Every small business goes through a period where it can use a short-term loan for equipment, a new client or cyclical working capital needs. The SBA’s CAPLines loan program can provide financing for any dollar amount that does not exceed SBA’s limit. Some of the programs available are the Seasonal Line, for seasonal sales fluctuations; Contract Line, for labor and material costs for specific contracts; and Builders Line, for contractors to finance direct labor and material costs (the building project serves as the collateral). There’s also the Standard Asset-Based Line for businesses unable to meet credit standards associated with long-term credit and the Small Asset-Based Line, an asset-based revolving line of credit of up to $200,000.

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Being an entrepreneur often puts us in situations where we have to set up safety nets for ourselves that our corporate colleagues take for granted.

Retirement is one of those areas, though in fairness, a surprisingly high number of business people neglect to prepare for the time when they’ll no longer be working, be they executives or small business owners.

David Lerner Associates has released a guide that outlines the steps for stay-at-home mothers to establish a retirement plan that can easily be applied to work from home moms and dads alike.

In an article in Scoop San Diego, Senior Vice President of David Lerner Associates Christina Nash states: “Sacrificing this income can make it more difficult for stay-at-home moms to save for retirement – but it doesn’t make it impossible,”

Embedded below is a handy slideshare deck you can download with tips on how to prepare for retirement as a non-working spouse. They also have some retirement tips on their site that micro-business owners may find useful. You may not have to make any decisions about how you handle retirement any time soon, but it’s never too early to start thinking of a plan.

Have you found a creative way to overcome this obstacle? Share your tips in the comments section.

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The good news is small business loan approvals at big banks are up. Banks have made great strides to make the loan application process easier and are definitely spreading the word they’re loosening their purse strings. In the meantime, however, financing alternatives such as credit unions and small banks had already stepped in to fill the gap big banks left while the economy was in turmoil. Unfortunately, credit unions have a lending cap of 12.25 percent of their assets, which means many have already hit their limits on loans to small businesses. If you can’t find a credit union willing to lend to your business, you may want to look into cash advance companies, which fill the need for quick cash (although at higher interest rates).

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International trade declined dramatically during the recent economic slump, according to a new report released by the SBA’s Office of Advocacy.  The report, The Impact of Credit Availability on Small Business Exporters, examined the relationship between credit conditions and small business exports. Credit tightening is one reason for the dramatic drop in exports (14 percent) between 2008 and 2009, and small businesses were affected the most. Credit is especially important for exporters because they need to finance their working capital to compensate for the risk involved in cross-border transactions. Good news: The future is brighter for small exporters as credit restrictions are loosening and banks look to increase their commercial lending.

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What’s the state of venture capital these days? Continuing a trend that’s been going on for a while now, both the number of VC dollars and the number of VC deals are shrinking, according to the Q1 2013 MoneyTree™ Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). VC investment for the quarter declined 12 percent in terms of dollars and 15 percent in the number of deals compared to Q4 2012.

What’s behind the decline? Venture capitalists are looking for industries where they can quickly become liquid, whether via IPO, merger or acquisition. This is becoming more difficult, so VCs are raising less money and investing in fewer firms.

One exception is the software industry, which accounted for 40 percent of all VC dollars invested last quarter. The report describes software firms as “capital-efficient” companies that need less money and achieve liquidity more rapidly, making them highly desirable to VCs. In contrast, life sciences (biotechnology and medical devices) and clean technology companies, which are capital-intensive industries with a long horizon to liquidity, saw their VC dollars and number of deals dwindle. Overall, investments in life sciences declined 28 percent in dollars and 23 percent in deals; this industry saw the fewest number of deals since the first quarter of 2009. Clean tech declined by 35 percent in dollars and 13 percent in deals; its investment total was the lowest since the first quarter of 2006.

Overall, $2.3 billion in VC funds were invested in software companies in Q1 2013, up 8 percent from the previous quarter and marking the fourth quarter in a row that more than $2 billion was invested in this industry. While the media/entertainment sector saw a 37 percent increase, this was mostly due to one very large deal.

Eleven of the 17 sectors in the MoneyTree study saw decreases in dollars invested in the first quarter, including industrial/energy (63 percent decrease), IT services (41 percent decrease) and semiconductors (39 percent decrease)

What stages of companies are most likely to receive VC financing today? Seed or early stage deals accounted for 52 percent of total deal volume in Q1. Expansion stage deals accounted for 25 percent of total deal volume, and later stage deals accounted for 23 percent.

First-time financing dollars (that is, money invested in companies receiving their first VC infusion) decreased 20 percent to $903 million; the number of companies fell 21 percent, to 263. Most of the companies (63 percent) receiving first-time financing were software firms.

Image by Flickr user greggoconnell (Creative Commons)

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