Getting your clients ready for 2022 means making sure these businesses are all properly funded, strongly capitalised and ready to finance their ambitious plans for the new year. And with our new Instant Offers partnership with Funding Circle, it’s easier than ever for your SME clients to apply for fast and flexible funding up to a maximum of £100k.
So, what could your ambitious SME clients do with £100k in additional external funding?
With many small businesses showing signs of cautious optimism as we enter 2022, we’ve suggested five key ways that clients could put that money to good use – and how this extra capital could be the driver for bigger and better things for your clients over the coming year.
1. Take on more staff to support their growth plans
The people that make up a company are any SMEs most important asset. So, having enough core talent and people power in the business is a crucial element of any 2022 growth plan.
Taking on additional staff obviously increases a business’ capacity. But it also brings new ideas, experience and operational processes into the company. At the growth stage, this kind of talent expansion can be critical, so £100k could be a great starting point for upping the company’s headcount. This extra cash can cover the extra payroll costs for two senior managers, four new junior sales people or even a new director to sit on the board and bring some extra experience and dynamism to the client’s growth strategy.
2. Invest in new equipment to help them scale up
If clients have plans to scale up their operations in 2022, it’s likely that they’ll need to upgrade their equipment, vehicles, plant and technology to achieve this.
For industries that rely heavily on expensive machinery and equipment – sectors like construction, manufacturing, engineering or food production, for example – buying these new assets can put significant pressure on their cash reserves. With £100k available to the business on highly flexible and competitive terms, a food retail business could lease a fleet of new delivery vans, expand their production facilities or invest in a new software system.
The key lies in understanding the client’s growth objectives, identifying the assets that will allow them to achieve these goals, and helping them fund or lease the relevant equipment.
3. Pay off debt and improve their cash flow
Having numerous outstanding debts and liabilities on the client’s balance sheet is bad for the financial health of the company. With an Instant Offer loan, clients have the option to bring a lump sum into the business and to use this £100k to pay-off and resolve these disparate debts.
Where the client has multiple loans, overdrafts, unpaid bills and other repayments, this puts unnecessary pressure on the company’s cash flow – at a time when many SMEs are looking to stabilise recovery and extend their growth for 2022. Using a Funding Circle loan to pay off these debts, or refinance existing liabilities, helps to reduce the debt level and combine these liabilities into one more manageable loan.
With one loan to pay off, you can help the client by working out the most efficient financing options and repayment schedules. This makes their monthly cash outflows more predictable, reduces the costs of repayments and frees up more cash to reinvest in the business.
4. Make green/sustainability improvements to the company
Building a greener future should be an important element of any conscientious SME’s agenda for 2022 and beyond. But becoming more green and sustainable can be a costly enterprise.
Climate change and global warming are a huge risk to the planet, and something where the world needs to act decisively to reduce the emissions, waste and carbon footprint of the planet’s businesses. But many of the actions needed to achieve ‘Net Zero’ require significant change and investment from the company.
SMEs could consider:
- Replacing their internal combustion engine (ICE) fleet with electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce their use of fossil fuels and become more sustainable.
- Switching their production and packaging to alternative non-plastic, biodegradable options, and moving away from using plastic in the business.
- Adding solar panels, wind turbines, or hydro-electric technology to their premises, cutting their reliance on the power grid and reducing their utility bills.
- Investing in tree-planting, rewilding projects or green social enterprises as part of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) policy. This investment helps to bring the company’s values and ecological credentials to life.
5. Enhance their staff benefits and perks to boost employee motivation
Hiring more staff is one part of the growth strategy, but keeping the high-quality, valued staff that you already have is just as important. No business strategy can work if your client doesn’t have the talent, knowledge and employee buy-in to achieve its key goals for 2022.
A great way to retain core talent is to make the company a more inviting and attractive place to work, and staff perks, rewards and benefits are central to this. In a market where there’s currently a labour shortage, you absolutely need to hold on to the staff you have – and also attract new talent looking for the best possible working environment. Offering cash bonuses, enhanced pension contributions, in-house gyms or free food and drink on tap in the office all help to keep your client’s employees engaged, motivated and enthusiastic about the company.
Add Instant Offers directly to your firm’s website
Funding Circle has quickly become the world's leading peer-to-peer lender for small business finance. So, we’re extremely excited about our new Instant Offers partnership with Funding Circle and the potential it brings for accounting firms, like yours, to expand out into the world of Capital Advisory.
Using Funding Circle’s new application programming interface (API), you can now add funding solutions directly to your firm’s own website. Clients can browse the available finance options, apply for a loan of up to £100k and get an answer in minutes. It’s the fast and frictionless way for SMEs to access the capital they need to grow. And by making Instant Offers part of your key funding advisory offering, you give your firm a real competitive advantage in the market.
If you’d like to know more about Instant Offers, please do get in touch for a chat with our team. They’ll be happy to talk you through the benefits.
- Call us on 020 3696 9700
- Email us at support@capitalise.com
