Fresh money could ease business funding
Speakers at the first in an innovative series of business ‘Survival’ seminars hosted by The Wilson Organisation, said companies needing funding for acquisitions should consider the banks recently emerged as ‘pre-eminent’, as well as the new debt products on offer from an increasing number of Private Equity houses, which are poised and ready to invest.
These banks together with ‘asset based lenders' which have remained more active during the credit crunch, may also be able to provide solutions to working capital and cashflow issues.
The event revealed that, whilst access to finance is still pretty tough, especially for businesses in sectors worst hit by the downturn, funding is still available in the right circumstances.
"It is also always worth approaching local development agencies about the support they have available," said Andrew Durbin, a Partner in the dedicated Corporate Finance division of Midlands accounting and advisory firm Smith Cooper, "as well as investigating Government schemes such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee launched in January, which has recently increased the likelihood of businesses being considered for support by their banks."
To maximise the chances of securing a chunk of this ‘fresh money' businesses were advised to carefully consider their funding requirements and produce a comprehensive business plan which identifies exactly how much funding the business really needs and for what, includes projections, and identifies risks and details plans for mitigating these. "Consider the ‘what ifs' for the business - such as the loss of customers, a further change in exchange rates and problems with supply sources," said Andrew.
Simon Hellier, Non-Executive Director of Wilsons, the Nottingham-based insurance broker and financial advisor, encouraged businesses not to overlook the importance of their people to business sustainability through and out of the recession: "The downsizing process, sadly faced by many businesses already, will have forced a business to identify the people most important to them - and its vital to check matters such as the length of their notice period, to ‘protect' the business as long as possible from losing the people considered a vital part of the operation.
"Businesses that will survive are those with working capital that will see them out of the recession; those that lack this and the financial backing or belief of their bank, as well as the demise of their customers, are amongst the main forces that will contribute to a business failing.
"Owners and directors simply have to legislate for the unthinkable for the individuals key to the business - there is insurance available to protect a business from the loss or death of a key person and when one considers statistics that show only 47 percent of businesses survive such a loss, a carefully constructed and tailored insurance policy to protect a business from this is clearly a very sensible step towards protecting the future of the business," he said.
The ‘Survival to Success' programme of free seminars continues on the 22nd April 2009, with a session on ‘Realigning business assets', which will look at some ideas for effectively managing and realising a businesses' assets through the use of pension and investment planning tools. To reserve a place, email: jsquires@wilorg.com or Tel: 0115 942 0111 or visit: http://www.wilorg.com/.
The Wilson Organisation provides professional independent insurance, financial, risk management and corporate finance solutions to businesses and individuals both regionally and nationally. For more information, visit: http://www.wilorg.com/, or Tel: 0115 942 0111.