£800,000 funding to buy an opticians practice: 95% Loan To Value Finance
Table of Contents
Business finance is a complicated area, and many opticians will turn to a broker when they have a large-scale funding need, to help them get the deal they want.
However, most brokers lack the necessary expertise in the sector - which presents some rather different challenges to most other practices, combining both a clinical practice and a retail business.
This lack of expertise when it comes to understanding the industry can often result in a failure to secure the best rates. We were recently approached to provide the funding for an optician, after the brokers he had initially approached had failed to provide any finance offers after weeks of trying.
Lenders find it easy to provide funding for established businesses but they can be much more reluctant to lend to a new business owner. What’s more, an optician is not simply another shop on the high street, but a professional practice with high standards, as well as a retail operation.
Our client was an optician who had worked as a locum for several years, and had an excellent understanding of all aspects of managing a successful business. He now felt the time had come to run his own practice.
He had found an opticians close to his home that was for sale, and believed that the business had a good location on the high street, with a turnover in the region of £200,000 a year and plenty of scope for future growth.
However, when he approached banks directly they were unable to help him.
He realised that finance was not his core expertise, and turned to business finance brokers for help. He provided them with a series of documents that they requested, but after two months realised that he was no closer to getting any kind of offer.
He asked the selling agent who found the business he wanted for help - and he suggested that he came to Rangewell.
The challenges
Borrowing money to buy an existing business should be easier than finding funding for a start-up. Lenders like to reduce their risks by seeing evidence, such as accounts, that shows a business is profitable, and can afford the repayments
But even buying an existing business can be more difficult for clients who have not owned a business before.
The challenges did not stop there. Our client realised that he would need to re-equip to offer the standards his customers would expect. The practice he was buying needed updating with a full suite of modern diagnostic tools, including OCT, autorefractor, tonometer and a basic retinal imaging system.
At Rangewell, we work to find ways around these problems.
How we helped when others could not
Our service is always personal, and our expert teams work closely with clients to find the answers to their needs.
We have a specialist team working to provide solutions for the optician sector, and we set out to provide the answers that others could not.
First, we contacted the lenders we know with the specialist knowledge to support the sector.
Then, to let our client build a compelling business case, we helped him build an expert team, made up of an IFA, a solicitor and an accountant, all of whom had expert knowledge of the optician sector in the UK.
Our professional approach helped us secure the offer of a Commercial Mortgage secured on the property of £800,000 at just 3.25% over 15 years.
The funding Rangewell secured:
£800,000 at just 3.25% over 15 years
Monthly repayment £5,584.10
Annual cost £67,008
However, we did not stop there. We provide all types of funding for the sector - and helped arrange a Revolving Credit Facility that would provide £65,000 of stock for his new business.
We help opticians - and other business owners - with all their funding needs. Our service is independent, fast and absolutely free - and means having an expert working to find you the financial answers you need. To find out more about what we can do for you, simply call us at Rangewell or apply today.