I just saw Denise O’Berry’s post “Credit Becoming Available to Small Business Again (Slowly)” on her Small Business Expert blog. Denise knows this territory very well because she focuses a lot of her work on the financial side of small-business management. She says:

It’s been a long, dry spell, but I think things are slowly picking up again.

She also includes a Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp list of 10 tips for making your business as credit-worthy as possible. That’s about paying on time, minding the reporting and credit rating, and so on.

Remember, banks don’t loan money for ideas or business plans. They’re subject to laws that govern collateral and lending to protect depositors. So whether you get the money depends a whole lot more on the risk you present to the bank than on the bank’s guess of your future prospects. You need assets to match what you borrow.

Also remember, what you borrow from a bank is money you’re going to have to repay. That’s not free. I say you should work your business planning carefully, and make sure it’s a good risk for you, regardless of the bank’s risk, before you apply for the loan at the bank.

But after those words of caution are done, credit lines can be a healthy financial tool when your cash flow is caught in waiting for your business customers to pay, or buying inventory; and when you use commercial bank loans to finance growth, then if the growth happens you haven’t added new investment to dilute your ownership. You’ve leveraged off somebody else’s money.

Just plan well, please, before you do it.

Denise O’Berry knows cash flow. Her book Small Business Cash Flow is short and to the point, easy to read, and full of good advice. I’m not big on Facebook, by any means, but I have become a Facebook fan of that book.

And speaking of cash flow, Denise has a contest going this month that can give you $50 worth of gift-certificate cash flow, if you have the best photo or best video about the book. That’s at her site cashflowtruth.com.

And Denise does an excellent blog called Just for Small Business. It’s a good resource.

And no, by the way, we’re not related; her last name is O’Berry, mine is Berry. There may be some connection back in the Middle Ages in Ireland, but not that we know of. I’ve never met Denise, but I have talked with her several times, and I follow her as @DeniseOberry on Twitter. I like her work.

Tim Berry
President and Founder
Palo Alto Software

Denise O’Berry’s post last Friday called Get Your Company on the Online Video Track – It’s Easy on her Just for Small Business blog is a good reminder, with good resources. The key point:

If you’re intimidated by the thought of jumping into the online video pond, don’t be. It’s a piece of cake to do and YouTube simplifies the process for you.

With a simple camera like a Flip and a few minutes, you too can add good value and content to your website or blog.

She also points to this simple YouTube tutorial from Small Business Trends:

If you don’t see it here, you can click this link to see it on YouTube.