The saying, “the customer knows best”, is something of previous decades and only stands to halt business growth. The customer that makes a business today is one that understands fair practice and equality of the transaction. Those are the relationships worth striving to keep. With our many finance offerings we find that a customer who comes to us for a business loan on one occasion may later return for alternative finance, if we provide good service and build a relationship.

Here are some suggestions that work for Genie Lending as a finance broker, that may help your business in the quest for repeat business.

1. Take the time to outline to clients upfront what the terms are and what they can expect. Allow them time to reflect on these and come back within a given time frame. This elevates any misconceptions or annoyance by chasing.

2. Offer alternatives. Never be afraid to give the customer choice. This is primarily what sets the SME’s apart from the larger companies. We often get contacted by clients wanting a business loan but by taking the time to properly understand their needs and matching these to the criteria of the loan, we can suggest alternatives that may be more flexible, cheaper or a shorter term loan. Good customer service is always about listening and understanding the detail. If an alternative is not available, respect can be earned by being honest. The customer is more likely to come back to you if they cannot find the alternative elsewhere.

3. Keep a good dialogue with one point of contact or consistency across the customer experience. At Genie Lending we provide our clients with a Dedicated Case Manager to see your enquiry through to completion. Each case is important to us and this way we ensure that you get the best match for your case and we give the best possible service.

4. Whatever the outcome, ie purchase or not, finish the last point of contact on a high thanking the customer and maintain the “see you soon” outlook. A lot of companies, especially the larger more established ones tend to communicate solely via email to keep in contact with their customer base. In today’s society a personal call, in the service industry sector or a personalised giveaway in the product industry (be it samples or a money off voucher) every now and again goes a long way towards keeping your company on a customers radar. Consider this in your planning for quieter times of the year, if your business is seasonal, give yourself plenty of time in the planning to account for time to do this therefore not interrupting the buying pattern of your customer base and inadvertently giving them a discount when they would have bought regardless.

5. Listen to the feedback, good or bad it can provide powerful insight towards getting the right sustainable model for your business.

Keeping these useful pointers in mind should enable you to build a good relationship with your customers in the SME marketplace. We value our growing repeat client base, and the success of our clients translates into the success of our business. Genie Lending wish you the best with your repeat customer experience.

Footnote:
If your business requires funding you can trust Genie Lending to go to every extent to provide the correct finance quickly, for the result you want. As well as the household names in the industry we have access to proven lending sources who you will not find on the high street. Our aim is to help UK SME’s obtain funding for all their business requirements, whether that be growth, acquiring premises, paying HMRC liabilities or simply working capital. Genie Lending can assist with complete finance solutions.

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If you are thinking of starting a farm, or your current agricultural project needs some TLC, your first line of thinking will be funding and financing. Although some farms are eligible for rural grants and government funding, much of these are supported by the EU.

With Brexit going ahead early next year, farmers may not be able to rely on this funding for much longer and should seek information about other funding options.

Agricultural businesses can be successful when they are in the right location and offer produce which is in demand. However, these rural projects require a lot of investment to get off the ground, which can be difficult to find. If your farm needs a funding injection, or you need some capital for a new rural site, there are many alternative financing solutions you could be eligible for.

Because of the fundamental differences between commercial businesses and agricultural businesses, it makes sense that the finance market offers different funding options for farmers. After all, a farm is usually more than a business and a livelihood – it’s a home. Farmers face a multitude of challenges today, but there are many agricultural finance experts like Genie Lending to lend a hand. Here are the specific types of agricultural finance available.

What is Agricultural Finance?

One of the most suitable options is to find a lender which specialises in agricultural finance. They will understand your particular needs as a farmer, and can supply specific funding for various parts of the business. From asset finance and vehicle finance to specialised funding for green energy projects, agricultural finance is the ideal solution for rural business owners.

What about Asset Finance?

If you don’t have the cash upfront available to invest in important farming assets, you can spread the cost over an agreed period with asset finance. Use this type of funding to buy or replace milking equipment, forestry machinery or any other apparatus with a big upfront cost.

Land and Property Development Finance

If you need to renovate farm buildings or build something new, a finance broker can help. Apply for a commercial mortgage to develop your land or existing property. There is also Project Finance which you could use for barn conversions or a farm shop to try and boost revenue.

Green Energy Projects Finance

You might see potential for more income with a green energy project. Use this type of finance to develop a wind farm, solar farm or anaerobic digestion plant.

Vehicle Finance

Farming requires specialist vehicles, and if they need replacing they can be extremely expensive. Vehicle finance can help farmers acquire tractors, feed mixers and combine harvesters if they can’t afford the full amount. You can choose between hire purchase and lease agreements.

Livestock Finance

One of the most important assets of the majority of farms is livestock. If you need more animals to produce your products then you can apply for livestock finance which can be used to invest in pigs, sheep, poultry, dairy and beef.

Business Loan

Alternatively, you could apply for a short term business loan. However, with many banks halting their lending you could have to turn to an alternative finance expert. You could get all the benefits you’d get from the bank, such as a flexible overdraft and large cash sums – but without the tedious application process.

Applying for Farm Funding with Genie Lending

Whether you need to update your farm buildings, expand your livestock or invest in new machinery to update operations, Genie Lending can help. As experts in agricultural funding, we understand the financial challenges farmers face and aim to provide an alternative to bank loans.

Applying for finance is really easy. First you just need to contact one of our business finance managers, who will discuss your project with you and the different funding options available. You may need to supply some business records, the process is fast and painless compared to a bank loan application. You could have the cash you need in as little as a few days – so you can get on with running your farm.

How will Brexit affect Farming Funding options?

The shock Brexit vote earlier this year has plummeted the future into uncertainty – and perhaps no industry more so than the farming sector. The EU supplements farmers through its Common Agriculture Policy, so without EU funding, the agriculture sector could face a blow.The Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has said that the UK’s exit from the European Union is likely to have a significant negative impact on the CAP, particularly from 2021 onwards.
Funding for farmers is not the only problem brought about by Brexit. Without the single market which allows free trade between member states, the future of trading produce is also at risk. There could be additional costs for farmers who wish to trade abroad, and there will now be different standards for EU and UK produce.

Regardless of whether you wanted to stay or to leave, the effects of Brexit on agriculture will be far ranging. We advise farmers to get their finances prepared ahead of Article 50 being invoked – and Genie Lending is here to help.

Farm Finance Options

Currently, EU subsidies currently make up between 50%-60% of incomes on UK farms. It is not yet clear what support will be made available by the government beyond 2020, so the future of farm funding is very unstable. This instability is heightened by the fact that farmers may have to pay additional trade costs, and don’t know who they will be selling to in the future so can’t estimate their long term income.

High street banks are unwilling to lend to businesses which ae facing uncertainty. It is difficult to get approved for a business loan without years of trading history and accounts, and some banks also ask for a minimum monthly turnover. Many agricultural businesses will not be able to guarantee an allocated turnover for the next few years.

Luckily, there are now a variety of alternative financing options which are designed with farmers in mind. Rural businesses can apply for agricultural finance, peer to peer lending or asset finance to keep things turning over. Here at Genie Lending, we understand the modern challenges faced by farmers, and can recommend the best solution. Whether you need a cash injection to aid cash flow, invest in new machinery or repair outbuildings, we have the right alternative finance solution for you.

Whether it’s a new farming projects or you just need a little help to get you through a tough season, agricultural finance can help. Give us a call to speak to an agricultural finance specialist today.

UPDATED: JUNE 2018

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If you are starting out as an SME?

Small and medium sized businesses are faced with a broad range of challenges as they expand. Many start-ups and SMEs fail to reach their potential because they either aren’t prepared for growth or don’t have the capital needed for essential business growth. Business leaders need a growth strategy in place from the start to ensure nothing can unexpectedly hold them back.

If you run an SME then take note of these five ways you can head in the right direction – upwards.

1. Strong business plan

Hopefully you didn’t launch a business without a clear and concise business plan – or you probably won’t get very far. The fact is that almost all business need a capital injection to grow at all, which means you’ll have to pitch your business plan to investors. To secure the funds you’ll need a strong business plan which demonstrates how much money you’ll need and how the investment will affect the business. Access to finance is difficult for small businesses, but alternative options such as peer to peer lending can be promising.

2. Focus on sales

   

The quickest way to grow a business is to bring in more sales. More sales means more revenue to play with. Place an emphasis on customer service and explore low cost marketing techniques which could influence sales. If you go the extra mile for each client, they will become a return customer and tell their family and friends about your company – word of mouth positive marketing is free!

3. Core team

Just because you started the business doesn’t mean you should continue to do all of the work single-handed. The biggest mistake most business owners make is trying to juggle too many jobs and then not doing any of them well. If you plan on expanding, you’ll need a core team to help run the business and the sooner you find these suitable employees, the better. Establish a core team who can help you grow the business and preferably have valuable experience to bring to the company.

4. Outsource

In order to grow, you need to spend a substantial amount of time on tasks which promote business growth. If you feel like there’s never enough time in the day, and the majority of your time is taken up by activities which aren’t driving business growth, then it’s time to start outsourcing. It’s a cost effective way of managing the business without having the expense of hiring in-house staff. From accounting and IT to HR and marketing, you need to free up your time to spend it wisely.

5. Improve

As a business owner you have to strive for improvement every single day. Take a step back from business operations regularly to see what you could be doing better. Improvements alone can lead to business growth, but remember that if demand increases in line with the company expansion, then your service will also have to develop.

What do to as an established business?

1. Find a new market

In this ever changing world we live in, you can’t simply rely on the one market or one customer persona to buy your products. As new technology and markets emerge, unfortunately others die as a consequence. Always take the time to do research in your sector to find out what products or services could be on the horizon. Will they put your business at risk? Or can you fight the competition? One way to secure the company is to find a way to appeal to more people. Can you develop a new product to widen your remit? Change your marketing tack to appeal to different types of audiences?

2. Customer feedback

Your customers can tell you where you can add value to your business, for virtually no cost to you. It’s relatively easy to set up a customer questionnaire, and the data you receive can be vital for driving growth. Customers can help you discover what is and isn’t working, so you can see the areas which need improvement. You could also ask them what else would they like you to offer, to make their lives easier – this feeds into the first tip, so you can open up to a new market.

3. Employee retention

It’s very difficult to grow as a company without the people who make it work. Business growth almost always requires extra staff, and it’s hard to expand a team when an employee leaves to work elsewhere. If you don’t focus on an employee retention strategy, for every person you hire another could resign. Listen to HR or hire an expert if you don’t have your own department.

4. Don’t fall short

Growth and expansion within a company often requires capital. Make sure you don’t find yourself half way through an exciting expansion project with no money to finish it. At some point, businesses need finance – even successful businesses with money rolling in. To keep up with demand, you need to invest in your business and sometimes you’ll need help. Look at our short term alternative finance options.

5. Marketing and advertising

If your business is growing, then so too should your marketing strategy. Medium sized enterprises have medium sized budgets, and large companies have large budgets for advertising. For example, take this year’s Christmas advert wars between the big retailers, such as John Lewis and Marks & Spencer. You need to keep up with those you’re competing with. Evaluate your current digital strategy too, including SEO, social media and content marketing, or you’ll soon be forgotten on the internet.

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