Financial solutions for Planning Consultants

The finer points of planning permission can be extremely difficult for the layman or woman to understand. Navigating the fluctuating - and at times contradictory - maze of legislation demands specialist expertise.

It means that as a planning consultant, with expert knowledge of regulations, obligations, charges and the ability to negotiate with officers, committees and appeals with planning committees, you could be in constant demand.

It means that you could look forward to a rewarding career running your own planning consultancy. However, securing the funding you need for your own practice can still be a major challenge.

At Rangewell we work with planning consultants across the UK. It means we know the challenges you face at all stages of setting up and running your consultancy business - and we know the financial solutions to them.

Your funding needs as a planning consultant

As a planning consultant, you may need to find the right type of funding to help you when you are ready to:

• Set up a new practice
• Buy into an existing property consultancy practice
• Acquire premises
• Acquire equipment and assets
• Provide working capital
• Support your cashflow
• Finance growth
• Deal with tax
• Deal with problems

Setting up a new practice

If you are ready to set up as an independent planning consultant, your knowledge, experience - and negotiating skills - are your main assets.

However, although your capital needs may be relatively small - you will not need to buy in large quantities of costly equipment - you may still need to call on external funding to succeed.

You will need a business address where clients can find you. Even a serviced office will require an upfront payment. Taking your fledgeling business to the next stage and renting a small independent office will not just mean the rental costs itself, it will mean acquiring everything from a desk and chair to a computer. Electricity and business rates will have to be considered too.

With these ongoing commitments to fund, you may also need external finance simply to keep your business running.

There’s another challenge. Setting up a new business from scratch means that you will need to invest to bring in business. You will need marketing to build your customer base and a website may be essential.

You will also need to provide sufficient cash to cover the overheads for the first weeks and months when no business is coming in.

However, your bank may not be able to lend if you’re starting up a new business venture - even if you are an experienced professional.

Fortunately, at Rangewell we understand the challenges - and know the lenders who can support new business ventures. Find out more about new business funding for planning advisors.

Buying into an existing planning advisors business

Starting your own business may be tempting, but you may find an alternative - which reduces the risks - is to buy into an existing practice as a partner, or even buy it outright. The costs involved may depend on the current turnover of the business and its potential.

Alternatively, if you already own an established practice, you might want to consider acquisitions, mergers or expansion.

In all cases, the costs involved in acquiring a successful business, with goodwill and reputation, may be substantial.

We can help you secure a number of solutions to let you buy into an established practice, which can reflect your professional status with a highly competitive finance package.

These include funding for Partner Buy-ins and Buyouts, which will let you become a partner or acquire an entire business. We can also provide various forms of business acquisition funding, which could help you take over a business outright.

But there may be a more cost-effective solution. We can also provide funding which is designed to let you selectively acquire assets - such as the goodwill and client list - from an existing business which may be closing down for reasons such as retirement.

Funding premises for your planning consultancy business

Premises can represent a major investment for any business.

The cost of renting even a small office will depend on your location and the size - remember, it may be best to take on more space to allow you to take on assistants or a partner in the future. Don’t forget, there may be service charges and business rates on top of the bare lease and you may well need upfront funding to secure the agreement - but we can provide several solutions to help you with this.

However, renting means ongoing costs. Buying premises with a Commercial Mortgage could potentially decrease your monthly outgoings, provide your business with a valuable asset for the future, and avoid the dangers of rent increases.

Commercial Mortgages can help and, as a property professional, we can help you find solutions which will let you buy premises you already operate from, or to buy a new freehold property - at rates which reflect your status.

Refurbishing premises for your planning consultancy

Presenting a professional appearance for your consultancy is essential. If you are buying a property, you will almost certainly want to make changes to present your business at its best.

We can provide solutions which will let you fund property refurbishments of all kinds, from decoration to major extensions and building work.

Funding equipment for your planning consultancy

All businesses have equipment needs and even for a planning consultancy - which may seem to require little in the way of capital outlay - these costs can add up. Whether you are starting up, buying into an existing practice, or ready to move your current business forward, you will need equipment.

The most obvious may be your IT setup. Your computers and, especially, your large format printers will be expensive items, and you may need specialised architectural software with the associated operating licenses and renewals, training and maintenance.

You will also need to deal with all the standard costs of fitting out your office, with desks and chairs, filing and security equipment. You may also need to provide a vehicle.

For most equipment needs there will be an Asset Funding solution. There are several types of Asset Funding to consider:

• Hire Purchase for items that you will wish to keep for the long term, such as desks, chairs and document storage
• Leasing may be more appropriate for your IT, as it will allow you to update to use the latest and most reliable technology whenever you need it
• Contract Hire might help you reduce the costs of providing vehicles.

At Rangewell our experts can help you find the most appropriate Asset Funding solutions for your practice, with both HP and lease agreements, together with business Contract Hire for your vehicle needs.

We also have specialised funding solutions to help you provide and upgrade your IT equipment - including finance designed to help with the latest Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions.

Cashflow Finance for planning consultants

Cashflow is a challenge for any business.

Your planning consultancy can face cashflow difficulties, especially during its early years when you are still establishing your reputation.

Cashflow support and Working Capital Finance can provide cash to deal with overheads and keep your cashflow positive. It is usually designed to be repaid in the short- to medium-term, once the practice is fully on its feet. Find out more about Cashflow Finance for planning consultants.

Growth Finance for planning consultants

Your need for external funding will not stop once your consultancy has become established. You will probably want to grow your operation to maximise the income it can offer you. Large-scale finance can help you in taking on staff, opening another branch or even acquiring a competitor.

Growth Finance is designed to help, with loans designed to provide the cash to fund growth that can be repaid once that growth is making returns.

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. Find out more about Growth Finance for planning consultants.

Insurance for Professional Indemnity

Your professional indemnity insurance may be a major cost, particularly if you work in the corporate commercial sector where liabilities may potentially reach into the millions. There are a number of ways to provide for the costs. Find out more about solutions for professional indemnity.

Tax Loans for planning consultants

A large quarterly VAT or annual tax demand can cause serious problems for your cashflow, particularly when it falls at the same time as other costs. Tax Loans help you spread the cost of your tax demands into affordable monthly payments. This means:

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

See how a Tax Loan can mean better control of cashflow for planning consultants.

Invoice Finance

Clients, and especially large corporate clients, may often take months to pay your invoices, causing you cashflow difficulties. With an Invoice Finance arrangement, you can draw down cash can as soon as work is done and you issue an invoice. It means that your practice can rely on a flow of cash that keeps pace with the amount of business you do.

Find out more about Invoice Finance for planning consultants.

Goodwill Loans for planning consultants

As a professional running his or her own practice, you represent an excellent prospect for lenders - especially once you have been in business for a number of years and have built up a substantial client list. Lenders can recognise your status as a professional with preferential rates secured on the goodwill built up by your practice.

It can bring you a sum typically between £50,000 and £500,000, with repayment over up to 15 years. Interest rates are agreed when the loan is taken out and are variable - but can be significantly more favourable than those provided by other lending methods. A Goodwill Loan can be used in any way that you wish - not just for business purposes.

Find out more about Goodwill Finance for planning consultants.

Dealing with problems

Even the best run business can run into financial difficulties. Problems with getting paid can become a cashflow crisis, and discovering that you cannot meet your immediate commitments could lead to insolvency.

At Rangewell, we know the solutions which can help your practice deal with challenges. We can even provide financial solutions from specialist lenders if you have a damaged credit history or CCjs, which are often considered red flags by most lenders.

Find out more about finance for planning consultants facing financial difficulties.

How we help you capitalise your practice

At Rangewell, we know that every business is different and that every business faces different challenges.

That’s why we provide an individual approach. We use our expertise to find the most competitive deal for all types of finance, including Professional Loans, Unsecured and Secured Loans. As well as conventional loan products, we can help you find Alternative Funding, using new loan providers and innovative funding solutions.

Whether your planning consultancy has a straightforward finance need, or requires a complicated ‘Jigsaw’ funding plan made up of a combination of products, we can work with you to find the answers.

Call us now to get our experts working for you.