Commercial Broker (NACFB Magazine) February 2022

Page 16

Patron Profile

Cashflow is king Revenue-based finance solution to keep cashflow flowing Max Shave Partnership Manager YouLend

M

ore people than ever are starting a business and the shift towards e-commerce has also accelerated in the last two years. But it’s not without obstacles. The start-up boom has been challenged by cashflow issues, as SMEs struggle to cope with swings in consumer behaviour skewed by COVID-19, supply chain issues, and inflation.

and manage. This flexibility allows them to get the most out of their financing with limited effort. That’s why we developed an automatic system where repayments are subtracted as a percentage from earnings automatically, and what ends up in the business owner’s bank account is entirely theirs and available to use. Historically, SMEs have struggled to access finance for reasons such as limited cashflow, poor credit ratings and unfair repayment terms. Following the 2008 financial crisis, high street banks needed to lower their risk levels and shore up their capital. They did this by blocking-off some of their lending pipelines. Consequently, many banks could not invest in effective processes to accurately assess small business risk and therefore conduct lending activities.

Flexibility is important for SMEs

By relying exclusively on credit reports and traditional risk modelling techniques, many financing providers ignore some of the best risk predictors in an increasingly digital world. YouLend uses alternative data sources to generate deeper insights into the behaviour of our applicants, including revenue changes, social media presence and the volatility of customers’ perception of the business.

At YouLend, we provide a flexible revenue-based financing solution which allows business owners to repay as they earn. It’s a simple and transparent solution for SMEs that they can easily understand

Ultimately, we believe all companies should be looked at objectivity and therefore data plays a large role in our ability to give each business owner maximum funding.

Now, as we completely move away from coronavirus-related restrictions, SMEs will not only continue to rely on innovations that saw them through the pandemic, such as contactless payments and embedded finance, but they will also be drawn to crucial alternative sources of finance to support cashflow.

16 | NACFB


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