Every month we a feature a business that has offered an opportunity on SavvyGuest.com to be our guest blogger. This month we are delighted to feature Graham Niven – Business Funding Specialist, Tandem Financial Solutions Ltd. Graham has provided a question and answer blog highlighting some of the services they offer.
Graham goes on to say…..
So what do I do? –
Essentially I do four things
- I find funding for businesses – from Banks to Business Angels and everything in-between (and it is a lot in-between)
- I prepare Business Plans and Profit and Loss / Cash Flow Forecasts to help clients support funding applications
- I train people how to pitch in front of business angels
- I love what I do!
There is a lot of funding around – debt, equity and grants – it’s all about putting the right proposal in front of the right funders and I make sure my clients do that.
Effectively I act like a dating agency in that I have clients who need funding and I have funders who want to lend/invest. My task is to put the client’s proposal in as best a light as I can and then make sure it goes to the most appropriate funder.
Where do I do it?
Mainly in the North West – Greater Manchester / Lancashire/Merseyside / Cheshire-Warrington. I will help clients all over the country but it’s just simpler doing it “local” and there is a lot of business around here
Who are my customers?
Anyone looking to raise funding – could be a start-up – could be a business that has been going for years and is looking to grow – or could be someone looking to buy a business. There is funding out there for every option.
How do I charge
I sometimes charge a success fee, based on the funds I help raise, I sometimes charge an hourly rate for plans/forecast work and then sometimes it is a combination of the two.
Successes to date
I’ve helped many businesses raise funding – I always say I do £10k-£10miilion but my sweet spot is £25k – £500k. It has been a mixture of debt finance and equity finance, with the odd bit of grant finance. My best deal was an equity one where the client and the angel met on a Thursday/ spoke all weekend on the phone, met again on Wednesday – shook hands on a deal – and they are still working together now!
Funding Available
There is so much funding around but here are just a few :
Bank Lending – Greater Manchester Loan Fund – Start-Up Loan – Northern Power House Loan Fund – Creative England Loan Fund – Invoice Finance – Asset Finance – Tier Entrepreneur Scheme – Rosebud fund – MSIF Fund – North West Business Angels – Commercial Angel Networks – R&D Tax credits. – I could go on!
For an opportunity to have a pre-career chat with Graham, register at http://www.savvyguest.com