SME Guide to Business Loans | Think Business Loans

Take some time to Think about your next move...

With over 250 lenders and financial institutions, offering 1000's of products, choosing the wrong type of facility can prove costly for you and your business in both time and money.

All lenders will promise the best and cheapest solution, but just like anything, the best deals are found by shopping around.

At Think we understand that by walking our customer through all the steps, options and factors involved, and combining this with our industry leading FinTech and market experience means we can match our customers with appropriate lenders in a record breaking 85% of the time.

This allows you, the business owner, the ability to make an informed decision by seeing ALL eligible options andultimately places you one step closer to finding the most suitable facility for your business to grow and prosper.

Asset Based Lending
Asset Based Lending uses the new or existing asset as security for the loan A great way to fund large machines or any asset purchases Refinance existing assets to free up a company's liquid capital Lenders tend to specialise in certain sectors and assets Over 150 asset lenders in the market Choosing the wrong type of facility can prove costly for you and your business in both time and money

Bridging Loans
Terms from 1-24 months usually Short term option and can be a real benefit to certain projects Interest is charged monthly, but ‘rolled up’ and the total paid at the end of the term, with the capital, instead of monthly. Rates from 0.75% - 2% per month Loan to value around 70% Exit funding needs to be established, i.e. how the loan will be repaid

Invoice Finance
Fund up to 85% of an invoice On-going or spot factoring solutions Over 100 IF lenders out there Many use bespoke fintech to upload unpaid invoices and have them paid instantly New privacy rules help protect your interests Rates usually around 1-5% of invoice value Many borrowers add an invoice charge to invoices to cover the above

Merchant Cash Advance
Borrow against future card transactions No credit score required Borrow up to 120% of monthly card turnover Pay back a pre-agreed percentage of future sales - Usually 9% - 16% of card taings Advance anything from £2,500 to £500,000 No fixed monthly payments, APR or hidden fees

Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer Business loans are essentially loans funded by ‘private investors’ using an online ‘investor platform’ Terms usually range from 6 months - 5 years Most Peer-to-peer are unsecured, but some will require a personal guarantee Interest rate range from 4.9% - 21.7% (priced in risk bands depending on credit) Strict underwriting and acceptance criteria to ‘protect’ investors

Secured
Secure the loan against personal or business assets Preferably bricks and mortar Rates start from 2% over base rate Terms from 6 months to 30 years Usually will take longer than unsecured, as will invovle solicitors and a valuation Any security provided can be at risk if payments are not met

Working Capital Facilities
Like an overfraft Only pay inerest on what you borrow Monthly interest rates Some offer daily, weekly or monthly repayments Rates from 1.1% - 6.0% per month Great for short term borrowing Most popular type of finance provided by our lending panel, meaning the competitive space can result in cheaper options by shopping around

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If you would rather talk to someone, you can call us on 0203 880 9880