New Zealand Business Finance

New Zealand business finance. The on-line diary of an invoice discounter.

Mar 5, 2010, IFG Network Kicks Off in New Zealand

IFG Network, the funding arm of the spot factoring franchise organisation, The Interface Financial Group, has commenced operations in New Zealand.

IFG Network provides capital and transactional support to IFG's 150 international offices in New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Bringing IFG Network to New Zealand will significantly increase the capacity of the organisation here in terms of both business development and funding capacity.

Click for more info

Feb 18, 2010, New Zealand Connected for Invoice Discounting

The Interface Financial Group is expanding it's presence around the world. The boutique invoice discounter is now establishing itself in the UK, Australia and Singapore.

Already, a strong force in the US, Canada and New Zealand, these latest moves will improve their ability to carry on international transactions. This is good news for New Zealand exporters wanting to access short term working capital through discounting accounts receivables.

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Jan 28, 2010, Women in Business

Womens Business Resources. New Zealand Business Finance's Womens Business Resources section is building a library of resources for New Zealand women in business.

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Jan 28, 2010, Succesful Women Worldwide

Successful Women Worldwide. Dagmar Gatell of 101 Small Business Opportunity.com shares her story as she meets successful business women around the world.

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Jan 23, 2010, Small Business, Cash Flow

Small business cash flow is put under pressure from all sides. Negotiating your way through this problem is one of the key skills of the business owner.

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Jan 23, 2010, Importers Can Take Opportunities

Importers can take advantage of short term working capital facilities to get great deals while the NZ dollar is up. The bargains that can be had in the current world environment will more than make up for the cost of this kind of finance. Follow the link for some case studies.

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Jan 19, 2010, It's All About Cash Flow Now

2010 is going to be all about cash flow for many businesses. If the cash is still flowing, businesses can continue to service their obligations and work through whatever their situation is. For many businesses in New Zealand, it's going to be about recovery after the recession. Activity levels will be increasing, order books filling up. The trick will be maintaining adequate cash flow until profits are realised.

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Dec 29, 2009, Next Year ?

It's been a tough year. A lot of businesses have struggled. It seems like we'll probably come out of recession and start growing now. The fallout for businesses will likely continue for a few years to come though.

The population here in Godzone is on the increase - watch out for the hosuing market picking up - it may not go out of control as credit will still be tight, but the basic laws of supply and demand will have to have an upward effect.

Nov 17, 2009, New Zealand Business Finance Contact

New Zealand business finance dot com contact information.

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Nov 9, 2009, So the world didn't end then ?

A year ago you would have thought the world was going to end. Total economic meltdown ....... never mind about your assets or liabilities, just make sure you've got a couple of chickens in the back yard and know how rig up some solar power.

Maybe it's still happening, but slower than we thought. Or maybe, people and the wrold economy are more resilian than we thought.

Here in Godzone, whilst some have and are suffering, it really hasn't been as bad as we thought for most people. Maybe we're just cushioned these days and don't appreciate the meaning of all this debt we've taken on - as a country and as individuals.

My take, though, is that the principles of business and life remain the same. My guess is that life will go on and we'll get through the current recession as we've got through all previous ones, and come out the other side older and wiser and hopefully stronger.

Aug 25, 2009, Relationships are Currency

In case you haven't noticed, we are in the middle of an extended period of banks being even more tight with credit than they usually are. Overdrafts pulled with no notice. Nit picking analysis to decide on the most modest of loans.

So, alternative finance becomes the name of the game. Whether its tapping the family, vendor finance or connecting with private money in some arrangement or other. Whatever the details, somebody will need to trust you with their money.

For someone to trust you with their money, they will need to trust you as an individual. (They will also need to believe in the likely success of what you are doing - but that's another story). For this trust to be present, you will need to have built some sort of relationship with them. It will help enormously if you are genuine, and sincerely want to build a relationship. It will also help if you sincerely understand that the lender/investor is entitled to their money back and it's up to you to make sure that happens.

How does trust get built in a relationship ? - Slowly. Trust gets built up little by little. Every time you do what you say you will. Every time you act with integrity and honesty. Every time you keep a confidence or listen to someone. You build trust by doing any and all of these things.

The other side of this coin, however, is loss of trust. Trust can be lost much more quickly than it can be gained. You might get away with one small integrity slip if you have a good history built up, but it won't take much for trust to be destroyed if you act dishonestly or without moral courage.

So, building relationships, of all kinds and at all times - not just when you want something - is essential to success in life in every way. When you want money for business it is no different. Your access to funds and negotiability with creditors will be greatly effected by the level of trust and quality of relationships you have built.

Jul 7, 2009, How To Succeed in Business

Women are well suited to business and often have much more potential to succceed than they realise.

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Jun 24, 2009, Credit Control Top of Priority List

Credit control is always important for businesses, but now the credit crunch is really starting to bite, it is super important. It is so much more difficult to access flexible financing to ride out the peaks and troughs of the business cycle and deal with unexpected cash flow shocks.

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May 14, 2009, Selling A Business

Selling A Business: Easier And With Less Stress. Selling a business is something that most business owners only do once. Like anything else done for the first time, and with no training or preparatio

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May 12, 2009, Merchant Banking

Merchant banking, Equity and Angel investment in New Zealand. Overview and New Zealand Business Finance case studies.

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Apr 22, 2009, Property Fundamentals

In the Dom Post today there was an update about net migration turning around. Likely to be 15,000 positive for the year. On top of that, bear in mind that births over deaths will be plus 35,000 or so. That'll make 50,000 or so population gain in New Zealand in 2009 - and they've all got to live somewhere.

Next, consider the remarks about the home construction industry - we apparently need to build 22,000 new homes a year to keep up. We have been averaging 14,000. Bob Jones the other week, confirmed that there is no over-supply of property in this country as there is in some parts of the US etc.

These are the property market fundamentals - supply and demand. Interest rates and other stuff do effect the market - but the real underlying drivers are immigration, births over deaths and the supply of stock. Eventually - perhaps sooner than we might think in the current doom and gloom - rents have to go up and then demand for property from buyers will soon follow, whether that be first home buyers faced with high rents and low interest rates, or property investors for whom the numbers stack up again.

So, I'm picking that the property market could recover in 2010 and not be down for as long as some think.

Apr 8, 2009, Risk Multipliers

I saw a business yesterday that operates in the horticultural sector. They also have exposure to international markets. The risks inherent in both have a multiplying effect on this business' current crisis.

They have experienced various weather and MAF related dramas over the past few years, some quite costly. They have also experienced expensive problems in overseas markets (trading internationally is always several times more complicated that just trading domestically), and now the credit crunch has dried up their markets.

It occurred to me that this industry is especially frought with risk and that to operate successfully a business needs a solid and diversified domestic market to support basic cash flow. From this platform they can they chance their arm internationally.

Mar 14, 2009, News is History

So, financial Armegeddon is finally here. Reality is finally catching up with us in Godzone as credit dries up, unemployment starts to rise and everyone's scared about what's going to happen next.

Well, guess what, cash is still cash, value is still value, people still need to live somewhere, eat, drink, travel and all the rest of it. So,for this year it'll be a case of the quick and the dead in business terms. You'll need to be on your toes, flexible and thinking with a clear head.

Panic is not the order of the day. There's always ways round things. But things are changing so fast, that, really, news is history. What's the case today may not be the case tomorrow with regard to a whole host of stuff.

Feb 18, 2009, Whose up for a bargain ?

There's going to be plenty of bargains around in the property arena in the next few months. My take is that there will be a floor on falling property prices based on the population figures holding up well in the coming months and the fact that there will be plenty of shrewd investors dusting off their cheque books right now. So, I doubt whether there will be a total crash of the market.

Feb 15, 2009, Larger NZ businesses now struggling.

We're starting to the recession really bite now, with some relatively large New Zealand companies having to re-size, re-structure or get taken over. A couple of examples in the week just gone are Stevenson Group in Whangarei, a concrete products outfit, being taken over by Fletchers; and Williams and Adams, the long established Wellington car dealership downsizing.

If these sort of businesses are struggling, it's going to be a very tough ride for a lot of the very small businesses which abound here.

Feb 7, 2009, Cash in Demand

Adam Bennett in the Herald on Saturday highlighted the fact that there are plenty of bigger businesses having to get creative about raising cash now. The banks don't want to know about taking on new risks.

Big name listed firms can go to the market and get funds like Fonterra did, but lesser lights may be struggling to repeat the excercise.

Last week I was talking with a trucking firm who've been around for 35 years, a reasonably big outfit by NZ standards. They needed extra facilities having incurred major repair costs. It would have been a no-brainer only last year for the bank to help them out, given their track record. But the bank have said no.

Feb 7, 2009, Vegetable Exporter, Manawatu.

A Manawatu based vegetable exporter secured short term business finance to help him over the busiest season.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "Vegetable Exporter, Manawatu."

Feb 5, 2009, Business Finance Landscape Very Dynamic

We are living through very dynamic and ever-changing times. The business and finance landscape is altering on a daily basis. Even more than usual, thinking ahead and making sure you have options in terms of cash flow are hugely important.

Whether it's to take advantage of the endless opportunities that will present themselves, or simply to be able to ride out problems with bad payers or unexpected expenses. If you are not prepared and have some contingencies, it's going to be a very unforgiving year.

We haven't as yet felt the full impact of the credit crunch here in New Zealand. There is undoubtedly worse to come over the coming months. There's simply less liquid capital sloshing around, and we're not at the top of the list for the international money men.

Jan 20, 2009, Look for opportunities

2009 will be one of the most fascinating and challenging business years for decades. There will be tough times for many, and no doubt a few casualties.

There will also be no end of opportunities. Fortune will favour the brave. The brave will, however, need to be smart with their cash management and decision making.

I believe then key to taking advantage of opportunities is to do enough homework to know you've found an opportunity when you stumble across one, but also be ready to be decisive and take action when the time calls for it.

Jan 8, 2009, Happy New Year

Happy New Year to one and all. I trust you're well rested and ready for what promises to be the most interesting and dynamic year for New Zealand businesses in a long time.

Things have got off to a brisk start here at the international headquarters on New Zealand Business Finance.com Our portfolio of clients in the short term wokring capital arena has changed over the past few months, with a drop off in the roading contractors and truckers, and an increase in the importers and recruitment agencies.

We also took on a vegie exporter who did their first transaction before Christmas. We should have a case study up on that one soon.

Dec 24, 2008, Cash Will Definitely Be King in 2009

Wow ! What a year. So much happening in the world of finance on the world stage and locally. 2009 promises to provide Kiwi businesses with their toughest trading environment in a very long time.

The property market will stay depressed for some time, I would guess at least 2 years. But when it goes off again, it could be another boom. We don't have an over-supply of houses to live in and the population is increasing (births over deaths) despite the exodus to Aussie. When immigration increases again, as it will surely do before too long, that will put upward pressure on the hosuing market and we'll be off again.

In the meantime, what a great time for the more entrepreneurial among us. Whether it's property or business purchase, or growing the business you're in, there will be bargains and opportunities galore. This will be the time to position yourself for the next boom.

Cash, naturally, will remain king - as it always is. Now, though, the consequences of not having access to liquidity will be harsher than they have been for some time.

Dec 24, 2008, Export Credit Agencies

Export credit agencies are government agencies which encourage exports from their country through providing finance, guarantees, insurance and so forth, for exporters.

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Dec 4, 2008, kapiti, aluminium windows

A Kapiti aluminium windows company uses short term working capital to overcome a short term cash flow crisis,

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Dec 3, 2008, Documentary Collections

Documentary collections provide exporters with a higher level of protection than open account trading, and provide importers with a higher level of protection than payment in advance.

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Dec 3, 2008, We Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

Attended Westpac Christmas drinks and nibbles last night. Good turn out. Got talking to a couple of folks and naturally conversation turned to the state of the economy.

One was a top local laywer in the commercial area. A veteran of a few economic cycles and apparently very well informed on the world scene. His take was that we haven't really felt the full blast of the economic downturn yet here in Godzone and that a lot of folk will be in for a major shock next year.

Another in our group reported listening to Bob Jones the other week. Apparently Bob likened New Zealand's position to being in a very comfortable suite at the back of the Titanic - it still feels like we're doing OK, but we're going down like the rest of the world.

Nov 30, 2008, Letter of Credit

A letter of credit is a trade finance tool which helps importers and exporters to securely and confidently trade with one another in circumstances when they would otherwise not feel confident.

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Nov 25, 2008, Trade Finance Deal

Hadn't done a trade finance deal for a while,but put away quite a decent one today.

The NZ based importer is bringing in a cosmetic product from Aussie. There's a big margin for him so he was happy to give some margin away to have the products paid in advance and then have terms.

Your humble correspondent continues to battle away with his studies in International Trade. Another exam next week. Fair play to the folks at the NZ School of Export (see link) , they are very helpful and the material certainly stimulates the old brain box.

They are currently recruiting the next cohort for the Diploma in International Trade.. If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to share my experience if you drop me an e-mail.

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Nov 17, 2008, Trade Finance Overview

What is trade finance ? What are the four key elements of trade finance ?

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Nov 10, 2008, Poison Chalice

Well, the change has happened. Not too much of a surprise on Saturday if we're honest.

Could it turn in to a poison chalice though ? We're heading for a very difficult year or 18 months or so. Depending how bad it gets, the timing could be disasterous for the long term aspirations of John Key and National.

In the medium to long term, I'm sure New Zealand is going to come out of the current crisis relatively well. We may even be net beneficiaries from the 'time of change' in which we're now living. There will be a population surge within 3 years; we are a top food producer in a world that needs more food; we have relatively secure water resources (look at Australia for instance). So, on a 3 to 5 year horizon, things are looking good for New Zealand. The problem for John Key is that things are going to be looking pretty miserable next year and maybe well into 2010. If that's the case, National may find themselves booted out in 2011. Labour, having presided over 9 years of endless growth and surplus, would then inherit a situation on their comeback which would be primed for the next phase of success.

Who'd be a politician ?

Oct 30, 2008, John Key Not Getting Enough Sleep

Brian Fallow hits anothter bulls eye in the Herald today. John Key can't be getting enough sleep. This nonsense about bailing out individuals on their mortgage and debt commitments if unemployment goes up in the recession - what nonsense.

The Labout party has spent 30 years distancing itself from this Soviet style idiocy. What on earth is the leader of the National Party, of all people, doing, talking about the taxpayer propping up everybody, just because things have turned sour, as they do periodically.

It's absolute silliness.

Oct 26, 2008, Home Staging

Home Staging in auckland. Housedressings Ltd. Lorraine Wilson. A great example of a self starting woman in business.

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Oct 23, 2008, Business Programme Review

10 out of 10 to Chris. He looked a bit nervous, but certainly gave a good clear message. It certainly looked like great coverage for IFG. http://tvnz.co.nz/view/video_popup_windows_skin/2224085 Follow the link for a clip of Chris's 15 minutes of fame.....

Oct 22, 2008, Interface on the Telly

Don't miss the business programme at 06.00 tomorrow. Chris Reid, New Zealand National Director of The Interface Financial Group, will be the star guest, sharing with the population the joys and benefits of invoice discounting.

Your humble webmaster is of course a franchisee of IFG. Tomorrow we'll give a straight critique of Chris's performance.

Oct 22, 2008, Economist Summary

Great article in the Herald today. A re-published item from The Economist, it was a very succinct summary of the de-regulation and subsequent growth of the investment banking sector, the reasons why it all occurred and the problems itultimately led to.

The conclusion was that, overall, the benefits have out-weighed the damage for most of humankind. Although, I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens in the next couple of years to see if it really was all worthwhile.

Oct 19, 2008, Women In Business - Successful

Women in business are every bit as successful as their male counterparts.We are seeing a lot more women either start their own successful businesses both online and traditional types.

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Oct 10, 2008, Financier Greed Complacency

In finance, greed and complacency are the twin enemies of the financier. In this article, Tim Levchenko-Scott highlights how the current crisis shows how true this old adage is.

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Oct 10, 2008, Truck Contractor Accesses $1.25 Million in short term working capital.

One of my biggest clients is finishing with me this month. We have funed this truckie a total of over $1.25million dollars over the past 2 years or so.

He was a classic rapid growth scenario and its great to see that he's been able to work through the cash-flow squeeze that this creates and come out the other side.

He will now be able to enjoy more of the profits of his efforts and continue to build his business. He has gone from being a truck driver to operating a significant business in a very short space of time.

Permalink -- click for full blog post "Truck Contractor Accesses $1.25 Million in short term working capital."

Oct 6, 2008, Don't Bank on the Banks

A couple of situations in the last week sum up the caution in the banks at present.

Customers have been left high and dry at the end of a process lasting several weeks - providing all the necessary documentation and then being turned down flat at the eleventh hour.

It's never been more important to be planning ahead with your business finances. Having contingencies in place access to funds from a variety of sources is essential.

Oct 2, 2008, Look out for opportunites - Cash is God

Nothing but gloom and doom in the financial world at present. But there will be some great bargains around before too long. Whether it be in the real estate environment or purchasing a business, the buyer will be in the box seat.

Cash has now been elevated from King to God. Not running out of cash is always an issue in business, but now you can't rely on re-financing your way out of trouble, so having enough cash to keep going no matter what is the key.

Sep 19, 2008, So, is the sky really going to fall in now ?

Is this it ? Is the credit crunch finally going to hit Godzone with a vengance ?

For months now, I've been expecting the big squeeze to start taking effect here, but we seem to just keep muddling through.

But the news over the last few days seems to really be spooking the banks.

In the last 24 hours I've been hearing about banks putting all sorts of pressure on otherwise sound businesses. There seems to be a real nervousness about over-exposure in various places. One of our major banks has apparently been shuffling bums and office chairs big time in the middle to senior business banking ranks.

Apparently inter-bank lending activity is right down and likely to stay that way for some time.

One major tip for those with a lot of lending in place would be to not share too much information with your bank manager about the business - I didn't tell you that, though. Don't give them a reason to withdraw facilities. Just keep making those payments and don't draw attention to yourself - they'll have plenty of others in major strife to occupy their minds.

One of my major hobby horses is to have your banking spread around as much as possible. In the next few months those with everything in the one place - the 'we've always been with the ASB/Westpac/National/TSB etc', crowd will find out why.

Sep 15, 2008, Electricians Loggers Auto Repair Vegetable Packers ......

All sorts on the horizon at present. We sent out a PO Box drop of leaflets a couple of weeks back and its produced a good lot of enquiries. The IFG website is also on a good run at the moment.

So, I've got four serious prospects for invoice discounting getting lined up at the moment, and a few other things ticking over as well.

The straightened economic conditions are finally starting to make the phone ring.

I reckon things are going to stay pretty tough for another year or two yet, as well. There's a major reckoning up needs to occur in the NZ economy, and we're only seeing the start of it.

Sep 10, 2008, Business Finance - Client Testimonials

New Zealand Business Finance.com clients give feedback on their experience.

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Sep 1, 2008, Fragrance Retailer

Fragrance retailer access short term finance through artificial middle-man scheme.

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Aug 26, 2008, The difference between activity and progress ?

Regular readers will have noted periodic comments about the level of enquiry this bespoke website and your humble correspondent are experiencing from time to time. The busiest time in the last three years, as far as enquiries are concerned, was the last quarter of '07. To an extent this flowed on into the New Year. But then, from about April, things have been quiet as far as new business enquiries are concerned - maybe one lead a week on average, as opposed to half a dozen or more last year.

Paradoxically, though, I've actually done more business in the last three months - in terms of dollars turned over - than in any other quarter since I started. Also, the conversion rate for the referrals I am getting is very high - whereas it wasn't that great in the past.

So, a recession doesn't seem to make an invoice discounter's phone ring off the hook like I thought it would. What it does do, however, is generate more work from existing clients, and a small number of very good leads from well developed networks.

I need to get over the instinct to confuse activity with progress. Just because a businessman is running around like the preverbial blue arse fly, and is telling eveyone they are 'flat out', doesn't mean they are necessarily being successful.

Aug 22, 2008, Logging Businesses Big Dollars

I've been communicating with a guy for nearly three years now whose wanting to do some business in the logging industry. It looks like we might finally get something going after a few false starts.

The thing with the logging industry is that the invoices are usually really big. It's an easy industry in which to come unstuck if your cashflow gets disrupted.

This fellow has sensibly been lining us up to support him before he gets going. Watch this space ......