Business Loans & Recurring Revenue in Ireland

Did you know that you can release cash flow from future recurring revenue? There is a new finance solution that enables Irish businesses to get working capital from upcoming revenue & on a revolving basis. You can release up to 70% in advance, month after month.

BENEFITS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

  • Create a recurring revenue stream

  • No personal guarantees

  • The cost is agreed in advance

CRITERIA TO ACCESS FUNDING

  • Your business is trading at least a year

  • You have a minimum annual turnover of €1m

  • You have an average monthly turnover of €100k

If recurring revenue finance is of interest we’re here to guide you through the process. You can be onboarded in 48 hours & have peace of mind to release working capital automatically every month. Talk to the business loans team today on 01 55 636 55 or web chat via the portal in the bottom right of this screen now. We’re here to help, 7 days.

BusinessLoans.ie Recurring Revenue Finance

A Seasonal Liqueur Business Toasts an Invoice Finance Solution

This week BusinessLoans.ie helped a client in the drinks industry. They make a liqueur that’s especially popular around Christmas, requiring extra working capital to ramp up production to serve their distributors across Ireland, Europe & the USA. They ultimately needed extra funds for October, November & December. They looked at traditional invoice finance options but were put off by ongoing fees throughout the year when they were not going to be using the facility. We discussed one-off invoice financing with them. This would enable them to “cash in” invoices when they need to & without the commitment of an ongoing solution.

So how does it work? Essentially it enables you to release cash trapped in invoices & speed up your working capital cycle. You can pick and choose which invoices to fund 80% payment in 24 hours.

BENEFITS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

  • No personal guarantees or additional security – funding decision based on the debtor

  • No long-term contracts, no onerous paperwork

  • Multiple currencies supported

  • Fast decisions, fast funding & simple process

  • Affordable and flexible finance

  • Bad debt protection

CRITERIA TO ACCESS FUNDING

  • Your business is trading with limited companies

  • You have insurable debtors

  • Your invoices are between €15,000 and €2,000,000

  • Your business has been trading more than 2 years

  • Your turnover is more than €500,000

If one-off invoice finance is of interest we’re here to guide you through the process of getting your debtors approved & uploading invoices. You can then receive 80% now and a final settlement when your debtor pays. Talk to the business loans team today on 01 55 636 55 or web chat via the portal in the bottom right of this screen now. We’re here to help, 7 days.

BusinessLoans.ie Invoice Finance Testimonial

Budget 2021 – How it Affects Business Owners in Ireland

The Irish Budget 2021 was the biggest yet and designed to get Irish business through Brexit and COVID-19. The Minister of Finance, Paschal Donohoe said “Budget 2021 has been prepared against a background of extraordinary uncertainty regarding near-term economic and budgetary prospects. Here are the key points:

  • A new scheme for businesses which closed because of Covid-19 will provide a maximum of €5,000 per week - payments based on 2019 average weekly turnover. Effective from today until the end of March next year, with the first payments in mid-November 

  • Debt warehousing provisions for SMEs will be extended for a period of a year with no interest. A €30 million fund will be administered through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund 

  • VAT rate reduction from 13.5% to 9% for hospitality sector 

  • Extension of the commercial rates holiday 

  • New Covid Restrictions Support Scheme (CRSS) 

  • Extension of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme through 2021 

  • €3.4bn Recovery Fund  

  • €10.1bn infrastructure spending in 2021 

  • Increasing Earned Income Credit up to €1,650 for self-employed – the same as the employee tax credit for PAYE workers 

If your business requires finance to help with your business budget for the year ahead, we’re here to help. Call 01 55 636 55 now.

Budget 2021 BusinessLoans.ie

Business Loans in Times of Economic Uncertainty

With headlines to traumatise the Irish economy such as “Covid-19: NPHET recommends State moves to Level 5 restrictions for four weeks”, it makes me think of something my business mentor told me, about borrowing money when you don’t need it & being ready for unexpected situations. Let’s look in to it?

How much working capital does a small business need?

The amount of working capital a small business needs to run smoothly depends largely on the type of business, its operating cycle, and the business owners’ goals for future growth. However, while very large businesses can get by with negative working capital because of their ability to raise funds quickly, small businesses should maintain positive working capital figures.

Assuming you passed the debt-service ratio test, when should you borrow money for your business?

You should borrow when you are confident that you can make more profit as a result of borrowing money. Estimate what your sales and profits are before borrowing and what they will be after you borrow.

What is a good debt-service ratio?

A debt-service coverage ratio of 1 or above indicates that a company is generating sufficient operating income to cover its annual debt and interest payments. As a general rule of thumb, an ideal ratio is 2 or higher. A ratio that high suggests that the company is capable of taking on more debt.

In times of uncertainty or when a business really needs money is generally the time when underwriters will class the situation as high-risk and decline an application / apply a higher rate. That’s why businesses need to be sufficiently financed to handle shocks. Hopefully that working capital comes from retained earnings however, there are times when you will need that from supports, grants or debt. Always speak with your CFO or accountant to advise you on what’s right for your situation. There are a number of government-backed supports you can read about in our post here. Or if you want to look at fast finance quotes from alternative lenders we can assist. You can get an idea of the different loan types in our post here. We’re here for you 7 days to talk finance on 01 55 636 55.

BusinessLoans.ie Covid19


References:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/covid-19-nphet-recommends-state-moves-to-level-5-restrictions-for-four-weeks-1.4371810

https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/finance/debt-service-coverage-ratio/

https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/102915/how-much-working-capital-does-small-business-need.asp

Updated List of Financial Supports For Irish Business Owners

The Covid supports list for Irish businesses is changing all the time. Here is an updated list of government-backed loans and competitions open to micro, small & medium businesses navigating their way through the difficult Covid period.

There are many more business finance options from alternative lenders if you find you don’t qualify for the above or they are not suitable for your purpose. We are especially busy now with refinancing existing business debt, moving it to terms of 5 years & making repayments more manageable. We are here to help and available 7 days to organise business loan quotes on 01 55 636 55

BusinessLoans.ie Covid-19 Supports


BusinessLoans.ie MD Rupert Hogan Interviewed by deBanked Magazine

In a recent interview with reporter Brendan Garrett of deBanked Magazine, New York, entitled “Ireland’s Alternative Finance Industry and the Coronavirus” BusinessLoans.ie MD Rupert Hogan gave his insights on business finance in the current climate alongside Jamie Heaslip of Flender Finance, Chris Burge of Spark Crowdfunding and Garrett Cassidy of Trezeo.

Rupert Hogan “explained that some businesses would be better going with LEO over banks and even some non-banks. Noting that non-bank lenders can’t compete with the rates offered by LEO and, just like in the US, banks can’t act with the speed that these business owners need. And described the current situation as The Great Lockdown and banks aren’t too helpful, even in the good times, due to the high rejection rates that SMEs experience when looking for loans. In regards to merchant cash advances, he’s expecting, when the MCA companies reopen, that they’ll be funding at reduced rates, some doing as much as 50% less than their pre-coronavirus amounts.”

The article concludes, “altogether, Ireland’s alternative finance industry, like others the world over, has been hit hard by the coronavirus’s economic effects. With the country’s phased lifting of the lockdown being plotted out over the course of the summer, the island nation may not see as quick a return to commerce as certain American states, but its fintechs and non-banks hope to stick around, by hook or by crook, as the Irish say, by any means possible.” We at www.BusinessLoans.ie agree.

Rupert Hogan MD BusinessLoans.ie & Sean Murray Editor deBanked when they met in Dublin October 2019.

Rupert Hogan MD BusinessLoans.ie & Sean Murray Editor deBanked when they met in Dublin October 2019.



Business Mentorship in Ireland: Guidance for startups to established SMEs

It's been over a year since I set up www.BusinessLoans.ie and left the security of employment. There has been a lot to learn along the way. So I'm writing this blog post to give my insights on making the most of the resources that are out there to keep you on track on your entrepreneurial journey. This story can be split between startups and more established SMEs.

Startups

If you are starting out you can try the New Frontiers program to get you from business idea to successful startup. It's run in three phases and you get experts to help you validate your idea. You engage in workshops, one-to-one mentoring, financial support & co-working space. However, this doesn't suit everyone and places are limited. Some of the best startups have come from patient people who have stayed in their day job and validated their idea to a point where they can comfortably step in to their business. Or how about this, if your employer might be open to letting you take a sabbatical from work for 6 months you can try it out? Entrepreneurship can be a lonely place and it doesn't suit everyone. Also the failure rate is high. It's easy to get feedback from well-wishers but the proof is in the pudding. How many purchase orders can you get in your hand? So the key is to validate, validate & validate! 

So what's available if you stay in your day job? What mentorship and guidance is there for you? Your Local Enterprise Office is a great place to start. They offer financial & other supports whether you're at business idea stage, a startup or an established business. There is so much they offer that's a blog post in itself for another day. We are also now in to Local Enterprise Week 2020 from 2nd to 6th of March so there are a multitude of extra events on so make hay while the sun shines and get stuck in!

I also wanted to say failure is not final. Recently I heard Seán Fay tell of his journey. He failed and failed at startups. He failed 5 times. But he kept going. Deterrents of dyslexia, being an immigrant and time constraints of caring for his daughter didn't deter him. With the help of guidance and support from his Local Enterprise Office; then going directly to Oracle to challenge them that they had startup programs all over Europe but none in Ireland, where their head office is; and getting them on board too. He then grew the business and got more supports from Enterprise Ireland. It became a seed investor and a backer of Fay's business, The Context Factory. It's gone from startup to a FTSE250 through determination coupled with supports & guidance.

On another note, "talk's good, but if you don't take action, it doesn't matter how slick your strategy is" says Tina Keogh MD of Warner’s Gin Distillery. So be ready to fail and learn but at the same time get your best foot forward with the supports and guidance around you. Digital Dun Laoghaire have made an excellent resources list you will find here.

SMEs

Where do you go for support if you are an established business owner? I have been lucky as early on in my business journey I got speaking with PJ Timmins of The Alternative Board (or TAB for short). I learned that as a business gets bigger and bigger you need to be able to draw on specialised business advice. As Timmins puts it, "running a business is never easy, but looking for the right advice and support is a big challenge." You can draw on advice from "the same group of seasoned business leaders sitting on your advisory board on a monthly basis. They will listen to the challenges and opportunities in front of you and give you independent real-world advice. These are seasoned business leaders who understand the issues. In turn, you will contribute to solving their challenges and opportunities." 

Aside from a monthly board meeting you also have a one-to-one private session with your TAB facilitator, a seasoned business professional themself. In my case my mentor is PJ Timmins and there are a host of local facilitators with a range of experience across different sectors country-wide that can be paired with you. The one-to-one helps to keep you on track with TAB's Business Builders Blueprint. It's a proven strategic business planning process focused on delivering a business owner’s vision of leading a successful business while also living a rich fulfilling life. Basically I log in to online resources at home or sometimes with my mentor and work on goals, strategy and most importantly I reflect regularly. I'm held accountable for sticking with the plan.

Another really good thing is the power of the collective minds of TAB members. You can leverage the minds of everyone around you which I did to good effect recently. I was introduced to another member who is a very experienced banker and we are currently working on a project that will add an ongoing additional revenue stream to my business. You can get introductions from networking generally but TAB is selective about who becomes a member, so I've found you can really open up a high quality network that you just can't match compared with some of the networking events I've been to; for example scrolling through business networking listings on Eventbrite and Meetup. So sure, you can do lots of networking free and that can be good. TAB does have an outlay but when you have a bigger company you're probably used to spending money on consultants. I'd have to say TAB gives you a lot more for a fraction of what a non-executive director or someone similar would cost. The average TAB member stays on 4 years while they only have a month-to-month membership obligation so that tells a lot.

Half the reason I'm writing this blog post is that a TAB member who inspires me is Brody Sweeney of Camile Thai Kitchen and he's been in the news recently for drone food deliveries with Bobby Healy's  Manna Drone Delivery ;and I'm so impressed. He's a businessman who's been to the brink and come a long way. If you have time, read this article. I had heard in the past that Sweeney was on the forefront of restaurant ordering technology and running a slick operation that's helped Camile expand so quickly but I can nearly guarantee you a lot of his strategy, advice & confidence to execute has been helped along by TAB. I'm certainly wishing them the best of luck, but I'm sure they won't need it as they're sure to have planned it so well! 

If you're a budding startup or established business owner interested in talking about business finance or anything in this blog post, call us 7 days on 01 55 636 55, email hello@businessloans.ie or web chat via the box on the bottom right of this page.