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Business Cash Flow Loans
Consider your options for boosting your business' cash flow by comparing loans with Savvy today.
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Most businesses have times when their normal cash flow falls just short of what’s needed, so it's important to understand the array of options operators have at their disposal. Explore and compare business cash flow loan options with Savvy and find out more about how they work and why they might be right for your business.
What is a business cash flow loan, and how does it work?
Cash flow loans are a type of business investment loan designed to plug a temporary hole or shortfall in your business’ finances. A cash flow loan is based on the understanding that this shortfall will eventually be resolved by the normal cash flow of your business, with no need for extraordinary measures – effectively, you’re borrowing money from your expected future income.
A cash flow loan could be a specialised loan designed specifically to help with business cash flow, and some lenders have dedicated cash flow based lending specifically for this purpose. But in many cases it’s simply a more conventional type of loan obtained for the purpose of helping out with cash flow.
Cash flow loans are generally not intended to be for a large amount of funds. They’re also not intended to be a long-term loan solution going over several years. They're a stop-gap solution to a short-term problem, and are normally intended to be paid of over a matter of months rather than becoming a long-term financial investment.
What types of business finance could act as a cash flow loan?
There are a number of common finance types that could fill the role of a cash flow loan.
- Specialised “Cash Flow” loans – Some lenders have dedicated cash flow loans custom built and optimised for this purpose. They are generally for lower amounts ($5,000 to around $50,000). They also have relatively short loan terms – around 1-2 years at maximum.
- Standard Unsecured business loans – Most lenders offer conventional unsecured business loans that could easily serve as cash flow based lending. These don’t require any security or deposit, are fast and easy to turn around, and can provide from $5,000 up to potentially well over $100,000 – although official the maximum amount you can borrow will depend on things like the state of your business and its’ credit history.
- Invoice Financing – Invoice financing is a kind of alternative loan finance where you transfer a number of your outstanding invoices (representing money owed to your business by customers) over to a lender, who then pays you the majority of their value and then collects the debt from the customer themselves. In some ways, invoice financing is the perfect cash flow loan, as it’s based on bridging the gap between your expenses and getting reimbursed by your customers.
- Merchant Cash Advance – A merchant cash advance involves a lender loaning you money, and then taking their repayments as a percentage of your cash flow over the next year. They’re also well suited for a cash flow loan, as they’re actually based on the idea of selling your future revenue for immediate finance – that’s literally how they’re defined.
- Business Credit – Another option for short term finance to plug a cash flow hole is some form of business credit. It’s handy because it’s available at any time and you’re only charged interest for the money you’re currently using. But the interest rates are high, and overusing it can impact your business credit rating.
Types of business loan
The most common type of business finance, unsecured loans enable businesses to access the funds they need without attaching an asset to the loan as security. Some lenders may allow you to borrow up to $500,000 and, because there's no collateral, offer same-day approval.
If your business already owns valuable assets, such as property or expensive equipment, you may choose a secured business loan instead. These loans may increase your borrowing power beyond what an unsecured loan can offer and, crucially, typically come with lower interest rates.
Business loans don't always have to be worth hundreds of thousands. If you're operating a small business and need a boost to help you keep on top of your expenses or expand your company, you may be able to take out a loan starting from as little as $5,000 and unlock further capital.
Just because you don't have all the required documents for a standard business loan doesn't mean you're out of options. Low doc finance enables you to use alternative documentation, such as other business financials, in the application process to access the funds you need.
A commercial line of credit allows you to draw from your loan account whenever your business needs access to their funds, instead of managing a lump sum and repaying it like a regular loan. This can add flexibility to your finance arrangement, providing money when you need it.
Invoice finance presents another option to business operators looking to free up cash through outstanding invoices yet to be paid by their customers. Your invoice finance can either be invoice discounting or factoring, which present different options when it comes to your invoices.
A common reason for seeking out a loan is to purchase commercial equipment. You can do this either with an unsecured arrangement or one with the equipment itself as collateral, with the latter potentially increasing your borrowing power and lowering your interest rate.
With this finance, when your business purchases product, your supplier provides an invoice which you send to your financier and pledge to repay by a set date. From there, your supplier sells the invoice to your financier at a discounted rate, while you repay the full amount to your financier.
Under an inventory finance agreement, your lender pays your supplier directly for inventory, which allows it to be signed off and sent to you. From there, you can pay off your debt within a pre-determined period to your lender, which may be longer than the regular debtor period.
An overdraft facility is attached to an existing financial account belonging to your business, such as a transaction or savings account, and enables you to borrow up to a set limit after the account’s balance reaches zero. These overdrafts are repaid with interest, but only on what you use.
You may simply be in a position where your business needs a boost to its cash flow. If this is the case, there’s a range of stop-gap solutions which may be suitable for your situation, from standard unsecured loans to specialist cash flow loans, invoice finance or even an overdraft.
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What might I need a business cash flow loan for?
Paying suppliers while waiting on invoices
Sometimes, customers can take their time paying their invoices, and that can leave you flat-footed when it comes to paying suppliers or otherwise getting on with business. A cash flow loan can be a handy work-around for this, giving you money to work with while you wait for your customer to settle their accounts.
Stockpiling discounted stock
There’s times when you come across a deal that’s hard to pass up – potentially cutting down business costs for months or even years to come – but don’t have the funds to take advantage of it. This can be an excellent use for a cash flow loan.
Building up reserves of stock
Certain times or year, or the lead up to certain events, might require larger than normal stockpiles of goods. Christmas is a perfect example, with demand for certain retail goods skyrocketing in December. A cash flow loan allows you to stock up for the expected high demand period.
Hiring on additional staff
If demand for your business is growing, sometimes you don’t have the staff to be able to take advantage of it. Cash flow based lending can allow you to grow your staff team to then take advantage of that increased demand.
Holding a special event
There are times when your business might be putting on a conference or other special event – something which might pay for itself eventually, but needs a decent reserve of capital to get off the ground. A cash flow loan can provide the initial burst of funds to make it happen.
Frequently asked questions about business cash flow loans
The first step is to decided what kind of loan you’re opting for – Unsecured loans, business credit, and invoice financing work quite differently and it’s not easy to compare them side by side. But once you have a preferred loan type, it’s best to jump online and use a comparison website to quickly and easily compare specific loans and find the best. With Savvy you can compare a range of business loans from top Australian lenders, and quickly find the option that best suits your business.
No, you don’t need collateral for a business cash flow loan. Some dedicated cash flow loans have an option of secured or unsecured, and the secured version offers more money and longer loan terms. But it’s not a requirement.
It depends on the type of loan you’ve opted for, but there are a number of options that can be turned around in a matter of days – including some dedicated cash flow loans.
Bad credit can make it harder, but not impossible. If your business is struggling with bad credit making loan approval difficult, there are bad credit cash flow loans available. These are a little more expensive, but they’re available to businesses with poorer-than-average credit ratings.
Again, it depends on the loan. Business credit and merchant cash advances are rather expensive as loans go. The secured version of a dedicated cash flow loan will probably be quite affordable with low interest rates.
There are a number of business cash flow loan options which can be for as little as $5,000. Business credit options often have no bottom limit whatsoever.
Still looking for the right finance for your business?
Explore a range of business loan options suitable to your financing needs and apply online through Savvy today.