Every week our Managing Director, Mark Smilie sends a letter to our business community. For this edition, he set his sights on securing a business loan in a crisis. Join us and take a look at some of the important dos and don’ts!
“Dear Business Community,
Another week goes by and every day I continue to get phone calls. I hear ‘We cannot get through to the bank’ or They just don’t seem interested’ a lot. This is in line with efforts to get financial support in response to the Coronavirus Crisis. A particularly tough one was: “The bank turned us down last year [I am thinking no surprise there, that’s why we have so many independent finance companies], so when we went back to them for a loan under the CBILS scheme, they were just not interested. We went to other banks and they said we are only prioritising our own clients, go back to your own.”
Notably: I actually had arranged a good business loan for this client a couple of months ago. At the time, they thought they could get through without it.
What to do then?
Well, understandably they are thinking of putting in their own money into their business for a 6 month loan. Of course, I told them about last weeks newsletter where I wrote:
Don’t put your own money into your own business without doing this first
In fact, they said they had been caught by this several years ago when a previous business had gone into liquidation because of a bad debt. They gave a personal loan to the business, and repaid themselves. They the had to give that money back to the business, and it was a nightmare. Incidentally, this was the reason why their bank turned them down last year.
This week’s essential reading:
The experts,advise you on how to get a business loan during and after the crisis…
If you would like to discuss any of the above, or have your own questions, you are always welcome to pick up the phone and call me.
Getting a Business Loan during these times
If you have a business that is trading, and you can prove that you will be able to make the loan repayments and that the business is viable, we at Ringrose Business Finance should be able to get you finance, quickly and easily. It is notable that in this current marketplace, everything is down to how strong your relationships are with the finance companies. As brokers, ours are strongest, therefore there is an 80% chance of acceptance by using us as opposed to less than a 30% chance by going direct.
I am here for you, even if you just want to bounce some ideas of the wall. Please feel to pick up the phone, I am fortunate enough to be surrounded by some great contacts I have made over the last 20 years, and if I can do anything to help, I will. I am not looking for fees from you in these present circumstances, my pleasure will be to help, this has been my attitude for many years, and as a result I am lucky enough to receive a referral most weeks and over 80% of my clients return.
Please pick up the phone and say hi, you are always welcome to call me on my mobile number below…
Very best wishes,
Mark Smillie