Financial Advice
In a recent chat about marketing with brand & marketing specialist Francoise Garnier (Garnier Marketing), it occurred to me that the obtaining finance is in essence about marketing your business. The difference is that your “customer” is the bank. Do I hear a chorus of “Hang on a minute! Isn’t my business supposed to be [...]
These are the fundamental planks of Credit Risk which must be satisfactorily addressed in a Loan Proposal. They should frame your thought process as you argue your business financing case. Character This is about the integrity of the key people who are responsible for meeting a company’s undertakings. Business is about people and character is [...]
You have a fantastic business idea. You’ve undertaken a ‘proof of concept’. The results indicate that there’s great market potential for your business model. However, to take the business to the next stage, you need funding. So how do you fund the development of your business model? Your personal resources aren’t sufficient. The banks have [...]
“Thus it is said: Know the other side (the enemy), know yourself, and your victory will not be threatened. Know the weather, know the terrain, and your victories will be limitless.” Lines 10.56 and 10.57 of Chapter 10; Sun Zi Bingfa (Sun Tzu’s essays on The Art of War) Any properly informed view about a [...]
What Is Debtor Finance? A financing arrangement where a lender advances money against the trade debtors of a business. Advance rates vary between 70% to 90% but are typically up to 80% of the value of the acceptable invoices. Read below about Eligibility for Debtor Finance. Once the facility is established, most lenders will advance [...]
Let’s start with a little quiz: Do you review your accounts every month and by no later than the 10th working day after the last month end? Does your review include all 3 financial statements – Profit and Loss (or Income) Statement, Cash Flow Statement and Balance Sheet and compare them against your Budget? Does [...]
Finance products (or facilities) are in essence money packaged in different ways. Each type of package comes with a specific set of terms and conditions such as: Purpose: what the money can be used for Loan Term: How long you can have the money for Repayment: When do you need to repay the money Security: [...]
Money is the ‘oil’ that greases the engines of business. As an old advertisement for motor oils use to say: “Oils ain’t oils.” And likewise, money ain’t money. There are 3 broad categories of money, each with its own characteristics: Debt Equity or Capital Equity/Debt Hybrids: these are financing instruments which are a blend of [...]
The judgement in the Centro case has set the bar for financial literacy by company directors. To fulfil your responsibility as a director, you don’t have to know all the ins and outs of accounting and accounting standards but you do have to: read and understand the accounts of the business; and ask yourself if [...]
The recently released Aon Risk Management Survey 2010/2011 found that financial issues of “Liquidity” and “Capital Availability/Structure” raced up the ladder of risk concerns by businesses. Liquidity, which didn’t even rate in the top 10 risks in pre-Global Financial Crisis (GFC) years of easy money, ranked 7 in 2009/2010 and hit number 2 spot for [...]
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