Congratulations! You’ve taken that first step (or more) in beginning your start-up venture. We can be certain that it wasn’t easy getting here, and you’ve definitely invested a lot of blood, sweat and tears into your new business. So give yourself a pat on the back. But ís it safe to say that you have already crossed the finish line and you’re ready to just kick back? Not yet. As with every business, there is no real finish line and you constantly will need to keep nurturing it in order for it to have continuous success.
Like we said, this is only the beginning…
So now that you have successfully established your startup, the next obvious step will be: growth. And in order for it to grow you’ll need to secure more funding, in which the most practical way to go about it is to apply for a loan.
So have you already applied for financing, but your application got rejected?
Are you bothered about the criteria needed to qualify for a loan?
Do you frequently seek new sources of finance for your business?
Furthermore, have you wondered about how to manage your employees amidst the Covid 19 pandemic and working remotely? Well, worry no more as the answers to your questions and the solution to your problems lie here.
So let’s get started.
What is stopping you getting that funding?
The importance of funding for startups and SMEs cannot be over-emphasized. With countries facing the 2nd wave of Covid 19 and the resultant restrictions and closed borders, startups need financing now more than ever.
A significant problem most SMEs struggle with is managing their cash flows and capital effectively. They do not have a finance department to advise them on the best practices to handle their finances. Many Founders possess industry knowledge while having little or no knowledge of finance and financial management.
When these SMEs face cash flow issues, they then turn to banks and lenders for financing. From experience and research, startups only apply for financial backing when they face bankruptcy and liquidation threats. This is because they are more conservative and often lack understanding in this area.
However, on various occasions, their applications get declined or rejected because they fail to go through the right process and lack the technical know-how to apply for loans.
Now, we have established the importance of funding to startups. We shall directly address the problem of insufficient knowledge of the finance world, which Founders and SMEs face regularly.
The 2 secrets to successfully apply for financing.
1. Know the qualifications lenders require:
One primary reason why most SMEs application for funding gets rejected is that they fail to meet the lenders’ criteria.
Most lenders do not entirely reveal details about their application process and criteria, thereby making borrowing tedious. This is mainly because of confidentiality and security reasons. These lenders also do not advise unqualified businesses about how to qualify. So the burden lies on you to know the dos and don’ts before applying.
Some SMEs wrongly assume that they are qualified for borrowing due to the extensive style through which lenders market loans. Banks and lenders do not pre-qualify borrowers when marketing; they can only decide after accessing the documents you submit to them.
This marketing approach of lenders has caused SMEs to apply for loans under the wrong assumptions that they are pre-qualified. Their applications do not only get rejected, but the lenders may blacklist them for the next two to three months. In other words, not only do they fail to get the funds, but they are also cut-off from future applications for the next two to three months.
Remember, before you make that application, ensure you fulfill all the requirements, and meet the necessary criteria.
2. Director Credit Bureau Score
Another thing startups do not realize is that lenders check company directors’ credit score before approving loans.
These lenders have no visibility on your business, your loan repayment habits, or any repayments at all. The only knowledge they can have on your startup’s finance history is via your company director’s credit bureau score.
You can access your credit bureau score online via the Credit Bureau Singapore. It would be best if you also spent time understanding how to strengthen your credit bureau score, which is vital for business financing.
Lenders are most likely to approve loan applications in which the directors have a good credit bureau score. Loaners can reject an application if the directors fail their credit bureau even if the company is financially viable to borrow.
With these 2 factors taken care of, you can be certain of your ability to secure that loan to fund the growth of your start-up.
How to Utilise the Funding Efficiently to Grow a Business?
So once you have the funding on hand, what is the next step to growing a business?
People.
Let’s face it, the bigger a business becomes, the more essential it is to not only grow your workforce, but also to retain your talent. Your employees are the life and backbone of any business, and for any business to grow, you’ll need to hire more people to handle more workload.
But of course, as with growing any business brings with it its own sets of challenges. First and foremost, once the number of employees increases, HR processes will become more complex to handle as efficiently through manual means or with inadequate software.
HR is the core of any work culture for any business, and an inefficient HR would have a detrimental impact to the overall culture and efficiency of the business which can result in higher talent turnover in the long run.
Hence, it is vital that you ensure your business has the best work environment for your employees by utilising excellent HR practices. With the Covid 19 lockdown and work uncertainty, this is the perfect time to let your employees know you value them and their work. Maximizing top HR services for your employees is guaranteed to keep your business running in the best capacity.
Implement your Business with Market-Leading HR Solutions
This is why we recommend cloud-based HR solutions to help you conduct your business smoothly and increase its overall efficiency.
At JustLogin, we make your HR problems simplified and easy. We are Singapore’s leading provider of authentic and reliable HR solutions.
Our cloud-based HR software is all you need to successfully conduct your employees and work environment, whether remote or on-site.
Our HR solutions are suited for your every need. Whether you need a platform with a fully integrated management system for employee information and monitoring, or a contactless temperature scanner and attendance tracker, and lots more, we have got you covered.
We have the best services to help you manage your employees as your business expands. So you just relax and focus on your business while we take care of our HR needs and concerns.
We provide market-leading software that is guaranteed to help your team remain focused and productive while delivering exceptional experiences for your employees. We have helped thousands of small and medium-sized businesses to achieve increased productivity by successfully automating their workflow and HR processes.
Are you ready to get top-notch HR Solutions from the World’s leading experts?
Get started on cloud-based HR with JustLogin
JustLogin is a suite of cloud-based HR applications that helps small to mid-sized businesses automate their payroll, leave, attendance, and expense claims. We’ve helped thousands of businesses achieve increased productivity and better employee experience – no matter if they are working from an office, at a restaurant, in a retail shop, at a warehouse facility, or of course, even working from home. Give JustLogin a try today at justlogin.com/free-trial.
About JustLogin
For happy HR, bosses and employees, you want a platform that can help your team remain productive and focused, while providing excellent employee experiences that impresses and retains talent. JustLogin is the HR employee experience platform that delivers both through a comprehensive suite of HR applications.
Comentários