George was a highly specialized Internet Marketing Computer Geek.
Every small to large size company who understood the importance of e-commerce was looking for someone with his skills. However, when their HR Department called the Temporary Staffing Agency that he worked for the Employers would request a Computer Programming person with “All” the necessary experience in Computer Programming Languages.
The staffing agency lived by the motto that the customer is always right and surely these companies knew what kind of temporary contract worker they needed!
Wrong. It took them a couple months to realize that a Computer Programmer and an Internet Marketing person were two different animals. They did not understand that the Search Engine ‘Gods’ deal in “formulas” They didn’t quite understand that no matter how many computer programming languages you could write that did not mean you understood how to increase the number of web site visitors to 25,000 in one week and to 50,000 the next week.
George knew he had to do something, he had learned that the way to riches was to find a need and fill it. And there clearly was a need for a Staffing Agency who could provide skilled and professional Internet Marketing persons to the Corporate World
at a reasonable hourly rate.
George did his homework; there was room at the top of the Temporary Staffing Industry for him. Yes, a lot of the larger companies were hiring PR firms to do their Internet Marketing, but the PR Firms needed to hire a new type of marketing person. These new type of marketing persons had to be computer gurus. It did not much matter that they had never written a press release a day in their life, it only mattered that they understood Google ranking algorithm and Froogle’s (Google’s cousin) way of life.
George had every thing in place; he had collected dozens of his computer geek friends who wanted to work independent contract jobs once or twice a week. He trained them in the ways of the search engine spiders, SEO, link popularity and other necessary task. There was just one problem, and that’s how I meet George.
George’s small staffing business begin to grow faster then his Accounts Receivables.
George did not have the cash flow to pay his contract workers until the corporations paid him. Even after he invoiced his corporate client’s it would take 30 or more days to receive a check. Since there were about 20 close friends working with George, there had been no real problem. But now, there were dozens more clients’ who needed his services and he had no choice but to hire “real” employees.
George contacted me through the Taxes Will Travel web site. He explained what his problem was. I asked who his clients were and how much would he be billing his clients each
week? He was hesitant because he was new in business and had no credit references, except his student loan. I explained that his credit was not an issue, that the Financing
Company would be more interested in who his client’s were. (His client list read like a Whose Who in the Corporate World) When I explained there would be “no problem” I could tell he did not believe me. He was polite and ask how anyone could get a Line of Credit for $100,000 without a credit check or Financial statements. I explain to him that his “Customer’s” credit was the important factor and as long as he had an Invoice, I could find a Lender that would wire the monies into his account within 48 hours. He said “OK”, but I could tell he was not sure about me or what I had said to him.
I told him that I would have one of the Vice-president’s of one of the major companies that provide Invoice, Lines of Credit to Staffing Agencies contract him later that afternoon.
As I hung up the phone, I was hoping my contract would be available to talk to George as soon as possible. George needed to hear someone from the “top” say that there should be ‘no problem.’ I knew I had to move fast. As usual Mr. X was available to talk to my client that afternoon. George was instructed to fax information to the company that I had selected for him based upon his needs, and was able to Factor over $70,000 in Invoices that same week.
The Financial company wired the monies into his account and he was only a day late with his payroll — Of course we blamed it on the mail!
George’s need to hire Employee’s to handle the increasing number of contracts that his small staffing agency was getting was the reason for his need to do what we call “Factoring” or Accounts Receivable Financing, or Invoice, Line of Credit.
The Pilgrim’s journeys to America were financed by advances from a Factor who provided the funds to pay for the journey. The Pilgrims repaid the money with earnings from America. Factoring to this day is an extremely common business practice in Europe whereas many American business men have never heard of it.
Factoring is the selling of your accounts receivable for cash versus waiting 30-60 or 90 days to be paid by your customer. When you provide a Factoring company with copies of your invoices, the Factoring Company uses your invoices to make a loan to your company. It is a simple process and can be automated after the first transaction.
This article was written by C. Ingraham, Tax Specialist and Founder of
an Online Tax Resolution Service that provides Clients with Cash Flow Solutions.
