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The Links that make the Chain

Funding is something which is often at the forefront of every business owners mind. Whether yours is a large fully functioning company in need of some modernisation or upgrading or you are just starting out as an SME (Small or Medium Enterprise) and you require that extra financial push to get your fledgling business to leave the nest, finance is an essential part of business life. We would all like to think of ourselves as fully independent and to think of our business as being our baby, belonging only to us, but no company is an island and no company can exist and thrive in a vacuum, particularly during difficult financial times so seeking finance is often an ideal way to give your company an essential push to either get off the ground, or gain new ground for an existing company.

Recently, we have focused primarily on SMEs and we have discussed the newly widening availability of funding for these companies during Ireland’s continued recovery. Where in the past funding was a commodity in scarce supply, now there are more options available to choose from. This is welcome news for all business owners as gaining access to credit may be the ideal method to prevent your business from stagnating. Currently, many SMEs still struggle to gain finance and fail to realise the true potential of their business.

One new method of gaining funding comes from Linked Finance who pride themselves on connecting hard-working business owners with thousands of individual lenders, ordinary Irish people willing to lend to deserving companies who may otherwise not have the option of progressing. Linked Finance are happy to snip that tangle of red tape and reinvigorate P2P (Peer to Peer) lending to, in their own words

“Bring business lending back to basics; real people with savings lending to great local businesses at attractive interest rates.”

If bypassing the banks and gaining funding for your business through P2P lending sounds like something you could benefit then Linked Finance might be your first port of call. Providing approval for SME loans from €5000 to €250000 in just 8 hours, the process couldn’t be simpler. Your loan request will be auctioned to lenders and once approved by you, your funding can be processed within 48hours.

The requirements for Linked Finance are as follows:

  • Your business must be trading for 2 years
  • Have turnover in excess of €100,000
  • Positive cash flow
  • No history of missing payments
  • No outstanding judgements

Visit www.linkedfinance.com for more information.

Should you require any further guidance please do not hesitate to get in touch with us here at EcovisDCA where we will be happy to assist you in starting 2018 on the right foot.

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DCA PARTNERSDECLAN DOLAN & EAMONN GARVEY

Looking at the Big Picture for SMEs

As you know, we here at EcovisDCA are massive supporters of the SME (Small and Medium Enterprises) community in Ireland. The businesses were some of the hardest hit by the economic downturn, and remain affected despite continued recovery. Funding for SMEs has been relatively slow to make a return to the market and in recent weeks we have discussed some new options coming to the market for these types of business. This week, we return with even more good news in the SME market.

The ISIF (Ireland Strategic Investment Fund), an economic stimulus vehicle is set to join forces with AIB and Bank of Ireland as a backer for a new investment fund targeting Irish SMEs. This venture will be managed by BGF, a private UK company with a wealth of British lenders at its disposal. This UK-based company will now have an Irish branch for this purpose and will have a dedicated Irish team based in Dublin.

The idea behind this investment endeavour is to allow Irish SMEs access to a longer term funding and investment than would be ordinarily available, whilst also giving managers access to expertise from their investor. This will allow these companies to expand and scale up their operations whilst having the financial back up, and advice on hand.

Investments will initially be available of between €2m and €10m in exchange for minority stake in the business in question, it is planned that additional funding will then be available from the investing company. Qualifying businesses will have revenues between €5m and €100m per year.

Should you require any help or guidance on any small, medium, or indeed large enterprise, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at Ecovis DCA where we will be happy to help.

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DCA PARTNERSDECLAN DOLAN & EAMONN GARVEY

High Risk, High Reward

We have spoken at length in the past about the importance of SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) are to the Irish economy. SMEs alone currently comprise over half of all Irish businesses, and have come to form the backbone of the ongoing economic recovery. As such, it has become increasingly important to protect and encourage these kinds of businesses.

In recent months we have seen the beginnings of a welcome change in the availability and range of funding and assistance options for SMEs which has shown a real shift in focus towards taking note of the importance of our Small and Medium Enterprises as well as our entrepreneurs.

Something which is rarely focused on is support for the financial backers of these seemingly higher risk enterprises and companies. The Government have created a scheme to act as an incentive for such financial backers called the Enterprise Investment Scheme. This scheme allows qualifying companies access to investment from shareholders, and in turn offers these shareholders tax breaks as incentive.

The purpose of the scheme is to assist some small and higher risk SMEs to raise capital where this may ordinarily be difficult or almost impossible. This will help to reduce the amount of SMEs forced to wind down due to a lack of financial investment.

It is hoped that this scheme will encourage investors to back what may be perceived as higher risk companies, in order to act as a buffer for these companies and increase their chance of continued survival. As these would be a higher risk investment, there are of course a number of enterprises which do not qualify, these are as follows:

Land shares, goods (except normal retail etc.), financial, legal and accountancy, property development, hotels and nursing homes, agriculture and power, etc.

There is also a time limit of two years applied during which the invested capital must be utilised and the investor must never have been previously connected with the business prior to investment.

Companies wishing to avail of this scheme must be EII certified and must directly seek certification from the Revenue Commissioners.

As always we are available for any advice or guidance you may require on business or finance matters.

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DCA PARTNERSDECLAN DOLAN & EAMONN GARVEY