Have you as a small business owner applied for a loan and the bank tells you you’re not bankable?

ABC Company needs to make payroll twice a month; however, their clients takes 30 to 60 days to pay on the receivable.  By selling each invoice within 24 hours of its creation, ABC Co. has achieved the following:

• Payroll is always met on time

• Sales volume increase

• Staff has been added to generate more revenue

Here is another example:

XYZ Company has Purchase Orders in the amount of $150,000 and a supplier that requires cash on delivery.  In addition, there is an IRS tax lien of $60,000.  XYZ currently has $95,000 in outstanding receivables and their client takes 45 to 60 days to pay.  After a payment plan has been approved by the IRS, XYZ can sell its invoices for cash within 24 hours of their creation and achieve the following:

• A 2% discount has been received for supplies purchased with cash.

• Purchase order backlog is being satisfied

• Sales volumes increase

Other benefits of Factoring:

• Business owner does not incur any debt as they  are “selling” the receivable

• Business owner does not have to give up any equity and lose autonomy and have to share in the profits they generate

• Take advantage of early payment discounts from suppliers

• Improve the credit of the small business owner by building credit

• No longer need to offer early payment discounts

• Professional credit monitoring of your clients

• Business owner can concentrate on building their business and not have to worry about collections

*As banking standards get more and more rigid, Factoring is an excellent alternative for business owners to obtain the working capital they need, and the flexibility they crave without having to give up equity or ownership in their business.  Factoring is also perfect for the business owners whose business is very seasonal or has “peaks and valleys”, where their need for capital fluctuates.  Lastly, it is a great way for the business owner to monitor the credits of their clients; a factoring company can be your in house credit department by monitoring the credit worthiness of your clients.  Something business owners rarely consider. 

The Small Business Finance blog is graciously written by Francis Kestler of BlueJacket Financial.

Francis Kestler is the President and CEO of BlueJacket Financial.  

BlueJacket Financial provides financing and capital to small, medium and large business. 

Francis will also be writing a monthly, small business finance blog for the WPB Chamber. His first post, " Accounts Receivable Factoring: The working capital a business needs," will be posted next Monday, the 10th of June. Be sure to keep following for more invaulable tips, resources, and insight into the murky waters of small business finance.

Seeing how hard it was for business owners to get the funding they need from traditional banking sources.  There are many businesses that lack the necessary capital to sustain or grow their business.  BlueJacket Financial was created to give business owners funding options for their business whether they’re a startup, an existing business looking to expand, or a turnaround story.  

This blog post was contributed by: Malcolm Logan, a freelance writer and Wicker Park Bucktown resident. Visit his website at www.fillmyemptyblogspace.com. He can be reached at malcolm.logan@rcn.com.

Bucktown’s Feast is more than just a restaurant.  

Oh sure, the wonderful flavors served up by Chef Debbie Sharpe are a treat for the palate, but then there are the aromas, textures and presentation of such dishes as barbecue salmon with buttermilk hot cakes and slow cooked lamb shank with shaved romano, making for a total sensory experience - and that’s just what’s on the plate in front of you.

Check out the wine list.  

Noted sommelier, Bret Heiar, recent winner of the Australian Regional Wine Immersion Program, has carefully selected more than 50 delectable vintages.  It’s hard to go wrong.  But for a true Bucktown experience, few things match the sublime pleasure of sipping a cool, crisp chardonnay on Feast’s flower-filled patio in the summer.  Talk about immersion!

Even if you have a specialized diet, Feast can make your dining experience - well, a feast.  

There are more than two dozen gluten free choices and plenty of inspired vegetarian options like the black bean veggie burger with pepper jack, avocado and chipotle aioli, or the beloved butternut squash ravioli with spiced walnuts, crispy sage leaves, brown butter and goat cheese.And dessert?  How about a delicious tiramisu made up of layers of espresso soaked cake dripping in chocolate sauce?  Or white chocolate citrus bread pudding with lime creme anglaise and orange tuile garnish?  Are your senses exulting?

And Feast is a feast for the eyes.  

Working from a palate of violets and earth tones, the setting is vibrant and cheerful.  In the summer the spacious outdoor patio is a huge neighborhood favorite.  In the winter, a cozy fireplace provides a cushy refuge while you await your table.  

But for all Feast’s sensual charms nothing beats its famed brunch.  

Sweet and savory choices abound.  Standouts include oatmeal pancakes with cinnamon-apple compote, honey-vanilla butter and walnut brittle; and eggs royale with two poached eggs and smoked salmon over an english muffin with hollandaise sauce and caviar.  Yum.

Yes, Feast is more than just a restaurant.  

Breakfast, lunch or dinner, it’s a feast for the senses.  If you find yourself in Bucktown, take some time out to enjoy Feast.  Immerse yourself in it.  You’ll be glad you did.

Feast

1616 N Damen Ave
(between Wabansia & Milwaukee Ave) 
Chicago, IL 60647  
(773) 772-7100 
www.feastrestaurant.com

Only a Few More Days Left to Enter to Win a Beautiful Bucktown Poster

Answer questions on what kinds of businesses you'd like to see in Wicker Park Bucktown and where you'd like to spend your dollars and you're entered to win this beautiful screen-printed Bucktown poster by StudioChris. Make sure to include your email address for a chance to win! Take our survey now. 

May Chamber Mixer at The Anthem

When: Wed, May 16th, 6-8pm
Where: The Anthem, 1725 W. Division
Cost: Free for Chamber Members, $5 for Non-Members
Grow your network or just casually meet your neighbors at the Chamber's May Networking Event at The Anthem! Click here for more information and to RSVP. 

Summer Sidewalk Sales

Wicker Park Fest 2012

Every Day is Earth Day

Keep up your efforts to go green and save money with some earth-friendly ideas that you can act on any day of the year: 

Small Business Energy Savings Program 

Small businesses receive expert advice on energy-saving improvements for their business, and assistance with the application for rebates on energy improvement investment. There are program freebies too, such as compact fluorescent lamps, faucet aerators, and pre-rinse sprayers! For more information, please click here. 

10 Simple Things: WPB Green Designation 

The Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber's Green Committee has assembled a list of actions, ranging from simple, low-cost tasks to big ticket investments with long term pay-offs for member businesses that wish to go green and save money. Review the list, complete ten action items, and earn "WPB Green" designation. For more information, please click here. 

Featured Green & Eco-Friendly Chamber Members:

Greenheart Shop, 1911 W. Division, is Chicago's premier eco-fair trade non-profit shop, carrying eco fair trade products made by artisans from around the world.

The ReBuilding Exchange, 2160 N. Ashland, a project of the Delta Institute, offers reclaimed building materials at a fraction of the cost, keeping them out of our landfills, and available to residents at all income levels, particularly those who can't afford the rising costs of such materials. Classes and volunteer opportunities also available!

Reynolds Power/Zap My Bill, 1286 N. Milwaukee, is a commercial, medical, municipal and industrial full-service energy solutions company that offers a fresh and innovative process for helping you save money on electricity and natural gas. 

For a complete list of Green & Eco-Friendly Chamber Member Businesses, please click here.

Win a Bucktown Poster! 

Take our survey, do something great for our neighborhood and get a chance to win a beautiful screen printed poster by StudioChris! In this 10-minute survey, you can tell us what kind of businesses you want (or don't want) to see in Wicker Park Bucktown. Include your email address and you've got a chance to win. Fast & Easy! Take the survey now. Good Luck! 

Summer Event Vendor Applications

We are NOW accepting vendor applications for the following exciting upcoming Chamber events and festivals. 

For artists, retail, restaurants and non-profits:
Wicker Park Fest 
July 28-29

Polish Triangle Marketplace
June 7-Sept. 27 

For Wicker Park Bucktown Businesses:
Summer Sidewalk Sales
July 21-22 and/or Aug. 25-26 

Space is limited, so please send in your application today!

Your Input Needed!

The Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce and WPB SSA #33, 1414 N. Ashland, need your input! We have hired Business Districts, Inc, to conduct a market study to identify our neighborhood's unique strengths and opportunities. Please take the survey now and pass it on to your customers, partners, neighbors, and fellow business owners. Your help completing and circulating the survey will be invaluable to the market study results and help our local economy thrive. Thank you!

Read more...

Last we met on this here local blog, I mentioned a bit about The 3/50 Project. It's a simple concept based on the idea of "saving the brick and mortars our nation is built on" one local store at a time.

Easy, right?

If you take a moment to check out The 3/50 Project's website, you'll find the following local businesses:

Shop small, shop ethically and save the community in which you live. Your neighbors will love you for it!

This blog was contributed by: Stephanie Sack, not your typical, well, anything. She is a Chicago native, your friendly neighborhood Wicker Park and Bucktown Chamber Vice-President, small business owner, plus-size fashion expert, Bikram Yoga addict, and rabid Kraftwerk fan.  She rarely reads fiction, because she far prefers the unbelievability of reality. You can come see her or her awesome staff at her two shops: vive la femme, which is Chicago's only independent boutique for curvaceous cutie pies between sizes 12-24; or violette, Bucktown's only cheap-n-cheerful shoe store that features street chic footwear up to a size 11.

Clinking cocktail glasses. Suburban homes. A bowl of gin for dinner.

The American lifestyle from the fifties and sixties has been brought back from the sidelines to the limelight thanks to the glamorous gals in television programs such as Mad Men and Pan Am, as well as other cultural touchstones in independent film and high fashion.  Happily for the broads who like to show off their gams, Wicker Park boasts an welcoming oasis of ladylike vintage style, Store B.

Open now for nine years, Store B is packed with carefully curated fashion treasures thanks to the studied eye of its owner, David James Ginople.  A student of costume design with a degree in textiles and clothing, Mr. Ginople has been a resident of Wicker Park for seventeen years and came into the concept basically by accident when the previous shop in the space began consigning a handful of his vintage pieces and suddenly asked if he wanted to take over the business.  Having sold labels in the past such as Pucci, Leonard of Paris, and Zandra Rhoodes, Mr. Ginople knew he had a practiced eye for retro clothing and, luckily for Wicker Park, Store B was born.

This blog entry was contributed by: Julie Horowitz Jackson, happily calling Bucktown her home now for fifteen years. Her store, Virtu, celebrated 11 years in business last month. Her husband owns Color Wheel Studio, another Bucktown business, and their son attends Pulaski International Academy, one of Bucktown’s four neighborhood CPS schools. Go goat or go home!

Bucktown & Wicker Park have long been communities of social responsibility.

From local garden clubs to farmer’s markets, green shops and school programs, you don’t have to look very far to see sustainable practices in place in your own neighborhood.

Three local boutiques embrace this concept to the core.

Most recently on the street, children’s boutique The Red Balloon Co. has moved their Bucktown location to bigger digs just down the block to 1940 N Damen Avenue.  When conceptualizing the store, owner Jennifer Pope devised a series of displays using upcycled items. Take, for example, the walls themselves. Rather than go with a traditional material like slatwall construction, Ms. Pope sourced reclaimed flooring to build her wall displays racks.

The tiny dressing room features vignettes of pages collected from vintage children’s books. Books for sale are housed in the library built from found crates. Simple statements are made with resources found locally and put to new and inventive uses.

Just up the street at 2064 N Damen sits Virtu, my own store, featuring the work of some of the nation’s finest craft artists. September 11th happened the year that we opened our doors and it became very important to me to support handmade in America. Of utmost importance to so many of our artists is where their raw materials come from.

Consider local stationers, Snow & Graham, who print on FSC certified paper that has been manufactured, in many cases, through natural wind power.

Jennifer Dawes, one of our fine jewelers, launched Sustainably Beautiful, her initiative in creating jewelry in a socially and environmentally responsible way. She only uses recycled gold, conflict free diamonds and responsibly mined stones. "I try to leave as small a footprint on this planet as possible."

Heather Hambrecht of h(om)e, our neighbor to the North, provides us with one of a kind handbags stitched together by hand from entirely reclaimed leathers. As a vegan, she doesn’t want to see the leather “dying in a landfill” so she sources hides
 from upholsterers, car manufacturers, boot makers and more. 

Further down the block, you will find Stitch at 1723 N Damen. This longtime local lifestyle boutique features a well-edited selection of signature home accessory lines, including furnishing from Gus*. The Gus* philosophy centers around the inspiration of simple forms and honest materials. Each eco-friendly couch, chair, and side table is made from FSC certified woods, kiln fired in their Canadian headquarters.

For all of the residences on our blocks that painted with low or no VOC paints, installed bamboo flooring and sleek stainless steel appliances, I can think of no greater place to sit my tired tush than Stitch’s Richmond Loft bi-sectional couch from Gus*. 

The next time that you are making a purchase, consider the socially responsible options you have in your own neighborhood. 

Remember that by shopping locally, you have a direct impact on the community in which you live. For every $100 spent in independently local stores, $68 of it returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures. In a national chain, only $43 stays here. Spend it online and nothing comes home (as stated by the 3/50 Project website).

Shop small, shop ethically and save the community in which you live. Your neighbors will love you for it!