Incisive Financial Understanding

RAISING FINANCE - WITH EASE!

You don’t need a thick telephone directory of lenders to get the funding you need.  Even in difficult situations, prepare a compelling business case in the first place and almost any lender will back you. Fail to, and none will. The experiences of a couple of clients...

Client #1

"We first had projections put together for the bank by our accountants. We never gave it a second thought - it seemed a quick, almost mechanical process and we barely looked at their work before sending it on. And that almost sealed our fate. I would urge others to avoid the same mistake."

"In our case, the projections elicited no response from the bank and the silence, when we were well over our overdraft limit, was deafening. We had run out of cash; we didn't really know why or what to do. Someone in the trade referred us to Bottom Line Impact for advice." 

"It was soon clear that what the Bank had been sent originally by our accountants was basically unfundable.  The overdraft (already uncomfortably high for the Bank) was projected to grow by a further £120k.  To the accountants I guess it was just a fee. They either didn’t know or didn’t care about the likely impact on us or our business."

"No longer was this just about convincing the Bank to give us more money but about being clear ourselves that the business had a future. The last thing I wanted was to be ‘on the hook’ to the Bank for more money when I should have walked away."

"Looking closer at the numbers, Colin showed us that the originally projected debtors figures had been too high and that we needed less money. After carefully reviewing other aspects including sales, margins and overheads, we had a viable business on existing facilities, so we put new cash flows to the bank."

"But again there was no response."

"Why? Because (as we later learned) the first projections had‘put down a marker’ as far as the bank was concerned. They had, by this point, lost confidence in us and chose to ignore these revised figures. Overnight, our overdraft facility was slashed."

"This was a terrifying time - we were under huge pressure but we now knew, that given a chance, the business could be made to work. And, in Bottom Line Impact, we had advisers who would convey this, on our behalf, in the strongest possible terms."

"So we set about restoring the Bank's confidence.  We learned how to explain our strategy and quantify the impact of the changes we were making. This ability, to (in effect) see the business as the Bank saw it, was fundamental to keeping them on board in what were still difficult times. Banks' aren’t stupid, they see through bullshit. But, for the first time, we were truly understanding the financial side in the way, and at the level, we needed to. And our Bank knew it. And, of course, we had to deliver on the revised projections."

"Our original facility was eventually restored (albeit structured on a different basis) and we are with the same lender - more by choice than necessity  - and the business has the funidng it needs."  

"I can’t pretend we haven’t been to hell and back over the last few months. Like many, we were guilty of leaving the financials entirely in the hands of others - and we nearly paid the price. We just happened to find the right help at an absolutely critical time."

Client #2

"At the time I recall being pretty indifferent about who helped us.  But cash flow was under pressure and I had no further security I could pledge with the Bank so I guess there was something about working with advisers who had ‘been there, seen it and done it’ that swayed me towards Bottom Line Impact."

"Looking back, I wanted value for money in terms of the fee but frankly I had so much at stake - what I really needed was ‘quick hands’ and the right result."

"Despite getting on well with our Bank, securing more money was a difficult ‘sell’. Particularly as we had experienced a downturn in trading over recent months, which given what we needed, could seriously undermine our credibility."

"But despite our recent financial performance, the effort put into proving the business case (with some slightly tweaked targets) and the diligently compiled cash flow projections, paid off. Both withstood the Bank's probing questions."

Client #3

"We were looking at invoice finance options.  We knew we weren't in the best shape financially and had assumed we couldn't work with a mainstream lender.  But Bottom Line Impact thought otherwise.  Introducing us to one of their lenders, we found we could potentially access a higher '% advance' at less than half the cost of the specialist lender we'd previously seen."

As these cases demonstrate it is possible to secure funding despite finding yourself in a situation that you would rather not be in. But very often, less needs to be borrowed than anticipated. Indeed, not infrequently, with the appropriate targets and some minor tweaks to existing systems, even serious financial pressures can be worked through without recourse to any extra borrowing.

If you would like advice on raising finance for your business or if you are struggling to retain existing facilities, you can call use to discuss your situation in confidence and without obligation - Contact Us