Advance Restaurant Finance offering information and advice to restaurant and small business owners. Thu, 04 Dec 2008 00:05:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Every restaurateur wants to drive more customers to his or her restaurant. Ask most any restaurateur what the one thing they need is and they will tell you "more customers." Many of those restaurants may not be ready for more business. One often overlooked aspect of driving more business is ... http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/blog/business-general/is-your-restaurant-ready-for-more-customers-part-1.html Preparing to Drive Business (Part 2) Remember in Part 1 of Preparing to Drive Business we ended with the 3 Goals of a Marketing Message: 1. Get the prospect to notice your marketing communication 2. Get the prospect to actually read (view or listen to) your marketing communication, and 3. Get the prospect to ... http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/blog/business-general/is-your-restaurant-ready-for-more-customers-part-2.html Small Business Owners need to "Think Outside the Bank" Banks are making fewer and fewer SBA Loans every day. SBA loan volume for August and September fell more than 50% from a year earlier and is on pace to decline in October, as well. American Banker, Pullback in Secondary Market Hits ... http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/blog/credit/small-business-owners-suffer-as-deteriorating-secondary-market-hits-sba-lenders.html We all know a Credit Crunch is upon us. Unfortunately, the shortage of available credit has spread from marginal businesses to encompass established, profitable businesses as well. In September, business owner Drew Greenblatt asked for a $175,000 increase to his line of credit for his thriving wire products business. The ... http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/blog/credit/the-credit-crunch-is-squeezing-the-good-businesses-along-with-the-bad.html How Small Business Owners Can Protect Themselves Small business owners know that business loans are hard to get these days. You are not alone. Now comes news that banks won't lend to each other (Lending Between Banks Seizes Up, Wall Street Journal, Sept 17, 2008). Certainly, when behemoths such as Lehmann ... http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/blog/credit/when-banks-won%e2%80%99t-lend-to-banks-who-will-lend-to-small-business.html With all the lending products out there, it can be difficult to determine which one best fits your needs. How do you know if the product your loan officer or broker is pushing is the best for your business or the highest commission for them? One way is to let ... http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/blog/credit/need-project-or-bridge-financing-consider-an-interest-only-loan.html The Small Business Administration's flagship government-backed 7(a) or Express Loan program isn't the credit source to entrepreneurs and other business owners that it once was. Volume and bank participation are down, while credit requirements and processing time are both up. Not a good trend. Banks are bailing on the SBA's 7(a) ... http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/blog/credit/welcome-alternatives-to-the-sba-7a-%e2%80%9cexpress-loan%e2%80%9d-program.html We hear about it every day. It’s on television; it’s in the newspapers; it’s in the magazines we read. A Credit Crunch is enveloping our economy. Credit Crunch Moves Beyond Mortgages, Individuals See Higher Rates, Harsher Terms (Wall Street Journal, Aug 22, 2007); Credit Crunch Strangling Small Business? Entrepreneurs …may ... http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/blog/credit/every-good-business-needs-a-back-up-plan-%e2%80%93-establish-a-line-of-credit.html During the good times, everybody makes money: well run businesses make a lot of money and poorly run businesses make some money. During more challenging economic times, well run businesses still make money, but poorly run businesses go under. Whether you call it a shakeout, Economic Darwinism or something else, ... http://www.advancerestaurantfinance.com/blog/business-general/why-smart-operators-invest-in-their-businesses-during-a-sluggish-economy.html