Financial solutions for Business Support Professionals

If you have spent time running businesses and have relevant qualifications, sharing your knowledge with other businesses as a consultant could be a rewarding development in your career.

Helping clients with strategy, planning and problem solving and supporting them in everything from product development and marketing to developing their own business skills and knowledge, could be the basis of a lucrative business.

Of course, as a business professional, you’ll know the importance of arranging the right kind of finance for your consultancy.

At Rangewell we work with business consultants and insolvency practitioners across the UK. We help them find the financial solutions that they need.

Understanding your funding options

You may need to find the right type of funding to allow you to:

• Set up a new consultancy
• Buy into an existing consultancy business
• Acquire premises
• Acquire equipment and assets
• Finance growth
• Deal with tax
• Provide working capital

Setting up a new consultancy

Although it may be possible to work with little more than a mobile phone and a laptop, it cannot be a long-term solution.

Working from home will keep your initial costs low, but you may need to rent office space to present a professional approach to potential customers. There will be other costs, from setting up a website and publicity to legal fees and insurance.

You should be able to calculate your needs as part of a detailed business plan.

As you will probably be aware, lenders may be reluctant to lend to startups, preferring to make lending decisions based on evidence of previous business performance. Although as an expert you may be able to provide projections for your own business, most lenders would expect to see accounts for one or two year’s trading before making the decision to lend.

At Rangewell we know the lenders who are able to take a more positive approach, and can often help arrange funding for start-up ventures based on solutions such as Secured or Unsecured loans.

Buying into an existing consultancy practice

You may wish to buy into an existing practice as a partner, or even buy it outright. The costs involved may depend on the turnover of the practice as it stands, and its potential.

We can help you secure a number of solutions to let you buy into an established practice. Though the costs may be much higher than those required for a start-up, the ability to demonstrate profitability can help secure the necessary sums at a competitive rate. One solution for acquisition is a ‘jigsaw’ finance deal, which uses a variety of funding types to provide the most cost-effective funding for each aspect of your finance needs.

Funding for premises

The cost of renting a small office will depend on your location, and the square footage you need - it may be best to take on more space than might be strictly necessary to allow you to take on assistants or a partner in the future. There may be service charges and business rates on top of the bare lease. You may need upfront funding to secure the agreement - we can provide a number of solutions to help you.

However, renting means ongoing costs, and puts your practice at risk of rent increases. Buying your premises with a Commercial Mortgage could actually decrease your monthly outgoings, and provide your business with a valuable asset for the future. Commercial Mortgages can help you buy your premises or even an existing consultancy. It is uneconomic to borrow less than £50,000, and some lenders have a minimum of £75,000 or more, but there is no set upper limit.

Commercial Property Finance is arranged on an individual basis. We may be able to help you secure preferential rates that reflect your professional status.

Remember, if you already own your premises, a Commercial Mortgage might be a cost-effective way to raise funds to use elsewhere in your business.

Find out more about a Commercial Mortgage.

Funding for your equipment

Whether you are starting up, buying into an existing business, or ready to move your current operation on,  you will need office equipment. Your IT setup, your computers and printer, will be expensive items and you may need specialised software with operating licenses and renewals, training and maintenance. You will also need to furnish your office.

At Rangewell we can help you find the Asset Finance solutions you need.

Hire Purchase

For basic equipment that you want to go on giving service for many years, Hire Purchase (HP) may provide the simple way to spread costs.

You pay a deposit plus monthly instalments over a fixed term, between 6 and 60 months, after which the equipment becomes yours. Payments are fixed, making it easy to plan ahead, and to arrange an agreement that is tailored to your monthly turnover and budget.

Office furniture might be ideal for HP finance.

Leasing

Leasing will give you freedom and flexibility and avoid the need to make any capital investment. There is usually no upfront cost to find, making it simple to bring the latest equipment, such as IT, into your business. It can make higher cost items more affordable by spreading the cost across their economic life.

Funding for vehicles

A car will probably be essential for your consultancy business. Business Contract Hire is one of the solutions for buying business vehicles, and costs are based on the purchase price less the value of the vehicle after the contract period. This can substantially reduce the costs of operating a vehicle that reflects your professional status.

Business Loans

At Rangewell, we work with lenders across the UK market and can help you secure the most competitive Secured and Unsecured business loans.

We can also help with a number of specialised loan products:

Tax Loans

Tax is inevitable, but a large quarterly VAT or annual tax demand can cause problems with your cash flow, particularly when it falls at the same time as other costs. Tax Loans help you to spread the cost of your tax demands into affordable monthly payments, meaning:

• Better control of cash flow
• Fixed monthly payments
• Quick and simple to arrange
• Avoids issues with HMRC, potential penalties and professional liabilities

Working Capital Finance

Working Capital Finance is often used to deal with overheads while business is slow during the early weeks and months of a new business, or during a period of growth. It is usually designed to be repaid in the short- to medium-term, once your consultancy is fully on its feet.

Growth Finance

Large-scale finance can be vital if you have major plans such as acquiring a competitor. Growth Finance is a type of lending that may be able to provide the solution. Lenders may require an established trading history and record of profits, but it may be possible to arrange Growth Finance based on your profit projections, rather than on your trading history.

Get our help finding the most appropriate lending for your needs and contact us.

Another way that Rangewell can help you

As a business consultant, you will have a growing number of clients who will be in need of business funding. At Rangewell, we can work with you to help your clients find the funding they need.

You retain full control. Introducing your clients to our service allows you to provide extra value to them and help move their business forward. We make no charge for our services - and acting as an introducer in this way can help your practice create an important additional source of revenue for you.

Find out more about acting as an introducer, and the additional revenue it could generate for you.

How we help you capitalise your business consultancy

At Rangewell, our expertise works to bring you the financial solutions you need to capitalise your business, whether you want to fund capital expenses, working capital or growth.

Finding the most appropriate solution for your funding needs takes a thorough understanding both of the lending market, and the products available on it.

At Rangewell we know the lenders who can offer the most competitive rates for all types of finance, including Unsecured and Secured Loans, Invoice Finance, Asset Finance, Merchant Cash Advance, Commercial Mortgages, Growth Finance and more.

Whether you have a straightforward finance need, or require a complicated ‘Jigsaw’ funding plan made up of a combination of products, we can work with you to find the answers that are right for your needs.

Call us now to get our experts working for you and your consultancy business.