Small businesses, in many ways, make up the backbone of the United States. After all, there are more small businesses than not, with the number of small businesses in this one country alone totaling nearly 30 million (around 28 million, to be just a bit more precise). And that means that small businesses actually make up the vast majority of businesses seen all throughout the United States.
But sometimes – all too often – small businesses struggle to remain afloat. After all, small businesses are put more at risk by various issues than your typical large corporation would be. And there is often more at stake. In the second quarter of 2016 alone, as a matter of fact, there were more than 25,000 companies that filed for bankruptcy. This marked a considerable jump from even the first quarter of that year, during which nearly 25,000 bankruptcies were filed.
Even small problems can be hugely detrimental to the overall success of any given small business. For example, getting invoices late is something that is far too common indeed, a claim that is more than supported by the data that has been gathered on the subject. This data shows that the majority of invoiced costs are paid late. And this can seriously disrupt the overall cash flow of just about any given small business. Unfortunately, this has led to far too many a small business going under, something that is certainly very tragic indeed.
But how can this be prevented? How can we keep our country’s small businesses afloat? When it comes to invoices, fortunately, there are a number of ways in which this can be accomplished. For one thing, small changes can be made to the way in which invoices are sent out. Paper invoices were once the norm but, more and more frequently, companies of all sizes are switching to electronic invoices. But why do this? Primarily, because electronic invoices are dramatically less expensive than paper ones. Just by making this switch, you could cut the amount of money being spent on sending out invoices by as much as a full 57%.
But what if this is still not enough? Companies like trucking factoring companies and business factoring services in general can also play a crucial role in keeping small businesses afloat when the invoice payments they are owed have not yet materialized. Trucking factoring companies have become particularly important, largely thanks to the prevalence and relevance of the trucking industry as a whole. As a matter of fact, there are now more than five and a half million people operating various motor vehicles throughout the country, motor vehicles that now number in the range of 12,000. And in the years that are ahead of us, these numbers are only likely to grow. Therefore, the role played by trucking factoring companies is certainly one of a high importance indeed, of this there is just no doubt.
But from trucking factoring companies to advance business capital factoring to commercial factoring companies, what do factoring companies really do? Essentially, from trucking factoring companies to the top transportation factoring companies, factoring services of all kinds provide small businesses with temporary loans to make up for missing invoice payments, typically reaching up to 90 days (a period of nearly three months) into the past to cover these missed payments. This new form of cash flow can most certainly be critical in keeping companies afloat during the period in which their invoices have not been paid. And while invoice factoring companies like trucking factoring companies provide loans that must be paid off, paying off these loans will become possible as soon as the invoices owed to such companies throughout the country are finally paid off.
At the end of the day, running a small business is a hugely important thing here in the United States, of this there is very little doubt. But the pitfalls of small business ownership can certainly prove somewhat difficult to avoid. Fortunately, however, companies like trucking factoring companies and freight factoring companies can be quite important when it comes to the survival of these companies indeed, of this there is no doubt.