Five Insider Finance Tips to radically improve your chances of securing funding for your business

Insider Finance Tips Series #1

By Joe Barbera, Managing Director of Liquid Corporate Finance

months old, supplying management accounts will show the lender how invested you are in running your business efficiently. Today, you can quickly and easily link accountancy software products to your business account, enabling you to download a real time profit and loss and balance sheet in seconds. It’s a great investment for your business for very little outlay and could make all the difference in your application being approved.

3. Assurance – State Your Case

It’s important to stay within your overdraft and avoid returned and unpaid items. An underwriter is looking for a business to demonstrate affordability and the assurance that their loan will be repaid. Bank statements offer a great insight into how a business manages its cashflow and a well-managed bank account could be the difference between an offer – or a decline.

4. Anticipation – Demonstrate Cashflow Confidence

One of the questions I am asked the most is “Do you think my finance application will be accepted?”

As positive as I am, I can never give a cast iron guarantee and say yes. However, with over 20 years’ experience in asset finance, I can tell you that there are five fundamentals that you can control that will dramatically improve your chances of being approved for business finance:

Application – Accounts – Assurance – Anticipation –Authenticity

1. Application – Register Your Rationale

Why do you want to borrow the money? A clear and well thought through rationale for your application is key. For example, if you are looking to consolidate existing agreements into a more affordable option, what positive effect will that have on cash flow? Alternatively, if the asset you wish to buy is income-generating, show how that income will outweigh the monthly payment. Or, if you are re-financing existing assets to raise working capital, how will that cash injection positively change your business?

2. Accounts – Invest In Success

Lenders will want to see the most up to date financials for any business they deal with. If your accounts are more than 12

Businesses should keep a cashflow forecast as a matter of course. As well as enabling you to manage the company’s finances more effectively, it can also allow you to spot any cashflow issues well before the cash starts to run out. This can be hugely beneficial, especially when applying for a larger facility, as it allows you to demonstrate to an underwriter exactly where the money will be going and how it will improve your business’ position.

5. Authenticity – Determine Your Disclosure

Nothing will alert an underwriter more than any adverse information that hasn’t been disclosed at the point of application. Be completely open if there are any credit issues with either the director(s) or the business. Explain what the issues are and, most importantly, how you are trying to rectify them. For finance brokers like myself full disclosure will determine which lender I apply to. Certain lenders will fund clients with adverse, however, other lenders such as banks will be reluctant to do so.

Follow these Insider Finance Tips and you will be well on your way to securing the finance you need for your growth and expansion. If you would like to discuss how Liquid Corporate Finance can help you secure business-critical finance, call Joe Barbera today on 0333 772 1782 or email joebarbera@liquidcf.co.uk

What’s new with GA4 and how do you make the switch?

apps in one dashboard – very handy if you have a core website and a separate customer portal or app.

New metrics

Alongside a new tracking model, GA4 has also introduced a variety of new metrics, including:

• Engaged sessions

• Engagement rate

• Engagement time

These revised metrics are the new way to analyse ‘bounce rate’. Rather than a crude metric which does not take into account how users behave when they land on your page, GA4 now gives you a more accurate understanding of just how engaged the user is with your content.

Predictive insights

Another significant development for GA4 is its AI integration and machine learning.

This brings together predictive insights powered by predictive metrics which can help you make better data-driven decisions.

From 1 July 2023, Google’s Universal Analytics (UA) will no longer be available and all users will be required to switch to the latest generation of Google’s analytical software - Google Analytics 4 – better known as GA4!

So, Sarah West of East Anglia’s leading B2B marketing agency takes a look at what’s new with GA4 and how you can make the change ahead of the July deadline.

WHY WAS GA4 INTRODUCED?

In today’s increasingly digital landscape, there is a high reliance on gathering data to understand the experiences and behaviours of your customers.

That’s why GA4 has been developed. Through its flexible measuring of a variety of data, it allows you to see a unified user journey - not only across your website but multiple websites and apps too.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN DIFFERENCES BETWEEN UNIVERSAL ANALYTICS AND GA4?

New dashboard

The new improved dashboard is the first thing you’ll notice when entering GA4!

Not only is the dashboard updated visually, it has also been updated functionally. You can customise your reporting dashboards to showcase your data in your own way. You can remove report cards you don’t use, add new ones and change their position on the page to prioritise those most important to you.

New event-based data model

The most notable difference between UA and GA4 is the switch from a session-based model to an event-based one, giving a fuller understanding of the way users interact with your website.

GA4’s data model enhances reporting capabilities in a range of areas, including funnel and pathing analysis. This greatly expands your ability to explore your users’ journey and behaviour.

Another core difference between UA and GA4 is that you can now seamlessly report on activity which occurs on both your website and

For many businesses, predictive insights will have the most significant impact on PPC retargeting campaigns, with AI using metrics like purchase probability to create audiences based on predicted behaviours.

Automatic tracking options

The prospect of setting up a long list of different events to track a wide range of user interactions across your site can be daunting! Luckily, GA4 comes with automatic tracking which can be turned on with just a few tick boxes, allowing you to quickly track the data which gives you the most useful insights.

This makes it much more user friendly for people who don’t have extensive technical experience with the previous Universal Analytics. It’s also a simpler way for businesses which don’t require the vast data capabilities of GA4 to get their hands on the core information they need. New search function

GA4 comes with an improved search function, granting you access to more insights than ever before.

You can get instant answers to specific questions and request reports, gather insights and ask property configuration queries.

HOW DO YOU MAKE THE SWITCH FROM UNIVERSAL ANALYTICS TO GA4?

GA4 can be setup in two ways, depending on whether it will be used for your website, an app or both.

If you have an existing Universal Analytics account, setup can be easily completed with the GA4 Setup Assistant. From your UA account, go to the ‘Admin’ area (located in the navigation bar on the left), click ‘Setup Assistant’ and follow the steps.

Alternatively, for an app, you can set-up GA4 from an existing Firebase account. Go to ‘Analytics > Dashboard’ on the left panel, click ‘Begin Upgrade’ and follow the steps. Once established - if you have both a website and app - you can setup multiple streams to collect data in the one place.

READY TO MAKE THE MOST OF GA4?

If you need support getting the best from your marketing – including transitioning to GA4 – visit www.fullmixmarketing.co.uk