Loans & Finances Today

A lot of us (as well as this writer) have applied personal credit cards in order to fund the launch or development of our company. It is not difficult, quick, and accessible. The rates of interest might be less than business credit cards. And, you might have depleted your company loans or credit lines. However there are some hazards in making use of your individual credit cards to fund your company, as opposed to making use of business credit cards or credit.

You cannot deduct the interest. Should you combine individual & company expenditures on your credit card, you simply can’t deduct the interest due to the fact a portion of the debt is a result of individual expenditures. In case you are carrying a reasonable degree of debt, this may equal to a lot of money every month.

You’ll miss deductions. If you’re arbitrarily utilizing individual credit cards for company expenditures, you’ll certainly overlook to enter all those bills into your accounting program. Meaning that you’ll miss a tax deductions that you deserve to get.

You’ll be on “the hook” for what is usually the company’s financial obligations. In case your business needs debt financing, the company (as well as its resources) ought to be accountable for settling that debt financing, not your own personal property. If you work with individual credit cards then you’re clearly personally responsible for the borrowed funds, even when something happens to the company (you close it down, for instance).

It’s not possible to correctly monitor the actual costs of the company. When you’re examining the gains & loss records of your company and making your money circulation forecasts for approaching months, you’ll need precise details about your historical expenditures. When you have costs “hiding” within your individual credit card records, you will not be able to evaluate if your company is really making a good profit, or if your company features income difficulties.

The Lambert Review Of Business-University Collaboration, published in December 2003 looked at the relationship between industry and academia in scientific research and commercialisation of that research. It broadly supports the Government’s approach to ‘third stream funding’ which promotes knowledge transfer. The amount of money spent by UK companies on research and  development (R & D) is low compared with other industrialised nations: about $410 per person compared with $700 per person in France and $1300 in the USA.

There are barriers to commercialising university IP, including lack of clarity on ownership in research collaboration and in the variable quality of university technology transfer offices. Universities perform well by international standards in science and technology. There has been a marked change of culture, with many universities casting off their ivory tower image and playing a much more active role in their regional and national economy. But, there had been too much emphasis on spinouts over the last decade compared with licensing fend other forms of commercialisation).

When we received the Notice of Allowance for our first patent, meaning that we would be awarded the patent, and were able to obtain a license agreement, that all changed. Our licensee was immediately able to place Ghostline® in all of the stores we had coveted, and more. Our new product had immediate nationwide distribution. If we had continued to manufacture and distribute the product ourselves, we would never have obtained that level of success.

The more of the above-listed criteria your invention meets, the greater are your chances of success. This does not mean that if it does not meet all of these criteria your product cannot be successful; it just means it is not as likely. For example, an expensive item that is a one-time purchase can be a successful invention if the potential market is large enough.

Inventors who are operating on a shoestring budget would be well advised to seriously consider each one of the listed criteria. Among your many great ideas, maximize your chances of success and minimize the likelihood that you will spend money unnecessarily by carefully choosing the idea that will require the least amount of cash outlay with the greatest potential for commercialization.