Rebuilding Your Relationship with Your Bank

Wed 21/4/10

Rob Warlow

A very successful FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) Members Evening was held last night, with an excellent talk given by Rob Warlow on how to rebuild relationships with your bank, especially if you want to get a loan off them!

In brief some of the points he raised were:
* take various projections with you to illustrate you know the variables that may affect your business in the coming months & years
* go in plenty of time - the decision on your loan request could take months!
* understand the bank's stance first before putting in your pitch
* keep explanations about your business as straightforward as possible - you know it inside out but they don't!
* know the remit of the person you are speaking in particular are they the decision maker - very unlikely these days
* and most of all LISTEN! to make sure you know what the bank is able to offer, and what strings are attached - no point taking out the loan if you are not going to be able to comply with the repayment criteria