How to choose the right funding partner for you

In this piece in association with Boost Capital, we look at the debt funding options to choose for an emerging business.

When you start a business, unless you are the beneficiary of a trust fund or you are a serial entrepreneur with serious past successes, you will invariably be needing funding. These days, it seems you don’t need to inject a lot of capital into your start-up. You can even start from your bedroom, spending a couple of thousand or so on a website and some stock, and off you go, you’re an online trader.

But how much money do you actually need? For a start, you will need roughly six months worth of fixed costs on hand as a start-up, as a conservative  estimate. You should have a plan to cover your expenses in the first month. Don’t underestimate those expenses; they can rise as a business grows, and companies that fail invariably run out of cash.

For those borrowing from family, friends and fools, that £2,000 well can quickly run dry. The bootstrapping route is well and good, but it is more than likely that you will need some funds beyond what you can supply yourself and through your nearest and dearest.

The need for a platform

For the businesses that are a little further on from the start-up stage, those that require a slightly larger tranche of money than is just afforded to the budget bedroom visionaries, a funding platform is needed. Time was when businesses would go to the banks for a loan, but now, it seems there is a range of exciting lenders out there for your finance needs.

In today’s business finance debt landscape, there are a multitude of ways to do this, and there are many advantages to plumping for debt finance, which is the borrowing of money to be repaid plus interest, over the equity route, whereby you offer a stake in your business in exchange for cash.

Obviously, retaining full ownership of your company is a great plus point when reviewing debt finance.  It affords a certain freedom to a business owner that you don’t seem to feel with multiple shareholders and others taking pieces of your pie. It follows that, with debt, you don’t have to contend with such shareholders trying to control your business, or equity dilution when further money is raised.

The interest obligations you take on are known amounts, which can be planned for, as well as timely payments being good for your credit score, which can help for product-based companies seeking credit terms from their suppliers.

Boost Capital: The right funding provider

In this day and age, many companies are choosing to go down the online route, where fierce competition means reasonable terms for their loan. Boost Capital is one such provider.

Boost Capital, provides SMEs with the financing they need to help their business grow. The financing from Boost allows small business owners to access working capital in as few as two days to meet short-term business needs, such as purchasing equipment or taking on a larger order than normal.

Further benefits are: there is no need to prepare a business plan. That’s right, minimal paperwork required. A less-than-perfect credit is OK, as Boost will consider your individual situation.

Repayments are customised to be affordable and meet your business’s cash flow model. Borrow from Boost today and see your business thrive by clicking here.

Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel was the editor of SmallBusiness.co.uk from 2010 to 2018. He specialises in writing for start-up and scale-up companies in the areas of finance, marketing and HR.

Related Topics

Leave a comment