Friday, March 12, 2010

Starting Your Business

Some great advise here:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/homebasedbiz/gettingstarted/article205394.html

Like Nike would say..."just do it."

That doesn't mean do it without planning. But don't let fear take over and cause you to not pursue your dreams.

If you are starting, building, or growing a business then come check us out at hawkeyemgmt.com

We offer unsecured business lines of credit and unsecured business loans. No up-front fees normally, no collateral, and no financials necessary.

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
hawkeyemgmt.com
888-783-1503 toll free

Thursday, March 4, 2010

$20 Billion the easy way

myfico.com reports that an estimated $20 Billion in fees were generated by banks in 2009 on overdraft fees on debit purchases and ATM transactions. In a separate study in 2008 by the FDIC, 14% of people generated 93% of overdraft fees collected by banks.

Come on People!!!!

I have a busy life too but overdraft fees - ESPECIALLY when it happens consistently - are Mega-Budget-Busters. I would love them to do a study on the correlation between consistent overdrafts and financial success. Here are some suggestions:

1. Go back to basics with your budget. This might mean simply "doing" a budget but if this is an issue for you then make a change today. You cannot expect your tomorrows to be different and better if you don't do something today.

2. Get overdraft protection so that when/if you go into the red you have a cushion. There's obviously some potential pitfalls if you abuse this but if you don't abuse it then you'll be glad you had the cushion in those rare instances where you go over your budget and would otherwise be hit with an overdraft charge.

3. Some banks (not all) will let you link a savings account to your checking to serve as your overdraft account. If this is an option then it's a no brainer.

Banks are also good at layering the overdraft fees as well...so the domino effect can cause your "one" incident to turn into multiple overdraft charges so take action on this to save yourself some potential grief. Remember what grandma said, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management
888-783-1503 toll free

Monday, February 22, 2010

Distraction & Direction...

Distraction is the enemy of Direction. Does your business have a plan? Are you following that plan? Is your day guided by purpose?

Just some thoughts.

Remember, we help businesses raise capital THE RIGHT WAY. We specialize in unsecured business lines of credit and unsecured business loans. Come check us out at hawkeyemgmt.com and see who we are.

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management LLC
hawkeyemgmt.com
888-783-1503 toll free

Monday, February 15, 2010

401(k) Funding...

Great article in USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/2010-02-15-smallbusiness15_CV_N.htm

This is one of many options for business owners who are looking to start, build, or grow their businesses. Hopefully it's not entered into without a strong understanding of the lending options that are available. I think there's a time and place for about everything...so I'm NOT saying that you should never use your retirement money. However, do you want to take that big of a risk? If the business goes south then would you rather lose your retirement (aka your future) or would you rather have some lines of credit that get behind or go delinquent and there was no collateral attached to them? Seems like a pretty easy answer if you understand the implications.

This does not mean that there's one answer for all but the knowledge going in as to what can be done, if it will raise the needed capital, and what different sources will be tapped for the business needs is so important.

Do it the RIGHT ways as we say...build your business with Excellent personal and business credit. Check us out at hawkeyemgmt.com and see what we do. We offer a FREE, No-Obligation pre-qualification. Unlike many other "business credit" providers we don't sell something to anyone who is willing to buy our over-priced product - instead, we only allow people into our program if they can get the capital through our program. And the best part is that if you don't get your funds then we don't get paid so you won't risk buying something that won't work!

Check us out on Facebook (Hawkeye Management) and follow me on twitter if you like (twitter.com/tomgazaway).

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management
hawkeyemgmt.com
888-783-1503 toll free

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Venture Capital...

Amy Cosper, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine, reported that VC's invested 4.85 Billion to Alternative Energy in 2009. As my friend Mitch Matthews would say, WOW. Wanna know what we're investing in today and preparing for tomorrow? There ya go.

Credit Card Solicitations...

It looks like we're all starting to get more credit card offers in the mail again...as stated in the Wall Street Journal on Feb. 9, "now that they know the new rules of the game, [card issuers] are beginning to extend new credit."

Synovate is a market research company. They reported that 398.5 million solicitations were sent out in 4Q 2009...this is a 46% increase from 3Q 2009. The increase is great in many ways and indicates that there's some desire to return to lending from credit card issuers. It's also important to note that this increase is still a long way from the 1.5 Billion solicitation offers that were sent in 4Q 2006. It's also interesting that about 84% of those 398.5 solicitations were sent to A-Paper candidates with 720 and above FICO scores. Mailings to borrowers with under 620 FICO scores made up only 6% of the total so it's also clear that this uptick in solicitations is clearly focusing on "prime" borrowers.

If you're a small business owner looking to start, build, or grow your business we can help so if you could benefit from an unsecured business line of credit or an unsecured business loan come check us out at hawkeyemgmt.com and see who we are and what we do.

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management
888-783-1503 toll free

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Obama's SBA Plan...

Take a look at Obamas plan for increasing small business lending...use this link and scroll down to the top business videos. It's 7 minutes long and worth hearing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032072/ns/business

What I like about it is that they want to take $30B away from the banks bailout money to lend to main street.

Come check us out at hawkeyemgmt.com and learn more about our unsecured business lines of credit and unsecured business loans.

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management
888-783-1503 toll free

Friday, February 5, 2010

Entrepreneur Magazine Article...

The article in Entrepreneur magazine this month is interesting. They talk about what to do if your bank pulls your line of credit. Here's the link:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2010/february/204590.html

A couple interesting points. If you follow their suggestion about approaching a small, community bank or credit union then that's fine but just know that chances are that your line of credit will require both financials and collateral. Nothing wrong with that at all but these institutions don't normally offer these lines of credit without full financials and some collateral (such as a property with lots of equity in it).

It's also interesting if you see the example of the fees charged by the third party provider for the "unsecured lines of credit" - wow! I'm not mad at them and it's often still worth it even when the fees are that high but our fees are certainly not that high.

There's a lot of info in here so check it out.

And if you're looking for access to capital to start, build, or grow your small business then check out our website at hawkeyemgmt.com and see who we are and what we do.

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management
888-783-1503 toll free

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Guarantees...

I saw an interesting "warning" recently on a website of a competitor of ours. Here's what it says - and, of course, my response will follow:

WARNING: Anyone or any other Company out there making promises or guarantees to you regarding Approval Amounts or Time Frames is deceiving you - Hold on to your Wallet! No one can promise you any particular Approval Amount or Time Frame until you are actually Approved and Funded - That's the bottom line and anyone claiming otherwise is deceiving you or stretching the truth at the very least. Here at blahblahblah.com we don't play that game - We tell you the Truth, whether you like it or not.

I really think that sounds great. In fact, it's really good. There's parts of this paragraph that I even agree with. This is a perfect warning that reveals how we are different at Hawkeye Management. First of all I agree that you cannot and should not "promise" or "guarantee" that any one individual loan application will be approved. However, when a VERY THOROUGH pre-qualification is done by an expert who truly understands what the goal is and is seasoned at closing the kinds of loan products being sought then there's nothing wrong with extending a guarantee.

We offer guarantees to each of our clients. It's not always the same guarantee but normally it is because we're looking for some specific types of clients who we know we can help with a type of product that almost everyone wants and could use. Guarantees are usually only as good as the people offering them so my advise is to work with someone whom you feel is both an expert and leader in their field and also who you feel is trustworthy.

We're not a new company but nor are we a mega-sized company and, to date, we've never been unable to make good on our guarantees. We've certainly faced challenges and we sometimes set the bar lower than other times but we believe that if you have confidence in your ability to evaluate the borrower and then you're confident you have a product that will work for them then you should be willing to stand behind your work.

I am not saying that you can always offer guarantees and nor am I saying that if you don't offer guarantees that there's a problem. I'm only pointing out that we are willing to do what this website says should not be done.

Come check us out at www.hawkeyemgmt.com and see what we do. We offer a FREE, no-obligation pre-qual that will allow you to know what some of your unsecured lending options are.

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management
888-783-1503 toll free

Monday, February 1, 2010

PO Financing...

Here's a great article about a popular form of raising capital for small businesses. It's called Purchase Order Financing - PO Financing or sometimes PO Factoring for short.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/business/smallbusiness/31order.html

Like many other kinds of financing, there's a time and place for it. But, as the article points out, it's not cheap. Let me say that again, it's NOT CHEAP. We obviously don't offer any PO financing solutions at Hawkeye Management. However, anyone considering PO Financing or who has done some PO Financing should contact us for a few different reasons.

1. You want to make sure it's your best (or probably only) option
2. You want to position yourself to not have to do this high-cost form of borrowing again so if you let us assist you we might very well be able to transition you to bank financing much quicker.
3. We might be able to provide some or all of the financing you need at a mere fraction of the cost.

At Hawkeye Management we specialize in unsecured business lines of credit and unsecured business loans. Come check us out at www.hawkeyemgmt.com and learn more.

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management
888-783-1503 toll free

Saturday, January 30, 2010

SBA Loans...

If you don't already know this then it's important to understand that all banks are NOT created equal. Many of them "offer" SBA loans but they don't all do them often or efficiently. If you're interested in seeing the lenders in your area that close the most SBA loans this is a great resource:

http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/2008.html

You can search by state.

Also, feel free to inquire about our SBA loans that we can give you access to. If you're likely to qualify we'll show you how. We actually can help you get an SBA loan that does not require collateral or financials.

At Hawkeye Management we specialize in unsecured business lines of credit and unsecured business loans. Come check us out at www.hawkeyemgmt.com and see more about what we do and who we are.

Tom Gazaway
Hawkeye Management
888-783-1503 toll free

Friday, January 29, 2010

Do you know your O-P-T-I-O-N-S?

Are you a small business owner? Are you looking for access to capital to either start, build, or grow your company? Well, welcome to the club. In this economy it's tough. Chances are you're good at what you do. If you're a plumber you're probably good at it. If you're a lawyer you're probably good at whatever area of law you specialize in. I guess what I'm saying is that it can be hard to understand what different lending options exist for small businesses and then it can also be a challenge to actually understand which of those options you could actually qualify for.

It's obvious that a Fortune 500 company is going to have options that you as a small business owner don't have at your disposal. But it's also true that the IT company owner with 750 FICO's, $500k in the bank, and $5 million in annual sales has some great lending options that don't exist for a home-based real estate investor. The real estate guy might have better FICO's and more money in the bank but his list of lending options is still going to be very different - and probably not quite as good in many ways.

We understand what the small business lending options are and we specialize in unsecured business loans and unsecured business lines of credit that do not require collateral or financials. Don't fall for taking the advise of writers or academics when you can deal with someone who works with real life solutions for small business owners everyday. All of our solutions are A-Paper products so you either get the good terms on your capital or nothing at all.

Come check us out at www.hawkeyemgmt.com and see who we are and what we do.

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
hawkeyemgmt.com
888-783-1503 toll free

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Recent Story...

I had a client call earlier this week and he was in his 13th month of using some of his business lines of credit that we established for him so all of the 0% offers had ended. He wanted to know and understand his rates since the intro offers were now over for those lenders. We calculated on all 5 of his lines he had that the total balances were approx. $74,000. His average APR on all the lines was 7.49% and his APR was 7.12%. As you can see from his situation these products we offer come with good terms. His monthly payments were the same after his 0% offers ended as they were before...so his monthly budget is basically unchanged. Of course, a little less of his payments now go toward principal but that's to be expected.

Remember, that won't necessarily be everyone's story. This particular individual did a great job of managing what he had - he never had any late payments, never went over credit limits, etc. However, since we only assist people with A-Paper solutions you'll find that what we do is not only an answer to your needs for assessing some cash but the terms are excellent and it's the best way to create the best possible cash flow solutions for your monthly budget and you'll find that your interest expenses will be as minimal as possible.

At Hawkeye Management we specialize in unsecured business lines of credit and unsecured business loans. Come check us out at www.hawkeyemgmt.com and see what we do. We offer a free, no obligation pre-qual that is brief and will give you the answers to all the questions you have.

Tom Gazaway
Hawkeye Management
www.hawkeyemgmt.com
888-783-1503 toll free

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Two Ways to Get Money for Your Business

By Tom Gazaway

There are scores of different ways to raise money for your business. That doesn't mean it's easy, but there are many ways to get it done. When you boil it all down, though, the solutions ALL fall into one of two categories: debt or equity.

You can either get a loan or line of credit which is a debt solution, or you can give up equity to venture-capital funds, angel investors, or maybe your rich Uncle Fred.

If you don't know what your options are, then it's hard to be confident in the decisions you make. At Hawkeye Management, we specialize in unsecured business lines of credit and unsecured business loans.

Come check us out and you'll see some of the solutions we offer. Bottom line: We know the options and can answer your questions. We'll help you determine the right choice for your situation and get needed cash to your business -- fast.

Photo via Flickr user borman818

Monday, January 18, 2010

The Trouble With Credit Inquiries

By Tom Gazaway

If you're looking for capital for your business, then one of the most popular lending solutions is an unsecured business line of credit.

Normally, getting a line of credit attached to your business that does not require collateral is not an easy task. You're talking about one of the toughest products to obtain because it is, quite honestly, a higher risk to the bank or lending institution.

As a result, many banks do not offer these unsecured business lines of credit -- or they make it so difficult to obtain that they might as well not offer them (can anyone say Wells Fargo?).

What does this have to do with credit inquiries? Well, IF you have the excellent credit and IF you know which banks actually offer the product, and IF you know that your business and individual credit profile are a good match for them... then the number one reason business owners with good credit are denied for an unsecured business line of credit is: (drum-roll here)..."too many recent inquiries." This is a VERY common problem.

(By the way, a 700 FICO score puts you in the lower 50% of the population, so don't make the mistake of thinking you have better credit than you really do.)

At Hawkeye Management, we know how to solve these issues to get you the funding you need for your business. Startups are fine, too.

Hawkeye specializes in unsecured business lines of credit and unsecured business loans. So come check us out and let us show you how we can help. We offer a FREE, no obligation consultation to anyone interested, if you'll complete our very brief pre-qualification process.

Photo via Flickr user takomabibelot

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Unsecured Business Loans

Hey everyone...
We just recently rolled out a new unsecured business loan program so now we have that in addition to our unsecured business line of credit programs. It gives you access to 9 different lenders that offer different kinds of unsecured loans for you. The FICO scoring requirements are lower and more flexible than the line of credit scoring requirements so it's also a great program for people that want to or need to consoldate credit card balances. We provide free removal of your inquiries with Transunion and Equifax with this package as well. In case you don't know, the #1 reason why people with high FICO scores (750 and up) are denied for unsecured business lines of credit is for having "too many recent inquiries". There's also a bonus included in the loan package that you'll have to ask about.

Come check us out at www.hawkeyemgmt.com and see what we do.

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management
888-783-1503 toll free

Friday, January 15, 2010

Business Loans & Lines...

Would you like to have an unsecured business line of credit or an unsecured business loan? How 'bout if you could do that without needing full financial documentation so the process is quicker and easier? And would you like to do that so 1 of 2 things will happen to your credit: a) your excellent credit will be preserved or b) you can improve your credit if it's not where you would like it to be?

If that sounds good then stay tuned...there's more to come with lots of info on how to do this...the RIGHT way. Check us out at www.hawkeyemgmt.com and you'll see some of what we do.

Tom Gazaway CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management
888-783-1503 toll free

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Welcome to my site!

My name is Tom Gazaway. I'm the managing partner of Hawkeye Management. We're located in Blackwood, New Jersey and we do business in all 50 states. We help small business owners obtain unsecured business loans and lines of credit.

We help all types of businesses including real estate investors.

Check us out at www.hawkeyemgmt.com

Tom Gazaway, CCEW, CMPS, XCO
Hawkeye Management
888-783-1503 toll free