Money for Business
Whether you’re looking to buy, start or expand a business you’ll need money. And the two broad ways in which this can be done is by raising loan or equity finance.
In my newsletter of 17 March “Choosing the Best Loan and Lender” I covered many of the ways businesses can raise loans. Those that raised the most interest were the ones where property security was not required. So I thought I’d quickly cover the most frequent request we get - access to working capital without giving security over your house.
Raising Working Capital Loans
We receive numerous enquiries from businesses that are past the start-up stage, are making sales, have a great relationship with their bank, but are unable to satisfy growing orders due to shortage of working capital.
The problem is when they want a loan to expand and capitalise on the effort they have put in to grow the business, they're told by their bank “I’m sorry we can’t help you now because you’ve run out of equity in your house. But come back in 3 years time and give us 3 years of accounts and we’d be happy to look at it then”.
One solution is to use your debtors and/or stock to offer as security for the loan. There are a number of variations for this including names such as Invoice financing, Debtor financing, Trade finance and so on. I covered this briefly in the March newsletter. Don’t confuse this form of finance with the “factoring” of old. Most modern systems are seamless, non-disclosed, and provide a “free” debtor management system.
If you’re interested I suggest you give me a call as there are new sophisticated methods from non-bank lenders which lowers their cost of funding and consequently the interest rate they charge to the borrower. This is a competitive market now and it pays to look at all the alternatives.
The banks too are looking to expand their business lending – and not just for businesses servicing the domestic New Zealand market. International Trade finance – raising finance here to produce export goods and also give the buyer attractive terms - is a hot topic now. Call me if that’s of interest. I have access to small or large sums of money.
Raising Equity Working Capital
If a business can’t raise working capital by way of loans they need working capital in the form of equity
There are a number of sources of Capital for business. These include friends and family, Angel Investors, NZVIF (and other government sponsored agencies), and Private Investors many of whom like you are subscribers to Capital Comment.
If you’re looking to raise capital for your business (or for property) there are well founded rules you’ll need to follow to attract investors. To give a few:
- The business is in an attractive market sector.
- It has experienced management with a proven track record.
- It has a comparative advantage in that market.
- You have a well prepared business plan including a strategy to deliver growth.
- There is an exit strategy in which investors can realise on their investment.
Through the TBK Group we are NZTE accredited to advise businesses on capital raising, business planning and marketing. We also provide assistance in the preparation of your business plan.
TBK Capital raises capital for businesses at all stages in their life from start up to expansion. We also have access to capital via the new Crowd Funding regulations through an arrangement with a licensed operator. We are not involved in raising money on the New Zealand Stock Exchange – but have contacts who are. We specialise in that pre-IPO funding that’s required to bring the business to the position where it can seek this form of more liquid capital.
Active Participation
A very attractive form of capital is from an investor who can also provide “Active Participation”. This is someone who can - in addition to their investment - provide knowledge and assistance to your business. This could be:
- Via a board position; and/or
- become a business mentor; and/or
- take an active management role;
- or simply because they have a similar business.
An active investor can be a single investor or part of group internally related – like staff, or externally related – like suppliers or similar businesses.
Active Participation is not like belonging to a group of unrelated people investing in something like a fund, public listed company, or a syndicate. It is really more suited to investors who are experienced in business, have money to invest in something that interests them, are sick of low interest returns, and want to become active in ways other than going to the gym, taking up yoga, or golf, or getting a new girl/boy friend.
When a business is raising capital, the active investor usually takes the position of a cornerstone shareholder and has a seat on the Board. Smaller investors in the offer are happy to have their shareholding as part of their overall investment portfolio.
Mergers and acquisitions are a form of active participation. They provide the opportunity for small businesses to not only expand their operation but also to provide a “succession plan” or “exit strategy” for the founding shareholders as the business becomes more saleable, or an acquisition target for larger businesses. This is becoming a major part of our business and we work closely with Tabak Business Sales in this regard.
TBK Capital has made a commitment to bring investors and investment opportunities together. These opportunities;
- are not “offers to the public”,
- are not advertised in the media,
- are sent only to subscribers to Capital Comment, and
- participation is usually available only to people who qualify under the terms of the Securities Act.
If you’re interested in looking at this sort of investment give us a call or reply to this email and we’ll enter you on our preferential investor list.
We’re always happy to hear from you - whether you want to raise or invest money or not. Either reply to this email or I can be reached on +64 9 307 3257 or +64 21 902 901.
Cheers
JP
John Paine B.Sc., Dip BIA
TBK Capital Limited
Level 15, BDO Building
120 Albert Street
Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Phone +64 9 307 3257
Fax +64 9 309 4519
Mobile +64 21 902 901
Email john.paine@tbkcapital.co.nz