Capital is at the heart of any business – new or old. Finding capital can be the tricky part. Thankfully, family offices like Scandia are here to fill the gaps left by venture capitalist firms and traditional banks – which just don’t fit every business.  The Family Office Approach to Financing At Scandia Partners, the family office setting is ingrained in everything we do. Family Offices generally manage the portfolio of high net-worth individuals. We work with a number of successful businesses and have a proven track-record of building upon and nourishing their success. Scandia is of ..read more

Scandia Partners is a family office dedicated to investing in and growing our partner businesses. We wanted to put together some ideas as you sort through various types of business funding offers. First, let’s recap some of the type of funding out there for your business.  Loans Loans can be an easy way to secure funding for your business. In addition to private business loans, you can secure business lines of credit as well. SBA Loans or Small Business Administration loans can be a big help as you start your business. These are generally location-based and offered to spur economic dev ..read more

One of the most important tools available to the businesses in the Scandia family office is the power of planning. Annual projections can help assess the financial health of your company each year. Whether you are seeking funding from a family office like Scandia or any other financial backer in 2022 or simply planning your budget – projections are absolutely necessary. Review Actuals Even if you have an accountant or accounting team, make sure that someone in senior leadership always reviews actuals. Look at your 2021 income and expense reports. In addition to looking for anything that sta ..read more

These days, company culture is at the forefront of recruiting and can be an important retention tool as well. There are easy ways to invest in your company culture in 2022. No, we’re not talking about ping-pong tables and free food. Company culture runs deeper than that and this topic is one we always discuss with leaders at the Scandia family office.  Review Core Values It’s important to always be growing and evolving, especially within your business. Have you sat down with your leadership team to discuss values and value-alignment for the coming year? This can be as simple as reviewi ..read more

After two rounds of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loan, many small businesses are assessing the funding and lending landscape. It’s so important to think about outside funding as a way to boost your business and its outlook in 2022 – but it’s equally important to weigh each option prior to jumping in.  Thinking Outside the Brick-and-Mortar Bank for Traditional Loans Oftentimes when we think of loans, instant images of meeting face-to-face with a loan officer at a bank come to mind. These days, it’s rare that any decision is made locally at the big banks. Think about reaching ou ..read more

Tax Planning & Anticipating Tax Changes There is a lot of uncertainty about potential tax changes on the horizon – particularly in light of the Build Back Better suggested tax changes. Make sure that you anticipate any changes and prepare for them as best as you can. Talk to your CPA or tax preparer to make sure that your business is structured to reduce tax liability where it makes sense under the law. It’s never a bad idea to meet quarterly with your CPA to discuss any recent or upcoming changes. You’ll thank yourself for having these meetings well before your business taxes are due ..read more

As we look ahead to 2022, we are preparing our partners at Scandia for an exciting year of growth, returns and most importantly — flexibility for our business partners. We are optimistic that consumer demand can push us through whatever Global Health Concerns come our way. Here are a few of the trends we see on the horizon for 2022: Flexibility Family Offices have been at the fore-front of funding flexibility, but now it is important for businesses to also commit to workplace flexibility for their team members. It’s something we are embracing at Scandia. With so many of our family office in ..read more

Family office investments are shaking up the business funding game and offering an attractive alternative to the cut-and-dry bottom-line decisions pushed by Venture Capitalist firms. There are many reasons to consider a Family Office like Scandia Partners.  Ultimate Flexibility The biggest standout about looking for funding from a Family Office is the flexibility if offers. Family offices are able to cut through the red-tape of the funding process to identify potential partners to fund. Oftentimes, family offices are able to fund businesses from varying backgrounds and levels in the bu ..read more

The Importance of Communication Scandia Partners is a family-focused office. That means we are committed not only to dollars and cents (which we are) but to the individual goals and success of each of our businesses and their respective leadership teams. One thing we find is that in many cases, particularly with startup companies, internal communication among team members and from the top can be a challenge. Some leaders and managers make the mistake of implementing a culture of secrecy and suspicion at the top. They believe that keeping individual team members in the dark about certain pro ..read more

One of the first things we ask potential partners is what their company values are. What is the culture within your business? And then we ask what their customers would say their company values are. Before bringing a new business into the Scandia Family, we go over our deep commitment to customer service and what it can mean for their business. Customer Service is a make-or-break for any business. From big tech companies to startups from the service industry to anywhere in between, it’s the one link in the chain that can send ripples through your business. It all starts on the front lines w ..read more