April 2021

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Privacy & Cookies Policy

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Privacy & Cookies Policy

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.

Privacy & Cookies Policy

What is Peer to Peer Lending?

Peer to Peer Lending is a form of lending whereby a person or company can get funding without involving third parties such as banks. It is an exchange between two companies/people rather than a bank/building society.

What is the process as a borrower?

The process firstly requires you to sign up for a P2P Site, with the platform in question carrying out a series of credit checks to ensure you can be trusted to pay the money back. Once you are considered eligible, you will be given loan offers based on the amount the ‘Peer’ you are dealing with feels is a safe amount of money to lend you.

Some companies may be willing to take bigger risks than others, meaning that if your credit score isn’t up to scratch with trusted standards, the lender can raise the interest rate for the loan you are offered – this can be up to 30%.

On the other hand, if your credit score is considered good, your interest rates can be lowered significantly; (as low as 3%) meaning that the loan would be a better deal than what a bank/building society could offer you.

Why is it worth my while as a borrower?

• If your credit score is good, you could be in for a better deal than if you went to a bank/building society
• A quick, easy and free sign up process
• Lenders willing to take risks can offer those with poor credit a better loan amount
• The loan has an option to be ‘Unsecure’ meaning that you will not have to provide any property in case you cannot pay back the loan in time
• Any initial quotes will not affect your credit rating
• Can be an easier way for companies with poor credit to borrow (If the lender is willing to take a ‘risk’).

What is the process as a lender?

Peer to Peer Lending is a good way to improve your cashflow. If you have excess funds, you can sign up to a Peer to Peer Lending site in order to find businesses/people who are looking for a loan.

Why is it worth my while as a lender?

• Improves your company’s cashflow
• Some sites will cover any losses that could occur should a client not be able to pay the money back
• The passive income you can make as well as the experience a P2P Lending site has in dealing with the subject means that the process has an appealing risk/reward ratio
• P2P Lending sites are very transparent and offer excellent advice as to whether the investment is a good idea for your company or not
• You can pull out your funds at any time, providing that another investor is willing to take over the loan

Get In Touch: https://costs.greenjellyfish.co.uk/contact/

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A business loan is a sum of money between £1,000 and £3,000,000 that your company can take out for a variety of different reasons. The purpose of this blog is to help you understand exactly what a business loan is and whether it’s right for your business.

What are Business Loans used for?

In times like this, with many businesses struggling to stay afloat, you could find that a business loan can help to take the pressure from payments such as:

• Buying new equipment related to your company
• Bringing in new staff and paying for their wages
• Expanding your business
• Moving to a new location
• Paying off any outstanding debts

What makes you eligible for a business loan?

For obvious reasons, lenders don’t tend to hand out money too freely. A lender needs to be sure that you can pay back what they lend, so there are certain criteria that must be met in order to receive a loan, including, but not limited to:

• Being VAT registered. It is not always a must; however, it is unusual for a lender not to ask.
• A minimum monthly turnover/annual revenue.
• 2 years of filed accounts.
• Bank statements.

These are not always requirements; however, it is good to check the stipulations that could be involved with a loan before you are rejected for not meeting their set criteria.

Types of business loans

There are many types of business loans out there, some will be better suited to your business than others. When deciding on a business loan, we always recommend working with a professional.

You can get a short-term loan for small costs such as buying some new equipment – or you could get a long-term loan for larger projects such as expanding your business.

There are also loans specifically aimed at small businesses, such as ‘Government Start-Up’ loans. These loans allow budding businesses to borrow between £500 and £25,000 to get up and running. It could cover costs such as paying for your location and/or staff wages, with the loan being repayable for up to 5 years.

‘Bad credit’ loans are aimed at those who have struggled to maintain a good credit score in their business, for one reason or another. Although they are still helpful for a business, they are unlikely to be the best deal as many lenders may consider it risky to hand a loan to a company with a poor credit score.

Secured loans require you to add an asset (anything of value to the company) so that if you cannot pay the loan back, the lender will seize this asset to make the money back that they have lost. This could include land, property, stock, etc. Another type of secure loan is a director’s guarantee, where if the company cannot pay the loan back it becomes the liability of the Director. On the other hand, unsecured loans do not require an asset.

Again, there are many types of loans – different Lenders could have different rules on their own types of loans – these are just some examples. We can help you to find the best loan possible based on your company and its requirements. For a free, informal chat please feel free to contact us.

Get In Touch: https://costs.greenjellyfish.co.uk/contact/

Communication has never been more vital to businesses and as we adapt to the new style of working there are a handful of new issues to consider, therefore, now would be the ideal time to assess your business communication systems and check they are up to standard whilst also reviewing your telecoms packages to keep running costs to a minimum.

Due to the current pandemic, you may have had to make certain alterations to the way you work which could include staff working from home.  During this time we would expect data packages, call bundles, data storage, and all aspects of telephony to be under stress during this period of time, and if left unsupervised they may incur unplanned overspending.

We suggest that all businesses evaluate the following areas:

Landlines and Calls

Many businesses will have experienced a rapid spike in call volumes. This is because employees are working from home across the country, and are having to carry out customer service calls to clients. In some cases, call volumes will be capped at a monthly allowance because of this it is worth checking with your provider that you will not be overcharged for going over the limit.

Some deals will include conference call abilities which are essential at the moment. Check whether or not this is included in your contract and also if there are any restrictions. For instance, some are limited to 10 people on a conference call at any one time – so you may want to increase your package costs for a short period of time.

Broadband and Data Connectivity

Many of these are currently working from home will be connecting to work systems via home broadband which may not always be fit for purpose. Home broadband does not necessarily provide the fastest connection. You may wish to consider providing additional mobile data to your staff through their business mobile contract.

Work Moblie 

Normally, the most cost-effective business mobile contracts are set up with group packages where data and call allowances are allocated to the business as a whole and then are distributed amongst the users. This works well when mobiles are used for business trips but,  now the mobiles may be being used far more desk phones therefore businesses may easily exceed their limits for which they may be charged.

Buying used/refurbished handsets could be a great way to save money on your business mobile portfolio as they are far cheaper than brand new mobiles, you could also utilize any spare handsets you may have and just pay for a SIM-only contract which is much more affordable.

Green Jellyfish can check your contracts to check that you have everything you need and we can check that your call packages suit your business needs at this present time.

Data and Reporting

Access to the right information on your business communication systems can aid you in understanding staff activity and the ability to visible see how your packages are being spent. We have access to systems that produce daily cost reports allowing insight into how data packages are structured additionally you could get alerts so you know in advance if you are set to go over your limits. If this does happen you could then choose to either restrict some services or add extra bundles if the budget allows.

Business telecoms ideally would be set up to be flexible allowing your business to adapt to any external factors however, you don’t need to delve into the depths of telecommunication despair.

Use Green Jellyfish’s free, bespoke service. To arrange a telecoms audit for your business, please Get In Touch today!

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Privacy & Cookies Policy

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Privacy & Cookies Policy

What is a bridging loan?

A bridging loan provides the ideal solution for those looking to borrow money for a short period of time. It can help you bridge the gap (hence the name ) between buying a new house and selling your old one. Bridging is often used by people who urgently need money to buy a property at auction before having sold their own property.

How do bridging loans work?

There are both ‘open’ and ‘closed’ bridging loans.

Closed bridging loans – With closed loans, the repayment date will be a fixed date. If you have exchanged contracts but are waiting for your property sale to go through, you can use this type of loan.

Open bridging loans – There is no fixed repayment date with an open loan, however, you will usually have to repay it within one year.

Regardless of which loan you go ahead with, the lender will always want to see clear evidence of a repayment strategy – e.g. taking out a mortgage. Additionally, they will want to see proof of the new property that you have plans to purchase. You will also need to provide evidence of how you are planning on selling your current property if applicable. It’s always good to have a back-up plan just in case your repayment strategy falls through.

What are first-charge and second-charge bridging loans?

A ‘charge’ will be put on your property when you take out a bridging loan. This is a legal agreement which prioritises the lenders who will be repaid first if you miss a payment. Usually, if you still have a mortgage on your property, the loan you are allocated is a second charge loan. This means that if a repayment failed, and your property was sold to pay off your debts, your mortgage would be the first thing to be paid off. If you have already fully paid for your property or have taken out a bridging loan to pay back your mortgage, you would be able to take out a first charge bridging loan. This would mean that the bridging loan would be paid back first if you got behind with payments.

How much will a bridging loan cost?

People tend to take out bridging loans for a short period of time, so they are priced monthly instead of annually for this reason. One of the disadvantages of a bridging loan is that they are considerably more expensive than normal residential mortgages – typically fees range between 0.5% and 1.5% per month. A comparable APR on a bridging loan is between 6.1% and 19.6%. You also should keep in mind that there will also be set-up fees to take into consideration.

How much can I borrow with a bridging loan?

Depending on the loan provider, the amount lent could be between £25,000 and over 25 million pounds. Usually, you can only borrow a maximum of 75% of the value of your property. With a first-charge loan, you can usually borrow more than a second-charge loan.

What are the alternatives to a bridging loan?

If you are intending to move, but aren’t able to sell, you could think about getting a buy-to-let mortgage on your property. This is done by remortgaging your current property to get a buy-to-let mortgage and use the equity from that to purchase your new property.

If you would like to talk to someone about whether or not a bridging loan is right for you then do not hesitate to call us on 033 000 20010 or complete an enquiry form here: https://costs.greenjellyfish.co.uk/contact/