SH!*%*%T from McCrabby - Federal Stimulus:
McCrabby's pretty crabby about that, too...
Dear McCrabby,
So, how are you liking the federal stimulus programs? I read your post on April Fools day (POST) about government handouts (sorry some people thought you were serious). Have these government handouts done any good for you? I can't believe how neat it is that so many people are getting "free" money. We should have done this 50 years ago. I don't know how they do it, but it sure beats working.
______________________________________________
OK, they aren't bad if you're receiving unemployment extensions, and they're nice for banks who can borrow money at ZERO and raise loan rates because, in their opinion, there are no more "A" credits. And, it's great for Congress, who receives their salary even while the government is shut down, while their staffs, and soldiers fighting our wars, don't qualify for the same benefit.
Yes, McCrabby is still a little crabby. You see, McCrabby still does a little bit of equipment leasing, where we supply funding for municipalities or companies that require equipment, and those clients hopefully pay us back for the equipment we buy for them. It's a pretty good business, or at least it was until the banks effectively closed up shop. We've done this for twenty years and we're pretty good at it.
Even in today's banking climate, we're still attempting to get a transaction done here and there, when a customer's credit isn't so challenged that it makes doing business impossible. If any readers know of prospects for us (companies or municipalities that require equipment -we'll provide the dollars), please forward them to mccrabby@humantransitions.com -- Thank you.
One place we feel that we really shine is in the municipal marketplace. We have great banking relationships, so we can do a lease for almost any municipality, for almost any type of equipment, with flexible terms and great rates. The city governments, schools, counties, etc., that we've worked with have great things to say about us (ask to see our references).
Late last year, we started working with a fairly large city, that required multiple fire trucks, multiple EMS vehicles, a couple of dump trucks, and some assorted other equipment. Their total equipment cost was planned to be somewhere near $10 million, depending upon what they selected.
That's a pretty big deal to a small leasing company, but something we could certainly handle. We typically make 0.5 - 1.0 per cent on a transaction, so we were looking at a $50,000-$90,000 payback for our efforts, which would have been pretty significant.
We met with city officials, spent time negotiating the deal, found the best rate they could ever expect, and even had approval to spread the financing over ten years, as was requested. We were excited about what a great job we had done, and would continue to do, for our business partner. It took about two, maybe three, weeks to do all the work, and we won the bid over our competition.
Enter the Federal Government.
Stimulus money came to the City, in the amount several million dollars. The City liked our solution, but free is better. In fact, city officials called us to apologize for pulling out of their commitment. So, thank you federal government. Your stimulus dollars have effectively taken away our business. Now we can ALL pay for it.
Small business continues to get a kick in the teeth. No "handouts" for small biz while investment firms took billions. But, taking it with our chin up, and our attitude in place, we'll move on and we'll keep working. And, now we're looking to add remote people, with virtual offices, to work with us. Contact us, if you have a background that would fit the equipment leasing sales model.
Otherwise, good luck on your job search.
