Financing vital to starting, maintaining and expanding business: financing for business encompasses everything from term loans and lines of credit to business credit cards and equipment leases.

• Author: Barbour, Tracy

In life, money may not be everything. But, in business, access to financing can mean the difference between failure and success.

Undercapitalization is the reason 80 percent to 90 percent of companies fail, experts say. And this makes financing one of the biggest challenges most companies face. That's certainly true for Anchorage-based Trailboss Enterprises Inc. Maintaining enough working capital to finance large projects is one of the company's biggest burdens, says President and CEO Joseph Tolliver.

Trailboss Enterprises is a technical services, transportation and construction company that provides a variety of contract solutions to government organizations around the world. Its services include transient aircraft maintenance, aircraft support equipment maintenance, air terminal operations, air freight operations, asphalt paving, vehicle maintenance, drayage, logistics transportation and facility maintenance.

Having access to lines of credit valued between $500,000 and $1 million enables the company to maintain a staff of more than 140 employees and offices in Alaska, the Lower 48, the United Kingdom and Germany. "We couldn't run our company without the support of financial institutions (Alaska USA Federal Credit Union)," Tolliver says. "The line of credit helps cover payroll, insurance and other operating costs."

Outside financing also gives Trailboss up-front capital to successfully land and satisfy new contracts. To conduct business, the company must deal with business development, marketing, recruiting, payroll and equipment and a variety of other costs. "It takes cash to stand up a contract," explains Tolliver, the U.S. Small Business Administration's 2000 Minority Small-Business Person of the Year for Alaska.

BUSINESS FINANCING OPTIONS

Almost every business enterprise needs access to financing to remain competitive in today's marketplace, says Charlie Weimer, senior vice president First National Bank Alaska, the state's largest bank based upon asset and deposit size. And this is especially true for small businesses.

Financing is such an important issue that earlier this year First National again published the Alaska Small Business Resource Guide. The free publication, which is available at any of the bank's 29 branches, provides a range of information to help businesses succeed. "The guide profiles numerous success stories of businessmen and women throughout the state of Alaska," he explains. "But more importantly, it offers an...