In 2006, a small Wellington-based software company saw a way to reimagine accounting for small businesses. It began with big ambitions and a simple product, and by scaling carefully, they eventually reached millions of global subscribers. This didn’t happen by chance. This happened because the team knew how to leverage their finances to thrive.
This story isn’t unique to tech startups. Small businesses across all industries in New Zealand regularly reach pivotal points where ambition outpaces available resources. This is where business growth finance has a role. To navigate a plateau and achieve sustained growth when competition rises to meet your business, you can follow in the footsteps of thousands of businesses to do so.
Let’s explore the role of finance in business growth.
The Path to Growth for Businesses
Most small businesses grow in stages, regardless of their type. Initially, a founder’s personal savings and cash flow may serve as a cushion to get things started. However, as opportunities to expand arise – such as hiring staff, upgrading equipment, moving into a larger office, or entering a new market – those internal resources can quickly be depleted.
Growth creates demand to push forward, but it often also creates a strain to catch up. More customers mean more stock to purchase. Larger projects need more machinery or vehicles for the crew. Scaling production often involves a larger investment in supporting technology.
The challenge for business owners, regardless of industry, is to find the capital that supports these developments without overextending your future finances or diluting control of the business.
This is where business growth finance can be a real game-changer.
The Right Finance is Pivotal
You might call this pivotal point the moment your business is truly tested, because the next step forward at that moment depends on external funding. It’s a crossroads between staying small and scaling up. Here, the right finance can unlock growth and bridge the gap between the business that exists today and the business that could exist tomorrow.
Different businesses will approach this in different ways:
- Some leverage asset-backed finance to purchase equipment that immediately scales up the clients they can work with.
- Others use working capital loans to smooth cash flow and take on larger contracts.
- Still others turn to invoice financing to unlock funds tied up in receivables, so they can expand without waiting on their clients to pay the bills.
The key to getting this right is lining up the type of finance with the specific stage and needs of your business. In other words: where are you at right now, and what’s stopping you from growing? Business growth finance should exist to remove that blocker.
If you’re struggling to determine which avenue is best for you, try to identify the biggest financial obstacle currently facing your business. Are you missing a crucial staff member? Is a client within reach if you only had a certain piece of equipment? Is over 50% of your revenue tied up in pending invoices?
Identify the blocker, then explore your options to specifically remedy it.
Your Options for Business Growth Finance
Business growth finance takes many forms. While traditional bank loans remain an option, many small businesses find greater flexibility and speed with specialist finance providers. These tools are for more than keeping the lights on. They actively power growth by freeing up resources to invest in marketing, staff development, or new product lines.
And their forms are just as varied as their applications, with all sorts of business growth finance options available with the right partner:
- Equipment and plant finance, which allows you to acquire the critical equipment that allows for growth without draining cash reserves. Think construction equipment, IT upgrades, or even vehicles.
- Vehicle finance, which specifically supports businesses that rely on their vehicles to get them through the day. Trades, logistics, and service businesses all fall under this umbrella.
- Working capital solutions, which offer a financial buffer to tide you through the day-to-day when you need it most.
Most importantly, all of these options give you the ability to seize an opportunity instead of watching it pass by. And that? That’s growth.
Much like that small accounting firm’s global rise from humble beginnings, financing will play an instrumental role in how your business rises to meet the challenges in its way. Initially, that business raised capital to invest in product development. This external funding was their way to get over that plateau. With the right finance in place, they could focus on innovating instead of being constrained by short-term cash limitations.
For you, the scale may be different, but the principle is the same. Whether you’re adding another van to your courier fleet, upgrading machinery and equipment in your workshop, or hiring a sales team to enter new markets, business growth finance will give you the headroom to act quickly.
Don’t let your business be the one that plateaus. Find the way forward and grow without constantly checking the bank balance.
Partner with GVK Finance to grow your business today.
We’ve been helping Kiwi businesses grow for over three decades now, which means business growth finance is our speciality.
Access plant and equipment finance, bridging finance, working capital finance, and a variety of other flexible options to open doors for you as a growing small business owner.