Bizzy Has Solutions for Small Businesses Seeking Financing
Funding options to suit your SME
Corinna Stukan‘s extensive background of experience in both software development and the banking industry made it easy for her to spot a gap in New Zealand’s business landscape!
While banks and traditional lenders make it simple for large companies to borrow when needed, SMEs can struggle to access finance products. Multiple repetitive applications, high decline rates, and other hurdles add to the list of challenges faced during a start-up and growth period. Corinna, together with her cofounders, recognised the need for a platform that collates and streamlines financing for small businesses.
Enter Bizzy, the homegrown Kiwi platform that makes financing transparent and trouble-free for business owners.
The road to Bizzy
Corinna’s journey to becoming a cofounder and CEO of Bizzy began in Germany, where she worked in software development for an accounting platform similar to Xero. In New Zealand and Australia she worked with several banks including Commonwealth Bank Australia and ASB, where she built a helpful cashflow insights tool.
Along the way, Corinna became familiar with the struggles that small businesses have when it comes to attaining finance. Bigger companies can seek funding from banks and traditional lenders without too many hurdles, but this does not extend to SMEs and small startups. Her co-founders had also recognised this issue, and together they decided to do something about it.
What inspired Corinna to work in tech? She said that she likes how it can be used to help people access things they couldn’t before. We love that!
Small business finance: problems and solutions
Corinna shared with us some of the primary roadblocks that small business owners in New Zealand face, whether they’re seeking start-up capital, growth funding, or just a loan to get past a difficult time.
High decline rates, with lenders considering small business loans to be not worth their time or higher risk. This makes it hard to find the right finance partner.
A struggle with comparing the options. Many of the traditional lenders may rule out small business lending. While there are alternatives, these are varied and disparate; it’s often difficult to directly compare pros and cons.
Manual and time consuming applications, requiring applicants to repetitively enter the same information for different potential lenders. Multiple applications can also impact credit scores!
She summed it up like this:
“Especially when it comes to accessing capital, there was, in NZ, nothing that helps small businesses navigate the opaque, complex different options and actually compare them.”
The benefits of Bizzy
Bizzy changes the lending game for small business owners in a few ways:
One simple application! You can provide your details and references just once, rather than having to input a variation of what is essentially the same thing for every single potential lender. The Bizzy team will match you with a wide range of New Zealand lenders, and businesses receive quotes within 24-48 hours..
No manual chasing of multiple lenders to find the best deal. All you have to do is let the expert Bizzy team know what your goals are, and the online platform can do the work. The range of lenders currently on the platform serve a wide range of needs and use cases. You’ll be presented with rates, amounts you can borrow, and terms, making the choice simple.
No hidden fees and conditions. Business owners often find themselves facing unexpected application or admin fees. Bizzy ensures you get a total cost of serving the loan, without having to squint at the fine print.
Lenders on the platform cover an array of funding types to suit different needs, including invoice financing, business loans, asset lending, and working capital.
Advice for healthy finances
With a wealth (pun intended) of experience in the finance industry, Corinna seemed like a good person to ask for a few tips. She shared that the most important thing for cash flow is being prepared. That means looking ahead, noticing patterns, and planning for low-revenue months.
When you’re struggling to pay the bills, she said, it is well past the time to be looking for finance options. Warning signs of difficult times ahead can include slow growth or pipeline goals not being met. The effect of these things might not make themselves known immediately; rather, they will be felt several months down the line. Be aware of these changes and make plans to ensure cash flow should they continue!
What’s the best way to be prepped and ready? Corinna recommended a thorough check in every month. What’s cash flow looking like? What’s the forecast, taking into consideration your current rate of growth or your sales pipeline? In difficult times, the check-in might have to happen more often: fortnightly or weekly. You can also recognise patterns within your operations. Which customers pay late? Which seasons affect your volume of work? Be observant, and take these things into account as you review and forecast.
Get funded with Bizzy
Want to know more about funding options that would suit your business? Bizzy has a tool for that! Answer some simple questions to discover finance that could work for you.
Ready to register for Bizzy and be presented with some funding offers tailored to you and your needs? Just follow the link below to sign up and get started. It’s free to sign up and get quotes, with no impact on your credit score.
