For many businesses, certain times of the year can be a struggle when it comes to juggling cashflow; you may be a seasonal business, you have a growing list of overdue invoices and to cap it all you may be faced with your quarterly VAT bill or personal and business tax.

What can you do?

Whilst chasing overdue payments is a given it’s easier said than when your customers may be facing exactly the same cashflow crunch that you are.

One little know option is to look at a short term loan.

Short term loans are ideal way of quickly replenishing cash to cover outstanding creditors, Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE or NI arrears. They can also be used to supplement your working capital requirement to allow you to purchase stock upfront with cash, thereby potentially allowing you to negotiate better terms.

Short term loans can be granted very quickly with a minimal amount of information. Decisions are based on the quality of your credit file, the operation of your bank account and past financial performance.

If your application is approved then funds can typically be released within 24 hours, sometimes the same day. Short term loans are for periods from one month upwards with flexible repayment terms and can either be repaid daily or monthly.

The speed of decision and access to funds does come at a cost in terms of a higher interest rate and fees than you may be used to but these can be offset against the speed of decision and swift access to the funds.
If you’re in need of cash boost and want to know more then get in touch and we can chat through your options.

I hope you found the latest editions of the Business Finance Bulletin ‘Brexit Special’ of interest, particularly the five steps you can take to future-proof your business.

In case you missed it you can view it again here:

‘Business Finance Bulletin: The Brexit Special’

One question I was asked last week was whether banks and other lenders are still lending and the answer is simple… yes.

The events of the last two weeks are not a re-run of 2008 and so whilst business investment plans may be under review (as I discussed in the Bulletin), finance is still very much available.

If you have an idea and the only piece of the jigsaw puzzle that’s missing is finance, your options include:

• Commercial mortgages for property purchase
• Short term loans to boost cashflow
• Asset finance to purchase vehicles, plant or equipment
• Crowdfunding for loans up to five years
• … and other finance facilities

Accessing finance is down to planning. That means searching the right finance option for you in good time, preparing a proposal document or Business Plan and ensuring that your financial information is up to date.

Do all this and you’re well placed to get the finance you need.

Of course, if you want to chat through the options available to you, the BLS team will be more than happy to speak to you, just drop us a line or give us a call.

In the latest Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow discusses findings from the latest SME Finance Monitor report on small businesses appetite to borrow. Is it as strong as we think?

One industry sector that does struggle to raise finance is the UK house building trade. Rob shares news of a new fund Santander is putting together to help house builders who need development finance.

During the financial crisis short term business loans have become popular and Rob looks at the news of the takeover by EzBob of Everline. With both companies having lent a combined £54 million the short term business loan industry is set to grow further.

Following a workshop held by Aldermore Bank on Invoice Discounting Rob had a chance to catch up with Richard Whitehouse, Regional Sales Director to hear more about how invoice discounting can help unlock cash to fuel growth.

If you prefer to listen to this edition as a podcast click below or to download it to your phone click the download button.