Benefits of using an invoice finance broker

1. Commercial finance advice should come from experts

Commercial finance is a complicated subject. Unlike standard residential mortgages which have neatly defined rates and criteria, commercial finance is much more tailored and requires a good degree of skill and experience to find the right deal. A good finance broker will be able to help you get the right kind of finance for your business. Brokers who are members of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) all adhere to an industry recognised Code of Practice, so if you use a broker with the NACFB logo, you know you’ll be getting good advice.

2. Save time – and money

Broking is a growing industry across all areas of business finance. Many business owner-managers are becoming much more savvy and outsource their financing to a specialist, which in turn allows him (or her) much more time to manage the day to day running of his (or her) business. So-called ‘shopping around’ for the best deal has become increasingly common across all areas of personal and business life. One of the main advantages of using a broker for sourcing your business finance is that they will do that shopping for you.

3. An old-fashioned approach ?

Dealing with an individual can be a rather appealing idea. A broker is someone who will take the time to understand you and your business and offer a personal one-to-one service tailored to your business needs. A broker can answer any problems or queries you might have and speaking to a real person who is able to answer your query is something which a broker’s clients value highly. And if your broker understands your business and your requirements they are in an excellent position to secure you the best and most suitable deal.

4. Never assume

The finance you think you need may not be the finance you actually need. This is another area where a broker can help. Although you may think that you need a loan to buy your equipment, or an overdraft facility to help with your cash flow, a good broker will explore all the finance options with you and find you the best deal for your business. For example, instead of a choosing business loan to buy your equipment, a broker might suggest a leasing arrangement as more suitable. Perhaps instead of a traditional overdraft, the flexibility of a factoring arrangement will give your business the cash injection it needs.

5. Understanding

M any of them are smaller businesses themselves, so they understand on a first-hand basis what it means to be the owner manager of an SME. This insight can often give them a good idea of the kinds of finance that will work – and ones which won’t. It also means that a broker is more likely to empathise with your position and needs – the chances are they’ve been there themselves.

6. Go to the NACFB

Visit NACFB and enter your postcode to find the broker nearest to you – or contact the Exeter office on 01392 440040 and they can supply you with the names of members near you. Hopefully, the advantages of using a broker should outweigh any concerns that you may have (and if you didn’t have them, what’s stopping you?) and you should feel confident in outsourcing this part of your business. You could save both time and money you could better spend elsewhere.