When looking to raise additional business finance, companies typically have a couple of primary options available to them.

Asset Finance

In today's economic climate, one of the biggest challenges facing new or restructured businesses is finding the funding necessary to get started. It seems that the days of easily obtained bank loans and overdrafts are now behind us with banks offering only small facilities at best and even these require personal guarantees from directors.

When a business is looking to restructure it is common for it to require some additional working capital. This working capital can be obtained by securing finance against existing plant and equipment thus allowing you to release funds to aid cash flow. Alternatively, this finance could provide useful funds to pay initial purchase consideration following restructure or insolvency.

Typically, it is easiest to raise finance against larger or higher value items of equipment as these provide the best security for the lender. However, by working with the right finance provider from the outset it is often possible to secure funding against a wide variety of equipment.

Invoice Finance

For many businesses, the only significant asset you have is your debtor book. The good news is that this is an asset that you build up immediately and which is typical quite easy to obtain funding against.

Through the use of invoice finance, you can obtain up to 85% of your outstanding invoice balance as up front funding. This not only fuels your initial growth but is by its very nature able to grow with your business as sales increase.

Invoice finance usually takes one of 2 forms:

1. Factoring

Here, the facility is disclosed to customers and payments are pursued and received by the finance provider (known as a Factor). This is a particularly useful facility for small business as it carries the added benefit of the Factor providing a robust credit control function. This frees you up to focus on the management and growth of your business rather than spending all of your time chasing customers for payment.

2. Confidential Invoice Discounting

For larger businesses with strong existing internal credit control departments it may be more appropriate to take out a confidential invoice discounting facility. Here, the facility is not disclosed to customers and you chase in payment yourself. You then account to the funder as payments are received. This can also be a useful facility for industries in which customers have contractual clauses preventing you from factoring their debts.

We have strong links with a number of different finance providers specialising in different industries and business sizes. As a result, we are well placed to match you with the right funding for your business. Due to our relationships, we are also to able to get funding lines agreed very quickly, often within a week and in some cases even faster.

To discuss you business funding options further or to arrange a initial consultation, call us free on 0800 066 3122