At Synergy Merchant Services, we are naturally very proud of our merchant cash advance program. One of the aspects of the program that we take the most pride in is the fact that it has helped so many business owners across Canada reach goals that they otherwise may not have achieved. With the extra capital that these owners have secured through their relationships with Synergy, the growth of their businesses was made possible.

Nevertheless, the merchant cash advance industry remains a very young one in Canada, thus far. Many Canadians, still in the process of learning about this alternative source of merchant funding, are understandably skeptical about utilizing this innovative resource for extra capital. This is why one of our primary objectives at Synergy is to introduce the program to merchants by providing a free, no obligation quote.

Getting this quote is just one of a few short steps to allowing your business that one extra opportunity to secure money for its growth. Sure, there are a number of options out there. Going to a bank to either secure a loan or take out a line of credit are two of the most well-known. However, we would like for Canadian business owners to regard our merchant cash advance program as one more option that, when compared to the others, may just be the right one for their businesses.

Let’s go through the steps to securing your approval for money through Synergy’s program just to show you how simple it can be.

Step #1: Speak To A Funding Specialist

A friendly conversation with one of our licensed funding specialists, that will take no more than a few short minutes of your time, will enlighten you as to exactly how our program works. A quick explanation of how much money your business may be approved for, what the cost of the merchant cash advance may be and what percentage of your sales may be used to pay it back will provide the fundamentals of what you need to know in order to take the next step.

Step #2: Supply Your Merchant Statements

Unlike banks, Synergy does not require collateral, liens, credit checks or any other documentation to provide you with a quote. All our funding specialists request is a look at some of your monthly merchant statements that display your Visa, MasterCard and Interac sales. Using these numbers, he or she will be able to determine what your business is qualified for.

Step #3: Receive Your Quote

As mentioned, our funding specialist will devise a quote for a merchant cash advance that is tailor-made for your business. By simply using your credit and debit card sales numbers, you can receive an accurate, to-the-penny description of how much money will be made available to you and what the cost of attaining the cash advance will be.

The best part is that the entire process to determine your approval may literally only take minutes. In addition, there is no obligation for you to enter into the program once you have received your quote. So what could be the harm in getting some information that may lead to your business’ growth and increased success? Call Synergy at 1-866-299-0101 for your free quote today.

At this time of year, Canadians are gathering together their wish lists for the upcoming holidays. And while some may be sending these lists off to Santa Claus, others are actually wishing that their gift of getting a new job will come true. Of course, the nation is still reeling from the recession and during its current battle to have its economy recover, hope is all that some Canadians have.

Sadly, although it is the season for cheer and joy, The Canadian Press reported earlier today that “Canadians are becoming more pessimistic over the strength of the economic recovery and what it will mean for their finances and job security, a new consumer confidence survey shows.”

In the Conference Board of Canada’s monthly survey, it was found that in November, confidence had dropped 5.7 points to 79 per cent. The greatest concern among respondents is job security. The unfortunate loss of over 400,000 jobs in the past year is clearly a contributing factor to this result.

Things don’t seem to be getting much better either. Even companies as large as Rogers Communications were forced to slash over 900 employees this past week. According to the report published by The Toronto Star: “The November survey found only 19.7 per cent of the respondents expected to find more jobs available over the next six months, down 3.2 points from October. As well, 25 per cent said they believe fewer jobs will be on offer, up 1.2 points.”

The report also notes that some economists see these low levels of hope as signs that consumers will naturally continue to spend less causing only further strain on the economy. Other economists, however, place less importance on these surveys questioning their accuracy to predict future economic performance.

Nevertheless, the latest survey, in addition to the recent increase in job losses only strengthen the notion that Canada is further away from true recovery than expected. Consumer confidence has decreased all throughout the country with only Quebec and the Prairies showing no major changes from the previous month.

One of the more startling revelations to come about from the November survey is the fact that 25.6 per cent of respondents felt that their finances were worse than they were six months ago. With so many Canadians feeling that their situations are only worsening, there is fear that even during the holiday season, spending will remain low.

The wish lists mount, as does concern for the state of the national economy. While many are thinking of shopping at this time of year, so many more are concerned about securing those jobs that will help them to even think about shopping next year at this time.

With the holiday shopping season pretty much upon us at this point, shoppers everywhere will be searching for bargains. The economy, being in its rough shape, has prompted numerous merchants to slash prices on items in order to lure customers into their stores. Apparently, bargain hunting will not be that difficult this holiday season. However, it will all depend on what type of shopping you are doing.

According to the QMI Agency’s Stefania Moretti in an article posted in the Toronto Sun today, luxury brand names are not expected to drop their prices at all. High-end stores are looking to present the notion that their products are still worth top dollar even during a recession. This may not be such great news for holiday shoppers looking to spend money on the shiny stuff.

Companies such as Tiffany & Co., an upscale jewelry shop, have reported larger-than-expected profits in the third quarter of this year. As Moretti reveals, Tiffany’s stock increased by almost 6 per cent thanks to strong overseas sales and improving sales in the United States.

Said Tiffany CEO Michael Kowalski: “We were pleased to see that the rate of sales decline in the U.S. lessened as the year progressed…At the same time, many countries in Asia-Pacific and Europe achieved considerably better-than-expected sales.”

Moretti also reports that U.S. handbag giant Coach Inc. also achieved strong sales and now have increased their growth projections for the year.

So how is it that these companies are able to survive the recession without slashing their prices? Large department store chains and supermarkets including Loblaws, Sears and Wal-Mart have all had to lower their prices in a battle for customers.

“Luxury brands, however, have done quite the opposite,” writes Morreti. They have opted instead to lessen their inventory levels. Tiffany, for example, decreased inventory by 6 per cent from last year.

John Torella, a senior partner at J.C. Williams Group Limited retail consulting firm explains that the slashing of prices can often jeopardize a brand’s image as opposed to helping it. High-end retailers tend to lower operating costs and inventory instead of prices to present a consistent shopping experience. Maintaining price points helps to convey the idea that the brand is not struggling and that the product has not declined in worth.

Says Torella: “As you get deeper into the Christmas season…you run the risk they’re not going to have inventory…But there’s a fine line because you also give up, to a certain degree, some sales opportunities.”

Over the past several months, the Synergy Merchant Services Blog has certainly done its part in sharing advice about how to start and maintain a healthy, successful business. While we, of course, believe strongly in receiving a free, no obligation quote for a merchant cash advance, there are many other methods to ensuring the longevity of one’s company.

Selling is key. Quite simply, no matter what tips you take into consideration when working to grow your business, it all comes down to sales. If you cannot sell your product or service, you cannot succeed. At the end of the day, it really is that simple.

In today’s Toronto Sun, Roger Pierce offers up no less than ten tips to help business owners boost sales in their small businesses. “If you recently launched a small business, you simply must sell,” writes Pierce, “With enough money coming in, you can hire more people to run your business, cover your operating costs, pay suppliers, retain lawyers and accountants to manage your finances, invest in marketing, purchase better equipment and, above all else, feed your family.”

Tip number one is to offer quality products and services. While this may seem obvious, too often business owners look to cut corners and supply themselves with sub-par products in hopes to sell them to the public for a greater profit. Of course, having to pay less to obtain the inventory may seem like a good way to make more on the turnaround. However, once your customer base catches wind about the inferiority of your products, your business will surely suffer.

Tip two, offers Pierce, is to “focus on the customer”. “Commit to doing what it takes to make them happy,” he writes. When your customer is satisfied, he or she will keep coming back. Business owners are encouraged to think of their first sale not just as immediate profit but as an opportunity to secure future sales. They will be inevitable if each of their customers are happy with their initial experiences.

Tip number three is to hire talented salespeople. According to Pierce, investing in training the right staff can go a long way. Having a dedicated and knowledgeable staff will help secure your business’ reputation as being reputable.

This ties into Pierce’s fourth tip which suggests that selling is all about developing relationships. The trust that you and your employees build with your customers will be strengthened by your honesty and reliability. It usually only takes one negative occurrence to spoil a client relationship forever.

Rounding out the top ten tips are paying more attention to your existing customers rather than finding new ones, aiming to be an industry leader through exceptional customer care, keeping your promises, avoiding saying bad things about your competitors, always be selling and committing yourself to always improving your selling system.

Following these tips, believes Pierce, will mean the difference between just starting a business and staying on top of your industry for the long haul.

Has it hit you yet? Have you been bitten by the holiday spirit with just under a week to go in November? For many Canadians, it seems that the warm of fuzzy feelings associated with the holidays are already upon them. The spirit of giving seems to be slowly taking over the country that has battled with a struggling economy over this past year.

According to Sharon Singleton of the QMI Agency – Quebec’s division of Sun Media – retail sales have gained for the seventh time in nine months as of this past September. Her article released earlier today confirms that nearly everything from cars to groceries have experienced a spurt in sales.

Although Statistics Canada reports that sales were 3.3 per cent lower than in September 2008, they had risen by 1 per cent from August 2009. The growth represents double the gain that economists had predicted. “It was a pretty impressive show of strength,” said Bank of Montreal economist Doug Porter.

Perhaps the Grinch that is the recession hasn’t completely stolen Christmas from Canadian holiday shoppers after all. Of course, the nation is still doing battle with the harsh economic times, working to recover from the recession. We are still experiencing job loss and the scarcity of new employment opportunities. As a result, slower consumer demand has put a strain on business owners, encouraging many of them to offer discounts on items to lure in customers during the holiday season.

Although spending seems to be on the rise, the sales are still down from a year ago. “That shows there’s still a lot of stress on the consumer,” says Porter. BMO’s surmises that September is Canada’s strongest month of the year in spite of the fact that the growing strength of the Canadian dollar has hurt U.S. demand for Canadian products. Losing business with our biggest trading partner, obviously, does not help the nation’s economy.

Statistics Canada reports that retail sales increased in eight provinces in September, with new cars enjoying the highest growth in sales. The only two provinces to not experience gains were Saskatchewan and Alberta, with the former seeing a decline and the latter seeing a plateau.

Writes Singleton: “Sales of used cars and at parts dealers increased 2%, while sales at food and drink outlets rose 1.3%. General merchandise sales rose 1.9%.”

The sectors that did not gain, she continues, included building and outdoor home supplies as well as clothing and accessories. Both sectors had generally flat sales throughout most of the year.

With another month to go in the year – the month when most consumers do most of their spending – there is hope that the nation will continue to slowly recover from the recession and truly have a happy holiday season.

One of the greatest benefits with working with Synergy Merchant Services is the knowledge that we have your best interests at heart. Business owners all over Canada do, at some point, look towards attaining extra capital to help grow their businesses. Synergy is in business to just that. We work to not just provide the necessary cash, but to assist Canadian businesses in growing.

We have been very frank with our clients throughout the past few years. If you are in need of money to pay off creditors, escape bankruptcy or simply stay afloat within your industry, our merchant cash advance program is not for you. Although it is not a steadfast requirement to inform our funding specialists about what your plans are for your cash advance, it is important to us to know that you will be using it wisely.

Why would we care, you ask? Well, it’s simple. Firstly, we want to ensure that our clients are happy. Clearly, if the money we provide is useful and sees a company gain greater profits over time, the owner will be more likely to continue with our business relationship. Secondly, we obviously want to ensure that we put ourselves in a position to have the merchant cash advance be paid back.

It would only be a disservice to provide working capital to a business that is practically ready to close its doors. Not only would it add an additional burden to the struggling company to make payments but it presents a great risk to us. Unlike with bank loans, the majority of the risk involved is placed on the shoulders of the merchant funder.

Some of the greatest aspects of our program is that we never ask our clients for collateral, liens or a credit check. So the customer is practically required to put nothing on the line. Another amazing element of our program is that there is no fixed repayment schedule guaranteeing that no client of ours could ever technically be late with a payment.

Since payments are made through a small percentage of a business’ future credit and debit sales, we ensure that no payment is ever unaffordable. We literally only get paid when the merchant is paid first. If the merchant does not make a sale, we do not receive a payment. It’s that simple.

So of course we want our clients to be prosperous. A healthy and growing business is positive news for all parties involved. Especially with the new decade approaching, we believe that this is an opportune time for business owners to think about growing and expanding their businesses to become leaders in the marketplace with the changing times.

A story that recently went around the Synergy Merchant Services office raised the notion of what makes doing business worthwhile. It can be summed up, so the story goes, by five letters that are similar to a radio station’s call letters. They are “WIIFM”. Apparently, everyone is listening to this station.

They stand for “What’s In It For Me?”. When you can answer this question, ensuring that all parties involved are satisfied, you can’t go wrong. This is one of our credos at Synergy. Perhaps it’s time we do business with you.

As we have proudly mentioned numerous times before, Synergy Merchant Services is a member of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association. As their website describes, “CRFA is one of Canada’s largest business associations, with 33,000 members representing restaurants, bars, caterers, institutions and other foodservice providers. CRFA works to create an environment that allows foodservice operators in communities across Canada to grow and prosper.”

Having worked diligently for years in an effort to represent its members at various levels of parliament, the CRFA recently outdid itself. Going as high as they could on the political ladder to have their voices heard, CRFA Directors and staff members met with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Parliament Hill on the 22nd of October.

In their meeting with the Prime Minister, the CRFA representatives delivered an important message about the foodservice industry. CRFA President and CEO Garth Whyte made sure to inform Harper of the many contributions the food industry has made to the Canadian economy.

As CRFA.ca reports, Whyte revealed to the Prime Minister that “restaurants make an important economic and social contribution to Canada (and) are at the heart of every community.”

“The business leaders in this room alone represent a combined $14 billion in sales and 300,000 employees…We’re not here to ask for money. We’re asking for recognition that the restaurant and foodservice industry is a valued industry in Canada,” said Whyte.

The CRFA left quite an impression on the head of our country. It was made abundantly clear that the foodservice business is a leader in the nation’s battle against the recession. A $60-billion industry, it represents one of Canada’s largest employers providing career opportunities to more than a million people from all over the country.

Shortly following the meeting, CRFA Chairman Brenda O’Reilly of St. John’s and First Vice Chairman Gerard Curran of Calgary presented Mr. Harper with a personalized chef’s jacket from CRFA.

The jury is out on whether or not Prime Minister Stephen Harper fancies himself to be a skilled chef. It is clear, however, that he is aware that both restaurants and food suppliers alike help to shape the social fabric of Canada. Between the service, nourishment and jobs it provides, the food industry is integral to the health and success of the nation.

Starting up a new business is a huge step to take in life. Many entrepreneurs plan for years before setting up shop and opening the doors of their brand new company for the first time. Needless to say, it takes a great deal of planning and most certainly a sizeable amount of money to get things going.

Freelance writer and University of Albany journalism major, Anne Lempereur recently wrote an article for Gaebler.com – a resource of entrepreneurs – discussing the importance of a business’ practices during its first year to ensure that it is successful.

The first year is crucial, says Lempereur, as this is the time a business owner will spend most of his or her startup money. It is a time when there are many bills to pay but not necessarily enough profits being made from the business to cover all of them. The first year is also very important because owners must work diligently to build up customer recognition and loyalty as quickly as possible.

“Success does not happen overnight,” writes Lempereur, so it should be expected for things to move slowly once the business has gotten itself off the ground. Some first-year business owners run out of money quickly by not pacing themselves while trying to grow their new businesses. Monitoring the spending of money is critical to the business’ success.

Lempereur also notes that one of the most common problems that entrepreneurs face during their first year in business is “falling behind on payroll taxes or failing to budget for taxes on business income.” Running into tax problems usually sets owners on a destructive path that is difficult to recover from.

Another common dilemma, she writes, is the setting of expectations that are generally too high during the first year. Expecting unrealistically high levels of success so soon can hurt one’s progress within the marketplace. “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” she reminds us.

Lempereur does however, bring to our attention that the first year of running a business does have its perks. It is a time when owners get to really come to know their products and markets allowing them to learn and get familiar with their industries. Finding good employees is also another benefit. These relationships, of course, can last a lifetime.

Keeping a positive, yet realistic attitude is most certainly an asset. Stay focused and mindful about your spending are keys to prosperity. The next thing you know, your first year of business will have gone by in what feels like a flash.

It is at that point, of course, that your business then becomes eligible for a merchant cash advance. And you know who to call once that becomes the case.

Believe it or not, 2010 is just around the corner. And whether you like it or not, we are not just about to enter into a new year, but a brand new decade is on the horizon. Business owners all across Canada are currently thinking of ways to take their businesses to the next level of success, knowing that times are changing.

There are so many new technologies used today that were not even thought of a decade ago. The benefits of using the internet, for example, have proven to be endless. Companies make constant use of their websites and other social networking portals to establish themselves as leaders in the marketplace. It wasn’t too long ago that a magazine ad was among the first ideas to advertise. This, although not yet a thing of the past, is generally not a top resource.

Funding for advertising, among other things, has also changed. With the current economy still struggling to reclaim its strength, business owners are finding it harder and harder to secure the extra capital needed to take their companies to the next level.

Over the past decade, the merchant cash advance has found its way into the Canadian marketplace as a legitimate alternative source of funding for business owners. It is our strong belief that over the next decade, merchant cash advances will be considered very popular choices.

Today, however, the concept of having a merchant cash advance company purchase the future credit and debit card receivables of a business, is still a relatively foreign one. However, the practice of “factoring” future receivables is not brand new.

Wikipedia.org describes factoring as a “financial transaction whereby a business sells its accounts receivable (i.e. invoices) to a third party (called a factor) at a discount in exchange for immediate money with which to finance continued business.”

That’s it. One of the first things that we describe to our clients is the fact that they are not borrowing money. Instead, they are participating in a transaction. Synergy literally buys a portion of their future sales at a discount in order to get the merchant the necessary cash to help his or her business grow. This is how business owners avoid the hassles of paying interest and having their credit score potentially damaged. No credit is involved at all.

As Wikipedia describes, “factoring differs from a bank loan in (that) the emphasis is on the value of the receivables (instead of) the firm’s credit worthiness. Secondly, factoring is not a loan – it is the purchase of a financial asset…Finally, a bank loan involves two parties whereas factoring involves three.”

Perhaps, it’s time you factor Synergy into your plans for the new year. A simple quote is all it takes to get you started on your path to taking your company to the next level.

The struggling state of the economy today coupled with the difficulty of securing and keeping employment make affording day-to-day life necessities a cumbersome task for many Canadians. Now Torontonians can add increased bus fare to the list of arduous things to afford.

Early today, the Toronto Transit Commission, the city’s public transport authority, announced a 25-cent fare hike that will be implemented in the new year. As Jonathan Jenkins reports in the Toronto Sun, the hike is designed to help the TTC dig its way out of its $100 million operating budget deficit. Jenkins writes, however, that the hike itself will not completely solve the problem.

Says TTC deputy chairman and city councillor Joe Mihevc: “I really regret the 25 cents…We know some people can’t afford it and if there was another way we would have chosen it.”

While this additional stress on the wallet – one that is impossible for many Torontonians to avoid as they depend on the TTC for transportation – will impact all riders, post-secondary students were given somewhat of a break in being granted the right to pay a student fare along with high school pupils regardless of age or course load. That student fare, however, will jump from $1.85 to $2.00 in January.

According to Wikipedia.org, the TTC is the third most heavily-used urban mass transit system in North America, after the New York Transit Authority and the Mexico City Metro. Meanwhile, the Toronto Sun reports that Toronto’s transit riders pay the highest fares in the world. An adult fare of $2.75 (which will become $3.00 in 2010) is a full 50 cents more expensive than the adult fare a New Yorker pays to take public transportation.

The Sun also reports that Toronto’s monthly “Metropass” is the most expensive way to take public transportation in Canada. The current price of $109.00 is set to increase to $126.00. Meanwhile, citizens of Montreal pay only $68.50 for their monthly pass from the Montreal Metro.

As always, the TTC does offer a more “cost-efficient” method to “ride the rocket”. The cost for adult fare tokens will go from $2.25 to $2.50 each, saving riders 50 cents a ride if these are purchased. A weekly pass is also available for $32.25, which will jump to $36.00 in January.

The TTC has long advertised that it is “The Better Way” to get around the city. Torontonians, faced with another fare hike, are now likely thinking a new slogan is in order.

Family-owned businesses are popular all throughout Canada. Many of these businesses have been passed down from generation to generation holding a significant place within the family’s history. Often, these family-owned businesses tend to provide that “warm and fuzzy” feeling associated with a product considered to be reputable and long-standing within the community.

Although many family businesses have sustained certain families for generations, there are a number of hardships that come along with maintaining the success of these ventures.

Michael J. Conway, JD is General Counsel for the Baja Fresh Mexican Grill chain of restaurants in Thousand Oaks, California and Stephen J. Baumgartner teaches strategy at the Graziadio School of Business and Management and consults at the Encino, California, law firm of Greenberg & Bass, LLP. Together, they have written about the many pitfalls that have lead to the demise of family-owned businesses and offer tips on how to avoid them.

The first pitfall, they write, is failing to document the terms of the agreement in writing. They regard this as the single most common and costly mistake made by family business owners. Most people assume that because they are dealing with family members, there is no reason to generate a written agreement. Some feel that even raising the topic with family members is taboo.

Conway and Baumgartner insist upon having written agreements to help avoid the potential of future problems within the business. “Without a formal agreement,” they write, “the business and the family members will be at the mercy of the Corporations Code, which may result in unintended and unfavorable consequences for everyone. In the event of litigation, more often than not, the family members will find themselves arguing over the terms of their oral agreements.”

Another pitfall that is common in family businesses is failing to plan for the future. Family members, say Conway and Baumgartner, should put as much attention into planning the succession of their business as they do their personal estate planning. Without a plan, the business could potentially fold if the owners cannot work together to manage it, especially in the event of something unexpected or tragic.

There are a number of things to consider. How would a divorce impact the business? What would happen in the event of an owner’s death? What if an owner wants out of the business?

These are just some of the questions that owners of family businesses should ask themselves to avoid the collapse of a business that has, in itself, become a member of the family. Family businesses are great assets to communities all over the country. Like the families themselves, these businesses need to be protected.

At Synergy Merchant Services, we take great pride in the fact that we have helped Canadian business owners increase the success of their businesses over the past few years. In addition to providing them with the extra capital needed to grow and expand, we encourage our clients to think of the innovative ways that they can remain competitive in the marketplace.

It is the forward-thinking and motivated type of personality that we most enjoy encountering in our day to day activities. Business owners who think first about how to make their money work for them before thinking about the cost of attaining the merchant cash advance generally find themselves in the most prosperous of positions.

One of the greatest benefits of our cash advance program is the fact that no interest ever accrues on an outstanding balance. Unlike with bank loans, our clients are not charged an interest rate. Of course, we never hide the fact that there is a charge for the money we provide our clients. This cost – our “discount fee” – is revealed in our free, no obligation quotes.

It is called a discount fee simply because it represents the discount we receive as a result of buying a portion of a merchant’s future credit and debit sales. Naturally, the amount of cash that is advanced upfront is less than the total amount of the repayment. How could there not be a cost of doing business?

Our clients find that knowing this cost right away is of great use to them. This way, they can plan to spend the money they receive in such a way that it secures them greater profits moving forward.

The most successful business owners work into their own charges to their customers amounts that will ensure that their profits rise and that repayment is easy. They see the merchant cash advance as a means of making even more money, and in so doing worry not about having to pay back the advance in addition to its cost.

Generally, by the time the advance is paid back, a merchant’s increased sales ensures that his or her income demonstrates a higher profit margin. Through expansion, renovation, the purchase of new equipment, advertising and other business-growing methods, our clients are finding that paying back the cost of the cash advance is a painless process.

Consider too, that there is no fixed repayment schedule. Our clients sometimes forget that they are even making payments since no cheque need ever be written. We encourage those who may be thinking of growing their businesses in the new year to consider this alternative source of merchant funding.

We know that if you make your cash work for you, you will not worry about the charge for the money. Instead, you will be laughing all the way to the bank. Ironic, isn’t it?

Many business owners all thoughout Canada have had the displeasure of walking into a bank in an effort to secure a business loan. The process is a gruelling one that requires an abundance of documents to be submitted and much time to be spent. Often, after weeks of attempting to comply with the demands of the bank, a business owner is informed of the decline of his or her request for that well-needed extra capital.

The majority of banks, especially during the state of the current economic crisis, feel that it is too risky to provide lines of credit and business loans for fear that they will not be repaid. Interestingly, the requirements to secure a loan actually put the person requesting the money at great risk of losing what he or she owned before even stepping into the bank.

This is because one of the most significant requirements of a bank is collateral. As defined by Wikipedia.org, “collateral is a borrower’s pledge of specific property to a lender, to secure repayment of a loan. The collateral serves as a protection for a lender against a borrower’s risk of default.” In other words, if a borrower fails to make timely payments, his or her property may be forfeited.

Imagine the bank owning your home, car or store. It causes great wonder to think about how the banks can feel that they are the ones at risk when it is those who are looking to borrow money have to put so much on the line. Of course, with Synergy’s merchant cash advance program, no collateral is ever necessary. A business owner looking for extra capital never needs to worry about losing what he or she already owns when participating in our program.

Banks often may also request that a lien is put against a borrower’s property. “A lien,” says Wikipedia.org, “is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation.”

Liens may includes mortgages, car loans and security interests among other properties. Similar to collateral, placing a lien on one’s property creates a risk of losing said property in the event of a default payment. Again, when receiving a merchant cash advance from Synergy, no liens are necessary.

Our clients are among some of the most stress-free business owners in Canada. By using a merchant cash advance to help grow their businesses, they are keeping competitive in each of their respective industries. Just as important, however, these clients know that there is no risk of losing their homes, cars, stores or other properties. Dealing with the banks, they find, is much more risky business.

On the eleventh day of the eleventh month of each year, Canada honours those who sacrificed their lives in the field of battle for this great country. The entire nation, with the exception of Ontario and Quebec, recognizes Remembrance Day as a public holiday.

Although it is uncertain why these two provinces observe the day but do not recognize it as a holiday, we at Synergy Merchant Services, paid our respect to our fallen troops of wars past by conducting a moment of silence at 11:00am this morning.

Remembrance Day is also known as Poppy Day, Armistice Day and Veterans Day depending on where in the world you observe it. It commemorates both the members of the armed forces and civilians who have served and died in wars since the First World War. Today’s date was chosed for this observance as it marked the end of World War I in 1918.

In fact, as Wikipedia reveals, “major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.”

All throughout the country today, ceremonies were held to honour our fallen soldiers. Today Prince Charles, who is recognized as being part of the Canadian Royal Family due to Canada’s inclusion in the Commonwealth, presided over the national ceremony at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

Often, the ceremony incorporates gun salutes and the tolling of bells at the Peace Tower. Of course, the vibrant red poppy has become synonymous with Remembrance Day in Canada. Usually a tradition that starts at the beginning of each November, many Canadians can be seen wearing felt-made poppies with black centres (formerly green) that are pinned to one’s shirt or jacket, usually over the area of the heart.

The poppies are of great significance because of the growth of these flowers in Flanders Fields. This was the generic name given to the battlefields of France in World War I. The area was made popular by the poem “In Flanders Fields”, in which Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae writes of the poppies growing there.

McCrae’s poem, written on May 3, 1915, was inspired by the death of his 22 year-old friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer the day before. An exerpt:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

This unforgettable poem and the observance of Remembrance Day ensure that we never forget those who lost their lives to protect their nation.

One of the most puzzling things to a brand new client at Synergy Merchant Services is the method by which our merchant cash advances are paid back. In a world, where both consumers and business owners alike are so used to the concept of making monthly minimum payments towards paying down a balance, it is hard for some to grasp the concept of having no fixed repayment schedule.

Of course, our funding specialists are only too happy to explain the vast differences between the payback methods offered by Synergy and traditional banks. Let’s start first with what people are used to.

Paying back a bank loan means, of course, that interest will accrue on your outstanding balance. Therefore, with each payment, the amount that is being paid is broken up between paying off the interest and the principal balance. Interest, by the way, takes priority and payment is always designated towards paying off interest before your balance sees a decrease.

As time goes on, interest continues to accrue on this outstanding balance until another timely payment is made. If one wishes to pay off more of the principal balance, then he or she must obviously make a larger payment by the due date. If, on the other hand, payment is not made by the due date, a penalty ensues.

This will not only affect one’s credit score negatively as the payment will be considered past due, but a late fee is generally also charged as a result. In addition, more interest is heaped onto the balance, often causing greater financial stress on the borrower.

With a merchant cash advance, there is no such thing as a late payment. This is because of one of the program’s finest features. There is no fixed repayment schedule. Instead of a due date, payments are simply made through an automated process that sees a small percentage of a merchant’s credit and/or debit sales put towards the repayment of the cash advance.

Quite simply, a payment towards repaying the cash advance is only made when a sale is made in the merchant’s place of business. If no sale is made, then no payment is made either. This is never considered a late payment so there is no such thing as being behind on payments.

With no fixed repayment schedule, a merchant lives with the comfort of knowing that whether he or she takes six months or one year to repay the cash advance, the amount being paid back will remain the same.

No accruing interest rate. No late payments. No penalties. No kidding!