Business Plans and Funding Support
Funders and development finance institutions ask for specific things in a specific order, and applications get declined for failing to answer the question rather than for being unfundable. The plan has to survive a credit committee that will never meet you, which means the document has to do work that a conversation normally would.
1
Match
The right funder
2
Prepare
Plan and financials
3
Submit
In their format
4
Respond
Due diligence questions
5
Close
Conditions and drawdown
How We Support You
01
Funder Identification
Applying to the wrong funder wastes months. We establish which institutions actually fund your sector, size and stage, and what each one requires, before anything is written.
- Funders matched to sector, size and stage
- Eligibility criteria checked before applying
- Instrument suitability, debt, equity or grant
- Realistic assessment of prospects before effort is spent
02
Business Plan Preparation
The plan is written for a reader who will never meet you. That means the market evidence, the management case and the risks all have to be on the page, including the risks you would rather not raise.
- Market and competitive evidence rather than assertion
- Management team capability presented against the plan
- Operational plan with realistic milestones
- Risks stated and mitigated rather than omitted
03
Financial Projections
Three statement projections built to survive credit analysis. Funders test repayment capacity under stress rather than under the base case, so we model the stress case before they do.
- Three statement projections over the funding term
- Repayment capacity and covenant headroom tested
- Sensitivity on the assumptions a credit committee will probe
- Existing debt and security position presented clearly
04
Submission and Due Diligence
Submitting in the funder format, then handling the questions that follow. Response speed materially affects outcomes, because slow files lose momentum inside an institution.
- Application prepared in the funder prescribed format
- Supporting documentation assembled in advance
- Due diligence questions answered promptly
- Site visits and management meetings prepared for
05
Conditions and Drawdown
Approval usually arrives with conditions precedent. Working through them methodically is what converts an approval into money in the account, and it is where many deals stall.
- Conditions precedent listed and tracked
- Documentation prepared for each condition
- Coordination with attorneys on security
- Support through to first drawdown
What You Receive
- Funder identification with eligibility assessed
- Business plan written for a credit committee audience
- Three statement projections with stress testing
- Application submitted in the funder prescribed format
- Due diligence questions handled throughout
- Conditions precedent tracked through to drawdown
Indicative Timeline
Preparing a fundable application takes four to eight weeks. What follows is outside anyone control: commercial banks may respond in weeks, development finance institutions frequently take several months.
- Funder identification and eligibility: one week
- Plan and projection preparation: three to six weeks
- Submission and initial review: funder dependent
- Due diligence and conditions: commonly several months
Funding Routes We Support
Different instruments suit different situations, and applying for the wrong one costs months.
Commercial Bank Debt
Term loans and facilities, where security and repayment capacity dominate the assessment.
Development Finance
DFI funding, which carries developmental criteria alongside the commercial assessment.
Grant Funding
Grants with conditions attached, requiring reporting and frequently an audit afterwards.
Equity
Investor funding, where the plan must address returns and exit rather than repayment.
Asset Finance
Equipment and vehicle finance, assessed on the asset as much as the business.
Working Capital
Facilities against debtors or stock, where the cash cycle is what gets tested.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will you guarantee we get funding?
No, and nobody honest will. We improve the application materially and tell you before we start if we think the prospects are poor. Taking a fee for an application we expect to fail is not something we do.
How long does funding actually take?
Commercial banks can move in weeks for straightforward facilities. Development finance institutions routinely take three to six months, sometimes longer. Plan cash flow on the pessimistic assumption rather than the promised timeline.
What makes an application fail?
Most often projections that cannot be defended, an unclear repayment source, or an application that simply does not answer the funder specific questions. Poor businesses get declined too, but weak applications from sound businesses are more common.
Do we need audited financial statements?
Most funders require them for the historical period, and some accept reviewed statements for smaller facilities. This is worth establishing before applying, because obtaining an audit retrospectively adds months.
Can you help with a grant application instead?
Yes. Grants have different criteria, usually developmental or sector specific, and they carry reporting and audit conditions afterwards that are worth understanding before accepting the money.
What happens after approval?
Conditions precedent, which is where many approvals stall. They can include security registration, insurance, updated statements or governance changes. We track them through to drawdown because approval is not the same as funding.
Related Services
This sits inside our Business Advisory practice. Related work: Annual Financial Statements, which funders require for the historical period, and Grant and Donor Fund Audits for the audit conditions attached to grant funding.
