Happy New Year!

 

‘Golden era of robotics adoption’ kicks off in 2022

As an A3 Member, Dimension Funding is very proud to be associated with the growth of the industry.  As demand grows it becomes ever more important to incorporate a pro-active customer financing strategy into your sales model, let’s discuss how our creative programs can add value, create an additional profit center, and help leverage new sales and upgrades.  

Learn more about the Golden Age of Robotics

Very happy holidays, Dean and John and the entire Dimension Team.

Happy Holidays!

 ….but Dimension has plenty of money available! Call us to discuss best practices for implementing a successful customer financing program today.

 

Can You Clients Afford State of the Art Prem Technology Systems?

For those law firms that are insistent on maintaining their on premises technology infrastructure, including the software systems that power the practice, the utilization of financing programs can become an important strategy to help them acquire all of those products and services.  If you aren’t currently providing your law firm clients with creative financing options that make it affordable for them to maintain a state of the art prem technology system please give us a call to discuss further. 

Time and Money

 

Time is money and Dimension's legal market specific technology financing programs are designed to help your firm efficiently and affordably save time and money, call us for more information on our dynamic customer financing programs at 954-224-3390

Overcoming Cost Related Customer Objections

The utilization of creative customer financing programs enables a simple, convenient and affordable methodology to overcome cost related objections to moving forward with the project engagement. Call us at Dimension for more information on how customer financing strategies can leverage more profitable sales opportunities at 954-224-3390.

Why You Should Add Air Purifiers To Your Office Building

 Make it easy for your clients to acquire air purification systems by reminding them how simple, convenient and affordable they become when using Dimension's 3.25% financing program!

"A major new study out of Harvard University demonstrates that office air doesn’t just make us unhealthy. This polluted air also makes us stupider, slowing us down on cognitive tests and making it easier to get distracted. The more polluted the office air, the worse people performed on tests. And crucially, researchers found these results in dozens of typical commercial buildings in six countries across the globe, including the U.S., the U.K., and China." From: Your office air is making you stupider

Ten Advantages of Financing

Financing programs create several benefits that your customer will appreciate and should consider before making the decision on how they intend to pay for your products and services.  Below are the most popular benefits/advantages of financing at the customer level.  Give me a call to discuss how you can implement creative financing options that enable your customer to do business with you!:

Ten Advantages:
1. Usually longer term available, resulting in lower monthly payment.
2. Cheaper than "alternate finance" rates.
3. Leverage---leaves normal lines of bank credit undisturbed.
4. May increase the firm's ability to acquire funds, as well as does not dilute ownership.
5. Creates or maintains working capital for inventory, accounts receivable, other expenses.
6. Can make "skip payments" or "seasonal payments" or "quarterly payments."
7  Can take advantage of Section 179 Depreciation.
8. Pays for equipment out of before-tax savings rather than after-tax profits.
9. Often can let you acquire the upgrade that you thought "too expensive."
10. Provides cost-cutting or profit making equipment to be installed immediately.

6 Things Law Firms Wish Tech Vendors Knew About Their Procurement Process | Legaltech News

There are plenty of ways for tech vendors to kill a potential sale to a law firm. Many law firms are currently handcuffed by limited working capital availability and reduced technology budgets. Dimension’s customer financing programs provide your clients with an affordable methodology to purchase from you now! Let’s get connected and discuss how we can provide assistance.

Majority of Small Business Owners Support More Industry Funding

If a comprehensive customer financing program strategy is not currently an important part of your sales process you are going to miss opportunities to close sales.  This latest report suggests that small businesses across America are concerned about spending and access to capital to fuel further expansion and growth.  Give me a call to discuss how you can easily and efficiently incorporate a proactive customer financing program into your current sales procedures.

 

 

Nearly 90% OF Small Business Owners
Support More Industry Funding
By Delaney Sexton, Contributor Editor, Coleman Reports

 

“Small businesses are struggling to recover amid pandemic-related headwinds according to data released today from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices. The data from a forthcoming survey completed last week is a critical warning sign for policymakers amid the increase in COVID-19 cases that more action is needed to aid small business owners as they continue on their road to recovery,” reads a recent Goldman Sachs article.

Here are the statistics from the survey released so far:

• 44% of small business owners have less than three months’ worth of cash reserves. For Black-owned small businesses, this number increases to 51%.

• Only 31% of small business owners reported feeling confident that they could get access to funding. 20% of Black small business owners report confidence.

• 41% of small business owners report that they were concerned about the level of debt they accumulated before or during the pandemic. 55% of Black small business owners feel similarly.

• Small business owners highly support the federal government providing additional financial emergency assistance. 88% of small business owners are in support of additional funding.

• 91% of all small business owners support the creation of a long-term, low-interest loan guarantee program.

“Eighteen months of COVID-related economic headwinds have battered America’s small businesses. While many storefronts are reopening, small business owners from across the country are sending a clear message that they need more relief in order to continue on their road to recovery,” says Joe Wall, National Director of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices.

Source:
Goldman Sachs Article
https://www.goldmansachs.com/citizenship/10000-small-businesses/US/news-and-program-information/pages/small-businesses-struggling-amid-pandemic-related-headwinds.html

Coleman Reports
bob@colemanreport.com
28081 Marguerite Pkwy. #4525
Mission Viejo, CA 92690

Industrial Equipment Financing

Fast & Easy Industrial Automation Equipment Financing

As one of the nation’s leading independent industrial automation equipment lenders, Dimension Funding, established for over 40 years, provides creative, innovative and flexible value added financing program solutions that enable your company to leverage new sales opportunities and upgrade your existing clients.

Dimension’s financing programs accelerate sales cycles while at the same time, enables your company to enhance profitability on a transactional basis.

Learn More! 

Financing for Industrial Automation

Automation can be an expensive investment, particularly for those companies new to the process that have decided to take the initiative, but with the correct implementation, it can guarantee profitability.  You want to help your customers, regardless of the size of their wallets, and making them aware of creative financing programs is an important part of that process.  Like financing a car, financing for a robotic system takes the upfront monetary burden some companies face and staggers payments over flexible terms ranging anywhere from one year to 72 months! Not only does this mean the customer will keep money in their own pocket, but with the introduction of automation, consistency and output increase, in turn resulting in more money in their pockets!  The Benefits of Financing are many for your customers, are you being proactive by recommending financing in every customer proposal?

Leasing and Financing of Robots Excelling

 Leasing and Financing of Robots Excelling

for US Warehouses and Fulfillment Center

According to Sara Lebow, emarketer, "Nearly 40% of medium to large US warehouse and fulfillment center operators (with more than $10 million in annual revenues) will deploy robots in one or more of their locations by the end of 2021, up from 28% two years ago. In 2023, over 44% of these operators will call on robots, as usage of the automated workers climbs."

Accelerating Small Law Firms Tech Adoption

Tech consultants and providers said solo practitioners' and small firms' use of cloud-based document management, accounting, and e-discovery software is likely to stick around even after the pandemic.  Find out how creative customer financing programs can be a helpful tool for upgrading your existing law firm clients who still lag behind in their technology adoption.  

 

The Pandemic Accelerated Small Firms' Cloud Adoption. Client Pressure Could Solidify It

The Best Way to Finance External Power Sources

When deciding what equipment will benefit them in their day-to-day operations, most business owners don’t consider power sources as a strong contender, but not investing in this area could prove to be a big mistake

If you’re interested in financing your external power source solution through a third-party vendor, be sure to contact Dimension Funding. You’re only an online application and a quick approval process away from getting a time-tested, hassle-free, and convenient financing option for your next equipment upgrade. 

July 2021 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry

The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation released the July 2021 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). The index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $900 billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 72.9, an increase from the June index of 71.3. 

Some of the major takeaways: 

• When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 58.6 percent of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, up from 42.3 percent in June
• 55.2 percent of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (CAPEX) will increase over the next four months
• In July 51.7 percent of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months

Dimension Fundings creative and flexible rates help drive sales. As the economic outlook brightens, offering financing helps to make your products and sales more affordable. Reach out today to see if customer financing programs are right for your clients! 

AMRs and the Post-COVID Marketplace

The rapid increase in e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic led warehouse and distribution center operators to clamor for the benefits AMRs can provide. 

"We are seeing an explosive rise in the development and deployment of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in the supply chain. In this article, we look at how the rapid increase in e-commerce led warehouse and distribution center operators to clamor for the benefits AMRs can provide and how the COVID-19 pandemic crisis is and could be affecting this demand in the future. Finally, we will introduce you to Bolt™, the collaborative AMR from IAM Robotics, and why it could be the AMR solution you’ve been waiting for."

Dimension's custom and creative financing programs can help make the AMR solutions that you sell more affordable. Your customers can invest in the new technology that they need to be competitive, without impacting their bottom line. Reach out today for more information about how Dimension can help you and your customer innovate a better world. 

The Importance Of Value Proposition

Like most sales professionals, I sometimes become bogged down in the importance of value proposition as the main reason our vendor partners choose to do business with us.  When asked, clients often provide some of the most revealing insight into an originator's real value proposition.  When asked this question recently I listed attributes which I believed our vendor partners would say were our most beneficial offerings: fast turnaround, competitive pricing, easy documentation process, etc. However I was a bit surprised to hear that most important to them were not necessarily the value components of our offering but these reasons instead:

• Professionalism
• A "can do" attitude
• Reliable personal service
• A straightforward approach to business - no nonsense
• A trustworthy individual with dependable service
• A business partner in good times and not so good of times
• A friend

In other words, professionals want relationships with other professionals. Origination is personal; sales are personal. People deal with people that they like and trust. Important lesson learned: We make a difference because of who we are and how we interact with others. We all have a personal value proposition and when we flaunt our personal attributes we increase our network, our business partners, our production, and our personal incomes. 

Surfside Support

On behalf of our entire team here at Dimension Funding, we want to send our condolences to all of the victims in Surfside, Miami. A HUGE thanks to all volunteers and first responders still working long hours on a building that could still lead to harm! We have compiled a list of websites you can use to help give to Surfside:

Supportsurfside.org/

The Miami Foundation, Miami Heat, Key Biscayne Community Foundation and Coral Gables Community Foundation teamed up to create a hardship fund called Support Surfside to aid the victims of the collapse.

The Shul of Bal Harbour

The Jewish community center, not far from 8777 Collins Ave., established a fund to support victims of the collapse.

Operation Helping Hands

From the United Way setup to help with Surfside

Town of Surfside

Surfside officials aren't currently seeking donations or volunteers for recovery efforts but if, or when, they become necessary you can fill out this volunteer form and someone from the town will contact you.

GoFundMe

The site has compiled a group of verified campaigns to support victims of the collapse.

You can find them here.

ELFA President and CEO Ralph Petta said, “Solid May new business volume growth, put in perspective, compares favorably to a low y-o-y base when the pandemic was raging at the beginning of the summer last year. While overall industry performance is relatively strong during the first half of this year, even more robust demand for financing is being constrained by supply chain shortages in several economic subsectors.  And, with COVID-19 related payment modifications resolved for the most part, ELFA members report their portfolios performing well.” 

Cybersecurity: An ounce of Prevention...

An excellent synopsis of the Colonial Pipeline Cyber attack from one of our colleagues,  lan Sredni, President of Palindrome Consulting,  that demonstrates why it has become so important for businesses to take preventative measures to combat these cyberattacks from happening in the first place. 

Why the Colonial Pipeline Attack Should Be a Wake-Up Call to Small Businesses

Securing a business or organization from IT threats is a continuous challenge, requiring IT security teams to continually monitor their infrastructure for incidents, quickly identify and address threats, and pinpoint and remediate emerging vulnerabilities. Despite the rising threat of cybercrime, many businesses still don’t prioritize cybersecurity. Yet, the recent Colonial Pipeline cyberattack is the latest example of what happens with an organization fails to safeguard its IT infrastructure. The company’s failure to do so illustrates the steps you must take and mistakes you must avoid to protect your business.

The Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack

Carrying oil from Houston, Texas to much of the Southeastern U.S., the Colonial Pipeline was hit by a ransomware cyberattack on Friday, May 7, 2021. The attackers, widely reported to be a Russia-based cybercrime gang known as DarkSide, encrypted a number of assets of Colonial Pipeline’s operational technology (OT) network at one of their natural gas compression facilities. As a result, Colonial Pipeline operators were no longer able to read or access operational data in real-time from many low-level OT devices. The Colonial Pipeline Company, believing the attackers might further compromise their operations, shut the pipeline down.

Subsequently, news outlets reported that DarkSide had also stolen 100 GB of data from the company. If Colonial Pipeline did not pay a ransom of 75 bitcoin (approximately $5 million), not only would assets on their OT network remain encrypted, but DarkSide would also publish the data they had stolen on the Internet. Within several hours of the attack, the company paid the ransom and, in exchange, received an extremely slow decryption tool. Colonial Pipeline was only able to begin restoring operations the evening of Wednesday, May 12, though they expected intermittent service interruptions to occur for several days afterward.

The Colonial Pipeline attack was the largest cybersecurity attack on critical U.S. infrastructure in history. Six days of downtime did a lot of damage and prompted “State of Emergency” declarations from President Biden on May 9, as well as the governors of affected states. The resulting fuel shortage not only delayed a handful of American Airlines flights. It also resulted in panic buying at filling stations in five states (including Florida), exacerbating the impact of the pipeline attack and driving up fuel prices.

IT security professionals will tell you, it’s not a matter of if you get hit by a cyberattack, but when. Initial analysis from the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), industry publications, and other preliminary postmortems provide some insight into how this happened, which can help you mitigate the risk of suffering the severe outcome Colonial Pipeline Company endured.

How The Attack Occurred

According to CISA, the attack was executed through a spearphishing link, a common form of cyberattack in which attackers attempt to get a user to download malware by clicking on a link they are sent. Further, CISA noted that Colonial Pipeline did not employ robust security measures to segment its OT networks from its OT network. Failing to do so allowed the malware that employees had inadvertently introduced to their IT network to compromise the OT network as well. After the attack, the Associated Press published a story about an IT security audit of Colonial Pipeline that had taken place three years prior. The auditor, iMERGE, found significant vulnerabilities in the system, including the lack of a dedicated cybersecurity manager, employee cybersecurity awareness training, and a data loss prevention program.

While Colonial Pipeline, responding to the story, noted that it had made significant improvements since the audit, the extent of those improvements is not clear. What is clear is that glaring deficiencies remained. As per CISA, Colonial Pipeline’s emergency plan did not contain procedures for dealing with cyber incidents. As a result, response time and decision-making were impaired once the attack became evident. Further, the company indicated to the agency that it suffered gaps in knowledge about cyberattack security threat planning and response. In fact, a few weeks before the attack, Colonial Pipeline had posted a job description for a cybersecurity manager but had not yet filled the position.

Colonial Pipeline lost the $5 million they paid to DarkSide and considerable revenue during their shutdown. Given the vital role it plays in the nation’s infrastructure, it remains to be seen what the long-term revenue implications are from both the incident and its resulting reputational damage. However, the company will almost certainly face increased regulatory scrutiny — with potentially costly mandates ahead. Already, the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Richard Glick, alongside other politicians like Florida’s own Senator Marco Rubio, have called for all oil pipelines to be subject to mandatory cybersecurity standards. The industry is currently exempt. Further, the industry already faced stagnating growth, even before the Biden administration’s call for alternative energy use. This incident may hurt any expansion efforts the company or its industry peers were planning.

Takeaways For Businesses Across Industries

No business owner or manager should believe that cybercriminals won’t target their business because of its size. On a recent Fox and Friends interview, Rubio noted, “there are plenty of businesses out there who get hit with these ransomware attacks and never report it.” Indeed, in 2020, reported cybercrimes not only rose a whopping 69 percent over 2019 levels, as per the FBI’s 2020 Internet Crime Complaint Report. Phishing tactics were used in more than a third of reported cases. More than 19,000 reported email compromise scams cost firms of all sizes (as well as individuals) $1.8 billion. This figure is separate from the 2,474 reported ransomware scams in 2020, the total losses from which are unknown.

In other words, your business, regardless of size or industry, could easily be targeted by an individual or cybercrime gang. It’s imperative that, if you don’t already, you prioritize your cybersecurity now by:

Segment and Secure Your Networks

Whether you’re operating a pipeline or not, it’s important to incorporate strong security measures across your networks to safeguard your assets. When end-users at Colonial Pipeline accessed the spearphishing link through the communications network, it spread to the OT network because the two systems were not compartmentalized.

Segment and secure key operational systems from your communications network to minimize the damage resulting from a breach of the latter.

Developing Cybersecurity Disaster and Business Continuity Plans

Too often, businesses remain mired in the outdated perspective that disasters only are physical. Colonial Pipeline failed to incorporate cyberattacks in its disaster planning and lost critical time trying to determine and then coordinate the appropriate response.

Make sure your firm’s emergency preparedness plan includes response protocols for a full range of potential cybersecurity incidents, as well as measures your firm takes to resume operations as soon as possible.

Conducting Employee Cybersecurity Awareness Training

DarkSide’s attack was successful because an employee (or several) were tricked into downloading their ransomware. While Colonial Pipeline shared with the Associated Press that they had implemented cybersecurity awareness training in the wake of the iMERGE, knowledge gaps remained as per the company’s own disclosure to CISA.

Conduct regular cybersecurity awareness training with your employees. Make sure that your training is continuously updated to incorporate new and emerging threats. Doing so is especially critical given the pandemic-induced transition to remote work for many employees. Remote work can help businesses remain operational in the face of the current public health crisis but also presents new vulnerabilities for cybercriminals to exploit.

Seeking Post PPP Financing? Look No Further!

Since opening in the spring of 2020, the Paycheck Protection Program has shepherded about $800 billion in largely forgivable relief loans to 8.5 million small businesses and nonprofits.  Now that the PPP program has come to an end, business owners will be looking to conventional methods to finance their pent up demand for equipment, office furniture systems and technology.  When they inquire about financing keep Dimension Funding in mind, we have creative programs that make your products and services affordable.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/business/2021/06/08/as-ppp-loan-program-ends-tampa-bay-small-businesses-haul-nears-10-billion/

HowTo Prepare For Office Reopening

 As the country begins to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and employees start heading back into an office setting, employers need to have plans in place to ensure their employees can return safely. While the crisis has made some companies adopt more robust work-from-home policies, such as the big tech giants, office spaces are rapidly evolving for the post-coronavirus era.   Dimension Funding has been assisting Trendway dealers across the country by providing timely and affordable customer payment programs.  Call today for more details….

https://www.uschamber.com/co/start/strategy/how-to-prepare-offices-for-reopening

 

Law.Com Article: The Pandemic Tech Hangover

Last year, law firms had to evolve faster than ever. But over a year after the pandemic began, law firms have realized that the tech transformation spurred by COVID-19 has created as many problems as it has solved.

The Pandemic Tech Hangover

The cost of technology solutions should never be the barrier that prevents your law firm clients from moving forward to acquire your products and services.  Find out more about how creative and flexible customer payment programs can help you leverage more opportunities with more law firms today, Dean Morrison, (954) 224-3390

Forward Thinking In Equipment and Technology Sales

The current period of global instability has weakened confidence among investors, businesses and consumers. But as past episodes have demonstrated, the years that follow major crises typically spawn new trends that may be more favorable for economic output and market returns. As we look across to the other side of the economic damage caused by this pandemic, we see another phase of renewal driven by digitization, automation, new online services and investment in telecommunication and healthcare infrastructure.  Forward thinking equipment and technology sales organizations understand the importance of providing customer payment options….are you? Call today to learn more about Dimension Funding and our creative, innovative and flexible financing programs that help to leverage more profitable sales!

 

Creative Customer Financing Programs For Trendway Dealers

 

Financing Leverages Sales

It’s no joke! The creative utilization of financing programs - as part of your comprehensive sales strategy - will leverage more profitable deals.  Call today for additional details and program information.

 

May Confidence in Equipment Finance Market

Credit: The Monitor Daily 

Equipment Finance Industry Confidence Remains Near Historic High in May

According to the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation’s May 2021 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI), overall confidence in the equipment finance market is 72.1, easing from April’s all-time high of 76.1.

“While vaccine ‘herd immunity’ may be unachievable, warmer weather, immunity provided by previous infections and over 105 million Americans fully vaccinated will allow most economic activity to resume at pre-pandemic levels this summer,” Bruce J. Winter, president of FSG Capital, said. “Business owners are much more optimistic and stimulus supported capital spending will likely reach unprecedented levels in the next 12 months. Prolonged inflation risk is a real concern, as this untested experiment in rapidly expanding government debt will reach new highs.”

When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 53.6% of responding executives said they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, down from 73.3% in April. Meanwhile, 46.4% of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, up from 23.3% last month. None of the respondents believe business conditions will worsen, down from 3.3% in April.

More than half (53.6%) of the survey respondents believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures (capex) will increase over the next four months, down from 70% in April. The remaining 46.4% of respondents believe demand will “remain the same” during the same four-month time period, an increase from 30% the previous month. None of the respondents believe demand will decline, unchanged from April.

“We are seeing demand increase for capital expenditures, especially large facility expansions,” Michael Romanowski, president of Farm Credit Leasing, said. “Material and labor cost increases are requiring customers to sharpen the pencil to ensure investments remain prudent.”

Nearly a third (32.1%) of the respondents said they expect more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, down from 43.3% in April. The majority (67.9%) of executives indicated they expect the “same” access to capital to fund business, an increase from 56.7% last month. None of the respondents expect “less” access to capital, unchanged from the previous month.

When asked, 39.3% of the executives reported they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, down from 43.3% in April. Meanwhile, 60.7% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, an increase from 56.7% last month. None of the respondents expect to hire fewer employees, unchanged from April.

Only 10.7% of the leadership evaluated the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” a decrease from 13.3% the previous month. Most of the leadership (89.3%) evaluated the current U.S. economy as “fair,” up from 80% in April. None of the respondents evaluated the current U.S. economy as “poor,” down from 6.7% last month.

Most of the survey respondents (60.7%) believe U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, a decrease from 73.3% in April. Meanwhile, 39.3% indicated they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, an increase from 23.3% last month. None of the respondents believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen over the next six months, down from 3.3% last month.

In May, 53.6% of respondents indicated they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, up from 46.7% last month. In addition, 42.9% of respondents believe there will be “no change” in business development spending, a decrease from 53.3% in April. Only 3.6% of respondents believe there will be a decrease in spending, up from none of the respondents last month.

“Near-term, the high level of liquidity generally available will continue to drive investor demand in our primary sectors,” Glenn Davis, president and CEO of RESIDCO, said. “A major concern over the short to intermediate term is the potential inflationary impact associated with that along with corresponding market pressures, which may adversely impact interest rates.”

 

Technology and Business- Growing Your Law Firm

Have you considered the many benefits that customer financing programs leverage for your sales organization.   Call today to learn more about Dimension’s creative and innovative funding programs that enable your clients to access an affordable strategy for acquiring all of the products and services you sell.  

Historically, law firms hadn’t dipped their toes too deep into the remote work waters. But even as firms are coming out of the pandemic, they’re starting to see those same remote work benefits quite clearly—particularly in the midsize market. As part of The American Lawyer’s Am Law 200 coverage, Ben Seal explored how midsize firms are utilizing remote work as an increasingly greater part of their strategy, leveraging technology in new ways to expand geographically, appeal to new clients and automate services. In order to grow, notes law firm consultant Brian Kennel, “What the midsize firms have to do is to take advantage of this new world we live in now.” For those firms’ tech partners, it also means an obvious opportunity to not only aid midsize firms’ day-to-day operations, but to actively help drive business development and growth. I know from experience, tech can help drive win-win propositions when it comes to remote work. Technologists should be putting on their business hats to help figure out how.

– Zach Warren, editor-in-chief, Legaltech News

Post Pandemic Challenges

Managing through change created both new challenges and opportunities for midsize law firm leaders during the pandemic. Three of the biggest identified by firm leaders included i) a renewed focus on profitability; ii) a shift in the operational support model; and iii) increased expectations — from lawyers, staff, and clients — around technology.   Isn’t it time you incorporated a proactive financing strategy to help your clients account for each of the specific issues that the legal market themselves have identified? Call for details today, Dean Morrison, 954-224-3390

After challenges of 2020, midsize legal market eyes growth opportunities in 2021

Accountability and ROI: Building Cybersecurity into Your Budget

“If law firms intend to minimize the risk of a successful attack, they must accept cybersecurity as an ongoing, evolving, relentless effort that requires diligence and discipline. And they have to throw more money at it, too.” Accountability and ROI: Building Cybersecurity into Your Budget

The idea of “throwing money” at technology investment is a concept that has reached its expiration date! There is no reason to use precious working capital reserves or even disturbing bank credit lines to move forward with necessary upgrades to your technology infrastructure inclusive of cybersecurity systems.  Call me to discuss how you can easily make your products and services more affordable to your law firm clients to give them an easy path to moving forward today!

New Report: Manufacturing Economic Activity Increases in April

Timothy R. Fiore, Chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, in a news release, commented, “All of the six biggest manufacturing industries — fabricated metal products; chemical products; food, beverage & tobacco products; computer & electronic products; transportation equipment; and petroleum & coal products, in that order — registered moderate to strong growth in April.”

Read More Here. We're here to help you make your solutions more affordable. Help your customers scale up and invest in more manufacturing automation to stay ahead of the competition. 

To Invest In Industrial Automation

 Check out our editorial on the A3 Website: Upgrading Your Factory To Industrial Automation

U.S. Equipment & Software Investment Momentum Monitor

 Scott Thacker, Foundation Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Ivory Consulting Corporation, said, “Finally, we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The widespread availability of vaccinations offers hope that economic activity will soon return to pre-pandemic levels, or beyond. The robust stimulus efforts, along with trillions of dollars in pent-up demand, point to a wave of spending this summer and fall. All indicators point to 2021 being a banner year for equipment and software investment.”

Read the Report Now! 

Automation and the Labor Shortage

Automation and the Labor Shortage

Industrial automation vendors across several vertical markets are finding that offering creative financing solutions that overcome client budget issues and help them preserve their working capital lines have helped them leverage new sales and upgrade existing customers! Call Dimension Funding today for more details, Dean Morrison, 954-224-3390

COVID-related IT Initiatives

COVID-related IT initiatives are not over for most companies, but IT leaders are now finding breathing room to move forward. CEOs now hope that their CIOs can spend their time on more strategic and transformative tasks. The expectation is that the burden of functional duties will lessen, potentially due to the rise of automation and other advanced technologies.  By providing your clients with flexible financing solutions that help them effectively budget for their technology acquisitions, you will enable them to move forward quickly and efficiently with their technology investment with your company.

10 Initiatives of IT Leaders

The Necessity of Digital Innovation as a Core Supply Chain Competency

The pandemic drove home the necessity of digital innovation as a core supply chain competency—and it has catapulted this opportunity to the top of CEOs’ agendas. For some, the pandemic served as a proof of concept for their digital investments as they weathered, and even thrived, amid the disruption. For others, COVID was a big wakeup call that they were caught behind the digital curve.  Dimension’s creative financing programs make it simple and easy for your clients to invest in your technology solutions, call to discuss how we can customize a successful program to help leverage more profitable sales opportunities.

Supply Chain Resilience Is Key to Responding, Recovering and Thriving Amid Disruption

Cannabis Market Financing

Dimension Funding is one of the few independent lessors who have a Cannabis Vertical market focus and value proposition.  As a member of CLAB, Dimension’s creative and innovative financing programs help Cannabis businesses invest in the technology solutions and capital equipment they need to expand their business operations.  Please reach out for additional information and if you are interested, there is a private event on Tuesday 4/20 in Fort Lauderdale that promises to be a great time with opportunity to meet many local Cannabis related business owners and of course the CLAB Board. 

The staying power of the stay-at-home economy

At this point the “Work From Home Revolution” is here to stay. This quick read Axios article prompts us to look closely at all of the social issues attached to this new normal. Have you developed a sales strategy that makes it simple and easy for businesses to implement technology systems that enable their safe and efficient utilization of home offices for employees? Find out more about how our customized financing programs can be helpful in making your products and services easily affordable, call Dean Morrison at 954-224-3390 today.

The staying power of the stay-at-home economy

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios


The pandemic proved a large swath of the population can produce services and consume goods without leaving their homes — if supported by other workers, Axios' Erica Pandey writes.

Why it matters: We risk becoming an even more divided society — with Peloton-riding, Amazon Prime-ordering office workers living within a convenient, luxurious stay-at-home economy and essential workers servicing that lifestyle while scraping by themselves.

The big picture: Income inequality was a huge — and growing — issue before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, but the last year widened the chasm between rich and poor.

• In Q1 of 2020, the top 1% of Americans held 29.9% of the wealth and the bottom 50% held 1.9%. The gap grew to 31.4% for the top and 2.0% for the bottom by the end of the year, per Fed data.
• "Let’s not kid ourselves that this is a new problem," says Richard Reeves, the director of the Future of the Middle Class Initiative at the Brookings Institution. "The pandemic was just a flash of an X-ray bulb exposing these fractures."

What's happening: Remote work has become the ultimate privilege, giving those who can work from home sovereignty over time and place, Reeves says. Going to work every day used to be something of an equalizer. The pandemic dismantled that.

• Remote office workers can come and go as they please, spend more time with family, or even work from exotic locations. In-person workers, who tend to be lower-skilled and lower-income, still have to deal with the rigidity of clocking in and clocking out — and juggling child care, health care and life around it.
• For example, the Ford Motor Company recently announced all of its office workers can telework as often as they like. But all of the workers in production don't have that option."We’re going to keep seeing this growth of home being the epicenter of life," says Zara Ingilizian, an expert on the future of consumption at the World Economic Forum. "And not everyone will have access to this at-home future we’re discussing. That has tremendous implications."

We're already seeing the far-reaching effects of telework on businesses and individuals alike

• As the stay-at-home economy pushes independent restaurants and shops to shutter in droves, retail behemoths who can offer delivery, like Amazon, Walmart and Kroger, have had blockbuster years.
• Jobs in hospitality and tourism are still down 25% compared with February 2020, while jobs in software development and finance are up 13% and 12%, respectively, according to the jobs site Indeed.

Yes, but: There are silver linings.

• Flexibility was always an option for workers at the top, Reeves says. At least now it's spreading to all workers who can telework. "I’d rather leaders have to justify that inequality rather than it being unspoken that managers can come in later than everyone else," he says.
• And we could see companies offer new perks to their essential workers to hold onto them. "One implication is companies feel pressure to compensate people who work in-person higher because that is now seen as a detriment," says Jonathan Rothwell, chief economist at Gallup.

What to watch: Workers in jobs being created by the stay-at-home economy — in food delivery, warehousing and trucking — face a double whammy, says Ingilizian.

• Many of these roles are gig jobs, without stability and with low pay. And they're also on the automation chopping block. Per a recent WEF report, 40% of retail job activities and 54% of consumer goods production job tasks are subject to automation.
• Automation is poised to make the inequality induced by the stay-at-home future even worse, Ingilizian says.

3 Strategic Ways to Acquire Material Handling Equipment on a Budget

 

If you’re interested in financing your material handling equipment through a third-party vendor, be sure to contact Dimension Funding. You’re only an online application and a quick approval process away from getting a time tested, hassle-free, and convenient financing option for your next equipment upgrade.

3 Strategic Ways to Acquire Material Handling Equipment on a Budget

Turbocharging Legal Automation

The Pandemic has turbocharged legal automation.  A year into remote transition and firms still haven’t defined all of the tech enabled benefits and efficiencies available to them.  One thing is certain: The utilization of creative financing programs enable the firms implementation of the technology solutions that have become required in an effort to provide the highest level of customer service standards available. 

The Pandemic Has Turbocharged Legal Automation—With Room to Spare

Small Businesses and the Vaccine Rollout

An interesting report was published today by Caity Roach from Coleman Reports in the Leasing News which supports what many experts have been suggesting. More than ever before, if you are selling technology solutions and/or capital equipment, including a financing option for your customer isn’t just a good idea, it should be an essential component of your closing strategy. Call for additional details on how Dimension Funding can customize a customer financing program for your sales team.

Vaccine Distribution Increases Small Business Optimism

By Caity Roach, Editor, Coleman Reports

Despite the growing availability of vaccines, most small business owners do not anticipate the economy returning to normal anytime soon. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s quarterly small business report, six out of ten (59%) small business owners now predict it will take more than six months to get back to pre-pandemic conditions. Nevertheless, vaccine distribution does appear to be lifting small business spirits. More than half of small business owners polled report that the vaccine makes them more optimistic about the future of their business (54%) and the business climate across the country (59%).

Here are some additional survey findings included in the MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce Q1 2021 report:

• A growing number (45%) say they can operate indefinitely without shutting down in the current environment, up five percentage points from last quarter, 17 points from July 2020, and 22 points from late April 2020 when only 23% said they could operate indefinitely.
• Overall, 62% of small business owners say they are comfortable with their cash flow, just three percentage points below pre-pandemic levels.
• 47% of small businesses anticipate their revenue increasing this year, on par with sentiments during the pandemic. Another 14% expect it to decrease, while 32% think their revenues will stay the same.
• While almost half (49%) of small businesses plan on retaining their current staff size over the next year, 32% plan to increase staff (up from 27% saying they would do so in Q4 2020).
• As the pandemic continues, small businesses are paying more attention to their employee’s mental health. 60% of small business owners say they are actively seeking to improve their employees’ mental health.
• Just over half (52%) of small business owners say they are likely to require employee COVID-19 vaccinations.

The race to secure 5G

Make sure you are providing clients with convenient and affordable monthly financing options so they can easily acquire all of the products and services you sell!

Learn More About 5G and what it means to your business!

Evolving Technology in the Legal Space

For many lawyers, working remotely during the pandemic tested their technological aptitude. Lawyers can face risks if they do not update their practices to stay informed about developments in technology.  Dimension Financing programs make it simple, convenient and affordable to invest in technology, call today to discuss our special Q2 financing programs coming out next week!

The Evolving Duty of Competence in the Digital Age

  

Cannabis Market Financing

While legislation to enable access to banking appears to be getting closer to reality, Dimension Funding continues to provide flexible equipment financing programs to the Cannabis industry. Please call for additional details and information on our Cannabis market financing programs today, Dean Morrison, 954-224-3390 or by email at dmorrison@dimensionfunding.com

Virtual Firms Are Rapidly Expanding. What Kind of Lawyers Do They Want?

Virtual law firms are not a thing of the future…they are a growing segment of the market now! These firms are extremely concerned with keeping their operating costs manageable and Dimension financing programs are an excellent remedy for responding to the “Not in the Budget” objection to moving forward with your technology solution recommendations.  Call Dean at 954-224-3390 to learn more about our legal market technology financing programs today.

To Finance or Not To Finance- Legal Software Solutions

A great example of adopting a proactive approach to making financing program alternatives available to your clients. Edie, thank you: “One love, one heart, Let’s get together and feel alright.”

Leverage Financing to Help Your Customers Compete

In today's market, cutting edge technology is closing the gap between large and small law firms. Check out this article from Law.com: Flexing Their Market Muscles, ALSPs Can Elicit Tech Discounts for Small Firms

The utilization of Dimension Financing Programs, which have been specifically created for the legal technology market, provides several benefits for both the technology consultants and for their valued law firm clients. If you haven’t already implemented a proactive customer financing program strategy, both for leveraging new sales and for helping your existing clients upgrade and refresh their current system, there are several attractive financing rate promotions currently available, give me a call or send me an email for additional information. Dean Morrison dmorrison@dimensionfunding.com 954-224-3390

Top Benefits of Financing your Industrial Automation Upgrade

Industrial Automation is the future and incorporating it into your manufacturing workflow is an absolute necessity in today’s business climate. While the evolution of robots and specifically calibrated machinery has changed our production processes and methodologies for the better, it comes at a significant monetary cost.

The most difficult part of adopting and benefiting from industrial automation is getting hold of the machinery itself. There are a myriad of financing options available for you to choose from and an even wider range of vendors offering their services. Trying to make the best decision for your company and your finances can become difficult for this very reason.

You can go to a bank and ask them to finance your upgrades, but your credit score and history will play a huge role in this acquisition. Smaller businesses in particular might find banks reluctant to invest in this steep upfront cost for them, which is where private financing companies like Dimension Funding come in.

Most of the time, in situations like this, financing your industrial automation upgrades will be your best bet – regardless of the size of your business or the equipment you’re looking to have installed. 

Here are 4 reasons why. 

1. Only Purchased Industrial Automation Equipment Is Used as Collateral

A problem with financing through bank loans is that the bank lending the money will require a “blanket UCC lien.” This allows the bank to take all the assets of your company as a security for the financed equipment. It grants them the legal right to seize these assets in the event of nonpayment. Banks do this as an extra peace of mind to ensure you pay up, but it lessens your position and is undeniably a big liability.

Private financing companies on the other hand do not require a “blanket lien.” In fact, many only require the equipment being financed to be used as a security instead of everything you own. This keeps you in control and minimizes huge losses in case of non-payment.

2. All Industrial Automation Upgrade Expenses Are Taken into Account

Another problem with financing your industrial automation upgrade through banks is the fact that they don’t cover soft costs like installing the equipment, transporting the equipment, and maintaining it in the long run. These are all expenses that you are expected to pay on your own and can come as an unpleasant surprise after already agreeing to pay a large sum of money for the equipment itself.

If you finance your upgrades privately, however, all these expenses are accounted for and included in your principal amount. This minimizes any sudden or unexpected costs and gives you the full picture of what you’re actually paying for. Better awareness of what you pay allows you to plan better and allocate those funds for more important things in your business.

3. Fixed Monthly Payments

Private financing companies like Dimension Funding offer yet another advantage when compared to conventional bank loans. Banks usually prefer to loan money on a floating or a variable rate of interest which results in irregular monthly payments. Besides the inconvenience of having to constantly stay updated with these payments, it makes it more difficult to plan and allocate financial resources efficiently.

Privately financing your company’s industrial automation through a third-party company means that you will pay a fixed monthly payment for the entire duration of the automation equipment’s decided term. There are no unpleasant changes in interest rates and no hindrances in planning for where to invest more resources in the future. This allows you to treat your payments like a consistent monthly cost. One that is easy to account and plan for.

4. Easy Application and Approval Process

The process of applying for and getting approved for private financing is more streamlined than it has ever been.

You can apply for up to $250k without providing financial statements (some restrictions apply) and if you require a larger package, a hassle-free paperwork process makes that easy too. The application is online and after you apply, the approval process can take as little as a few short hours. It’s that easy! Compare this with the mountain of paperwork required for bank loans and the associated uncertainty and lack of transparency. Private financing is a clear winner.

Next Steps

Financial decisions like deciding to incorporate industrial automation into your production flow have the potential of either taking your business to the next level or crippling your work and efforts. Making the most beneficial choice of how and where to receive this financing is a multi-faceted problem that requires you to look at your individual needs, your budgets, and what you value as a company.

If you’re interested in learning more about financing your company’s equipment through a third-party vendor for all the reasons we’ve outlined and more, be sure to contact Dimension Funding to get a head start on your approval process.

Original Post from Dimension Funding 

Law.com's Technology: Build or Buy? Learning Which is Best for Your Firm or Department

Dimension’s creative, innovative and flexible financing programs continue to help law firms of all sizes acquire the technology solutions they need to stay competitive in the market.  If you aren’t currently utilizing a proactive financing program strategy to make your products and services easily affordable for your clients, please give me a call to discuss how simple, easy and profitable it is to implement customer financing programs for your law firm clients.

Learn More

The Future of Industrial Automation How Industrial Automation Is Carrying Us into The Future 4 Ways Industrial Automation Is Changing the World

Industrial Automation is single-handedly changing the way we produce and with new advancements taking place every year, this innovation shows no signs of stopping any time soon. This disruptive pace of progress is unleashing new possibilities and redefining traditional business practices. 

 

The future is certainly bright and knowing what’s coming can help us plan better and update our manufacturing workflows for the newer, faster, better machines being produced. 

 

Here are four incredible advancements happening in industrial automation right now and becoming an early adopter of these new frameworks may be the difference between you becoming a market leader or a follower. 

1.  More Capable Machines

 

Humans can never match the dexterity and ability of robots. Whether it’s lifting extremely heavy loads or intricately placing components on a motherboard, machines usually outperform humans, and the future will only make this advantage bigger.

 

Advanced sensors, improved mechanics, and new spatial recognition software will enable robots to carry out current manufacturing processes to a greater degree of speed, accuracy, and quality. These new sensors and optics will also help pioneer new, innovative production methods as the gap between what is possible and what isn’t gets shorter and shorter.

 
2.  Artificial Intelligence

 

This ties into the previous point of machines getting smarter and more capable as the years go by. Artificial intelligence refers to the ability of machines or robots to perform tasks associated with intelligent beings. The most common examples of this are decision making scenarios and predicting what to do next. 

 

There is a huge amount of development happening in the artificial intelligence space already in mobile phones, operating systems, and self-driving cars and industrial automation is the only logical next evolution of this phase. Having robots capable of making intelligent, accurate decisions may not just be a pipedream in the future.

 

On paper at least, machines would make better decision-makers than humans as they can assess millions of gigabytes of data in a second and can give a more informed view on a particular situation. This is especially important for safety metrics like radiation or predicting potentially lethal locations.

 

Advanced AI would also enable robots to learn on the go and constantly update their processes and software depending on the task at hand. A fully automated factory with little or no workers would be the result of this. Regardless of your opinions on AI and whether machines should control everything we do in our lives, the future is still exciting, and the possibilities are quite literally endless.

 

3.  Collaborative Robots

 

Humans and robots working together to propel us into the future seems like the dream scenario and with collaborative robots (Cobots), it’s quickly turning into a reality. Cobots are designed to share workspaces with humans and make automation easy for businesses of any size. Cobots are usually controlled by humans and act as a projection or extension of a human limb.

 

Not all Cobots are created like this but their basic intent is to perform the dirty, dangerous, and dull jobs that humans either can’t do or are inefficient at. Cobots are also easy to store, recalibrate, and can be deployed for multiple applications with no hindrance to your current workflows. 

 

One of the biggest advantages of Cobots is their easy to program software and fast setup. They can be used by businesses of any size or makeup and the advancements being made in their dexterity and fluidity means that Cobots could become an indispensable part of manufacturing processes all over the world.

4.  Cheaper Machines

 

A slightly less exciting but incredibly impactful stage of the future of industrial automation is the fact that robots and manufacturing machines will become more affordable. As humans produce and evolve something for a long time, we become better at producing it at a higher volume, higher quality, and a lower price. We can find examples of this everywhere in our lives. Our appliances, our mobile phones, and televisions have all gotten cheaper and more accessible especially for people in less developed countries.

 

Let’s take India as an example. Usage of industrial robotics has increased tenfold in the country, for one simple reason: The technology has gotten much cheaper. With more and businesses using it, the companies making the robots can continue to innovate and change their design and functionality as they now have a larger customer base to take feedback from.

 

The apex of any technology only arrives when it’s used extensively by a large number of people. Only operating in niche factories would hinder the robotics industry as their hyper-specific clientele would never be able to give them the critique and feedback a more general customer base would be able to.

 

As demand for a product grows, more and more producers enter the market to meet this demand. Competition creates cheaper prices, better products, and more innovation. 

 

There are many more obscure developments happening all the time in the engineering and technology field, but the above examples highlight industrial automation improvements happening across the board and at a very rapid pace.

 

The future is certainly bright for industrial automation as the line between the world of today and the world of the future becomes more and more faded.

 

If industrial automation technology companies have customers that are interested in joining the revolution and need financing for their next automation equipment upgrade through a third-party vendor, contact Dimension Funding. Their customers are only an online application and a quick approval process away from getting a time-tested, hassle-free, and convenient financing option for their next automation upgrade.