Why choose Alternative Finance?

Article provided by Johnson Reed

With retail, hospitality and leisure businesses opening again, and demand for suppliers, manufacturing and construction greater than ever, it is important that companies have the facilities to expand, grow and invest in the future. With cash flow becoming one of the main concerns for SMEs in the last year, it’s important to get the balance right, and with mainstream lenders come long waiting times, increased scrutiny and endless criteria, more business are seeing their applications for loans, finance and leasing being rejected than ever before. This level of scepticism has a significant impact on businesses and their operations

However, alternative finance is an option that cannot be underestimated, and has the ability to support suppliers, businesses and their clients in selling more and investing in their products and services. There are many reasons why businesses are turning to alternative finance, and will continue to do so.

Common sense

Mainstream lenders have different processes to alternative lenders, and therefore business plans and propositions with genuine strength and durability can be misunderstood or ignored. We specialise in being a common sense lender, listening to your story and finding out how we can make finance work for you, rather than the other way around. Common sense means decisions are made by people who understand your industry and what you want to achieve.

Competitive rates

This is, and should be, important for any business owner. It affects your bottom line and how your business operates financially, which is crucial to ensuring you succeed. By offering competitive rates, alternative lending is an attractive option for businesses who may be in doubt about the value for money they can get elsewhere. It’s important for us, and it’s important for you, that’s why we make it a priority to secure competitive rates for your business.

Quick

More so than ever the queues have been getting longer, processing time and waiting for decisions is not what you should be doing when trying to secure finance to improve your business. Our team work directly to ensure all necessary steps are completed in an efficient manner to give you the best chance of getting your funds quickly, as we understand how important every second is. Alternative lending means you have a dedicated team working tirelessly to help you and your business, your clients and your customers.

Experts in your sector

Knowing your sector and industry gives us alternative finance the edge, because we work closely with suppliers, customers and industry bodies to understand what makes it tick and what’s important. That’s why when you bring us some Quirky Kit that banks or lenders may not see as valuable, we make it our mission to help you secure it. There’s not much we haven’t seen, and it can be frustrating dealing with people who don’t understand why you need your equipment, what it’s for or how it can benefit your business. By specialising in this area of equipment finance, alternative finance has a significant advantage.

Improve cash flow

It’s important to keep on top of cash flow, and it can be a dilemma when you want to invest but don’t want to spend. Using alternative finance to secure a loan or equipment finance for your business you can improve your service or product, make it more cost effective, more efficient and increase revenue, allowing you to take care of overheads, bills, wages and other expenditures. This allows you to keep any cash you have for a rainy day, whilst also improving your business. You can find out more on how to improve your cash flow by viewing our guide here.

Freedom to grow your business

Another benefit of alternative finance is the freedom to grow your business. This means that we will support you in how you plan to use the loan or finance, as you know your business better than anyone, meaning you know how to make it succeed, and keep to your ongoing commitments. Compare this to mainstream lending which may require more detail and may be more strict with the delegation of your agreement, we want you to have freedom.

Whether you’re in manufacturing, engineering, hospitality, leisure, or any other industry, alternative finance can be a great option to support your business in its next stage, helping to increase revenue, decrease costs and improve service to your customers.