All posts by Gary Stockton

Women business owners are feeling pretty positive about the future according to a recent survey by Bank of America titled, “2016 Women Business Owner Spotlight.” The study revealed women small business owners are more optimistic than male business owners about revenue and growth prospects of their businesses. This inaugural survey of 1,000 male and female small business owners, focused squarely on the aspirations and pain points of women. Among the key findings, female business owners are more excited about the future and focused on the success of their business compared to male business owners, with 54 percent of women surveyed expecting revenue to increase over the next 12 months compared to 48 percent of men. Bullish on business growth When considering the growth potential of their business over the next five years, the survey found women respondents felt more optimistic than men. Results showed that 60 percent of women business owners expected their businesses to grow versus 52 percent of men, an 18 point drop for men when compared to 2015. Credit cards The two main sources of funding used by women entrepreneurs include their business credit cards (28 percent) and bank loans (23 percent). Interestingly, 16 percent of women business owners indicated they use personal credit cards to fund their business. However, using personal credit to fund business activities presents some big challenges because if your business ever becomes at risk, it can also affect your personal credit. Experian recommends keeping business credit transactions completely separate from personal credit. Doing so protects personal assets and helps entrepreneurs build strong credit profiles. Also, many lenders are using blended credit scores that evaluate business and personal credit profiles when making lending decisions, so it is best for entrepreneurs to do all they can to build a strong business credit profile. Experian has more information about the dangers of using personal credit to fund your business on the Business Credit Facts web site. Access to capital and clients While access to capital has improved in recent years, many women don’t feel that way. In fact, the study showed that 28 percent of women said they do not have the same access to capital as their male counterparts. Access to clients, however, is one area where women feel they are on more equal footing, with 88 percent saying they have the same or greater access to clients than men. Increasing the minimum wage Women small business owners are more likely to support raising the minimum wage. In fact, the survey indicated that 55 percent of women entrepreneurs think raising the minimum wage would have a positive impact on the economy, compared to only 41 percent of men. Issues that concern small business owners While both women and men small business owners share similar views on top economic concerns over the next 12 months, more women small business owners are concerned about: Corporate tax rates (54 percent of women vs. 45 percent of men).Strength of the U.S. dollar (59 percent of women vs. 45 percent of men).Commodities prices (52 percent of women vs. 44 percent of men). To learn more about the study go to bankofamerica.com

On June 23, 2016, voters in the United Kingdom voted 52 to 48 percent to leave the European Union, the 28-member organization of which it had been a part since the early 1970s. Immediately, the value of the British pound plummeted. Stock markets tumbled worldwide. Financial experts began to warn of an impending European recession. Here, across the pond, owners of small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looked at the "Brexit" results with a mixture of concern, confusion and mounting dread. Mostly because we’ve only recently found ourselves out of the massive hole caused by the Great Recession of 2007-09. Could this political shift trigger another, perhaps even more devastating downturn? Based on what we know so far, the answer is: probably not. While the British economy is likely to experience painful contractions over the next few years, U.S. companies will, with only a few exceptions, continue to operate as if the British referendum had never been held. I base my optimism on a number of factors, including the American small business community's economic relationship to the U.K., the increasingly robust state of the U.S. economy in general, and the growing resilience of the SME segment in particular. Brexit and the British Economy For the European Union, Brexit's "Leave" vote was a shock because of what leaving the E.U. may mean for the British economy and Europe as a whole. The United Kingdom represents the E.U.'s largest economy, ranking between the 5th and 10th largest in the world, depending on how one measures such things. For the past three years, it had the fastest-growing economy among all G7 nations, whose membership includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Its financial district, the City of London, is not only the largest in Europe, it's the largest in the world (yes, even larger than Wall Street.) London's financial industry employees some 750,000 people and is a major source of funding for companies across the Continent. Driven principally by nationalistic sentiment and concern over perceived unchecked immigration (according to exit polls), the "Leave" vote triggered heightened uncertainty throughout London, as well as markets from New York to Singapore. The global economy has become increasingly interconnected and interdependent over the past few decades, and the innumerable questions raised by the U.K.'s disconnection from its European partners sowed confusion and fear. This fear and confusion was manifested in many ways: The British pound fell to a new 30-year-low against the U.S. dollar. Many experts predict that the Pound Sterling could reach a historic one-to-one parity with the dollar by the end of this year.Market values plunged worldwide, causing hundreds of billions of dollars in assets to vanish literally overnight. (Fortunately, most markets have since recovered.)The U.K. relaxed many capital rules to support liquidity – an indication of the Bank of England’s serious concern about Brexit’s impact on U.K. banks.Trading in three sovereign property funds was suspended on July 5th with several more in the following days. Before Brexit, economic forecasters predicted that the British economy would grow some eight percent between now and 2020. Now, most are predicting a contraction of up to six percent. That's a 14 point swing. And because capital is both global and mobile, it would be unwise to ignore the situation. SMEs and the U.S. Economy Here on the west side of the Atlantic, the situation is quite different, especially for small-to-medium-sized enterprises. For one, Europe is not a major customer for most American small businesses. While it's true that 95 percent of the world's consumers live outside the U.S., only about 3.9 percent of U.S. small businesses actually export to the global market. And an even smaller percentage sell to Europe. The vast majority of SME business is done within the borders of the continental United States, hence any direct impact from Brexit is negligible. Then, there is the state of the American SMEs themselves. According to Experian's Main Street Report for Q1 2016, America's SME community is in better shape than it has been in for years: Small business credit conditions continue to improve.Small businesses credit scores are good and improving.Capital is readily available and is appropriately priced.Unemployment is low. (We are approaching statistically full employment.)Delinquencies and bankruptcies have declined in most industries and regions.Recent increases in credit limits suggest that lenders are optimistic about small businesses. So far, Brexit has not had a major impact on the availability or cost of capital here in the United States. Now that the initial panic sparked by the surprise "Leave" vote has subsided, the likelihood of a major worldwide recession grow smaller by the day. This leaves American SMEs well-positioned to continue serving their principally domestic markets, with the credit necessary to fuel further expansion and growth, regardless of what's happening in England, Scotland, Ulster and Wales. For the people of the E.U. and U.K., Brexit may very well represent a major turning point in the political and economic history of Europe. But for most American small businesses, the next few years are likely to mean business as usual — or in the words of the famous WWII-era British motivational poster, American businesses can "Keep Calm and Carry On."

In just one week, Augmented Reality (AR) proved itself to be the Next Big Thing in popular entertainment. Within days of Niantic Labs release of Pokémon Go, in which players "hunt" and "capture" fantastical creatures using their smartphone cameras, tens of millions of Americans have become hooked on the game. According to media reports, the app has already been installed on twice as many phones as Tinder™, is used twice as much as Snapchat, and is surpassing the all-powerful Twitter in its number of daily active users. The skyrocketing value of parent company Nintendo's stock price has provided further testament to the game's perceived long-term stamina. Beyond its nostalgia value -- the game is based on the popular Japanese cartoon and videogame series from the 1990s -- Pokémon Go is winning over hearts, minds and dollars due to its artful blending of fantasy game play and real-world locations. To play the game, participants must move through the physical world, often traveling many blocks or even miles in search of their elusive digital prey. Such material engagement -- and the physical exertion required to complete many of the quests -- is a far cry from the sedentary "couch potato" stereotype so long associated with video-gaming.   Shops, restaurants and other commercial operations who find themselves near one of the game's many "Pokéstops"(virtual pit stops) and "gyms" (digital combat arenas) are seeing a marked uptick in foot traffic. Many stores are actively advertising via social media their proximity to game elements and the Pokémon that players have found nearby. Chicago's famed Art Institute received wide coverage for their boasting of various Pokémon found within their hallowed galleries, complete with iPhone screen shots of cartoon monsters perched amidst the Renoirs and Chagalls.

Barry Moltz, Small Business Expert Peter Bolin, Director of Consulting and Analytics for Experian appeared on episode #380 of the Business Insanity Talk Radio Show recently to talk about business credit scores. The show is hosted by Barry Moltz. In this blog post we include a transcript of Pete's appearance along with a link to the recording on Soundcloud.  Barry Moltz: A lot of small business owners pay attention to their personal credit score, unfortunately, they don't pay attention to their business's credit score. To discuss this is Peter Bolin who is the Director of Consulting & Analytics at Experian, Peter welcome to the show.Pete Bolin: Thank you very much, Barry. It's very nice to be here.Barry Moltz: Now I don't find too many people who have a LinkedIn profile like yours that starts with "we torture data." So what does that mean?Pete Bolin: That's the truth. We try to use the data assets at Experian to squeeze out as much predictive information, and as much marking information that we can, and to help our customers, and clients and small business owners benefit as much as they can from our data.Barry Moltz: So why is it important, we all know how important it is to have a high personal credit score, but why should the business have a high credit score?Pete Bolin: Having a high credit score for business is critical. It helps them negotiate with creditors better, it helps them negotiate with their wholesalers better and it provides them the opportunity to get the best offer. Get the best rates. Get the best credit terms available and that's all driven by a high credit score.Barry Moltz: Now as a business do you check your credit score the same way you would check your personal credit score for example like on Experian?Peter Bolin: Yes, we have a web site, BusinessCreditFacts.Com, where a small business owner can go and access their credit report, understand all the information. It's very informative, it's very educational. They can even check the credit score planner, which gives them key information on the critical data elements that actually affect their score, and they can start to educate themselves about the factors that they can potentially use to improve their score.Barry Moltz: So Peter what are some of those critical factors? I think we are all familiar with the ones for our personal credit score. What are those for business?Peter Bolin: First of all, you want to make sure that you limit your debt. You want to make sure that you get that as low as possible. You want to make sure that the balance-to-limit ratio which calculates the balances to the total overall balances and keeping that very low will help your credit score. Also, obviously pay your bills on time, that's a big one. Limit the number of inquiries - meaning, limit the number of times you're actually shopping for credit. Only look for credit when you absolutely need it. Those three things are critical in keeping a credit score very high.Barry Moltz: So what's a good credit score for a small business, I know for myself for my personal credit score I try to keep it in the 750's if I can. What is good for a business?Peter Bolin: That depends on each lender. I can say that on average, teh average business credit score, base on our IntelliScore Plus is a 50, it ranges from 1 to 100. So the average score is about a 50. So I would recommend keeping it above that in order to get the best terms and conditions for your loan.Barry Moltz: Well I certainly appreciate you being on the show, where can people get more information on all of this to improve their business credit score?Peter Bolin: BusinessCreditFacts.com, which gives you access to the business credit report and also the score planner which is a key educational feature. Barry Moltz: Pete thanks so much.  Peter Bolin:  Thank you for having me Barry.