“A Proper Business Financing Strategy Will Cover A Period of Time Versus a Point in Time”

Assuming that you’re business requires a third party source of financing to provide the capital necessary to operate and drive your strategic plan, then a business financing strategy is definitely something that should be developed and kept up to date.

Most businesses operate on a point in time basis where they look for financing when they need it but don’t have a longer term picture of how the financing they accept today will impact their needs tomorrow.

A business financing strategy is more focused on making sure that any incremental commercial financing you secure will be congruent with what you already have in place and with what you expect to require in the near future.

Most lender models offer no help with this exercise either as lenders tend to work on a very narrow and highly static point of view. The ideal client for any debt lender is one that is very profitable, requires a relatively consistent level of capital to operate, and does not got any wild growth plans or ambitions that could upset the current stability of the business operations.

This is in direct conflict with businesses that are continually trying to grow and take on new opportunities or trying new approaches to gain market share. And when financing decisions are made in this fashion, the business owner or manager is constantly trying to fit round pegs into square holes.

Here’s an example.

A business owner wants to exit the business by selling his interest to a co owner for several million dollars. The business has a strong balance sheet and solid profitability so bank or institutional corporate financing should be able to be secured to accomplish the process.

But the owner wanting to exit has put a time limit on the transaction in terms of the price he’s prepared to sell his interest for. Because no senior lender relationship is in place, the remaining business owner has to start from scratch to secure financing.

Because the time available is not sufficient to get through a bank or institutional application and assessment process, a bridge financing solution will need to be entered into to meet the deadline.

Nothing wrong with bridge financing, other than its very expensive and may not be the best operational fit for the business in the interim with respect to how the financing is structured and monitored.

At the same time bridge financing is secured, the now sole owner will need to try and secure a longer term senior lender facility to pay out the bridge financier in order to save 50- 75% or higher, of the financing costs he’s paying.

Once the senior facility is in place, if the business has any plans for growth that require more capital in the near future, there is no guarantee that the new senior lender will be able to provide incremental funds as new opportunities present themselves, creating a new financing challenge.

An up to date business financing strategy could have not only avoided the whole bridge financing situation, but could have also made sure that future financing facilities were going to be congruent with future business plans.

While some of the leg work and modeling for a business strategy can be outsourced, it is the responsibility of the business owner or manager that a working version is in place and that it properly factors in 1) the present balance sheet; 2) potential future business financing requirements, 3) contingency planning such as management buyouts, shot gun clauses, etc.

A lack of a business financing strategy can destroy significant value in terms of 1) higher financing rates, 2) lost opportunities, 3) opportunity cost of time and the real cost of delays.

Click Here To Speak To Business Financing Specialist Brent Finlay