How to prepare for a finance application
Two weeks of preparation regularly makes the difference between a decline, an expensive yes and a good yes. Here is what is worth doing before anyone runs a search.
Know the number, and know what it is for
Vagueness is expensive. "Around fifty thousand, for growth" invites a cautious answer; "£46,000 to buy the machine on this quote, which adds capacity we already have orders for" invites a decision.
Work out the actual figure, what it buys, and — the part people skip — how the repayment gets covered each month. If you cannot describe that in two sentences, the application is not ready.
Look at your own numbers before a lender does
Pull your last six months of bank statements and read them as a stranger would. Returned direct debits, an account that lives at its overdraft limit, or a gambling pattern all get noticed, and all are easier to explain than to hide.
Check your credit file too — both the business and, if a What this meansA promise that you will repay the borrowing personally if the business cannot. It puts your own money — and sometimes your home — at risk, so it should never be signed without understanding it fully. is likely, your personal one. Errors are more common than people expect, and correcting one takes weeks, so it is not something to discover mid-application.
The two-week tidy-up
- Six months of statements, read line by line
- Business and personal credit files checked for errors
- Any county court judgment, default or arrangement identified — with the explanation ready
- Filed accounts up to date at Companies House
- VAT and PAYE payments current, or a time-to-pay arrangement documented
Protect your credit position while you look
Every hard What this meansA lender checking your credit history. A soft search is only visible to you; a hard search is recorded and can affect your score if there are several in a short period. leaves a mark. Several in a few weeks reads, to the next lender, as somebody being turned down repeatedly — which changes the answer you get.
So resist the comparison-site reflex of applying to four lenders "to see". Get an indication first, on a soft search, and apply once to the lender whose criteria you actually meet.
Be straight about the awkward bits
Almost every business has something in its history: a rough year, a late filing, a customer who never paid. None of it is disqualifying on its own. Discovering it halfway through underwriting, however, usually is.
Tell your broker the whole picture at the start. It changes which lenders we approach, not whether we help you.
Let’s find the right financial solution for you.
Want a second pair of eyes before you apply? Send us what you have and we will tell you how it reads.
Or email info@nemekfinance.co.uk · Call 07483 159369
No obligation, no credit check to talk, and a straight answer if finance is not the right move.