ASBFEO urges brokers to ‘get involved’ in SME finance

The free event, run virtually for the first time, outlined the key issues SMEs have been facing during COVID-19, how this has impacted SME finance, and how brokers can be filling the void by providing much-needed help when it comes to SME finance now and into the future.

Held digitally over the course of two mornings (1-2 December), the SME Broker Bootcamp aims to equip brokers with the tools and knowledge to tap into lending for small and medium-sized businesses.

What happened on Day 2

On Wednesday (2 December), brokers heard from the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), Kate Carnell, as she revealed what the main issues facing small-business owners had been over the year.

As well as outlining the range of support available, Ms Carnell urged brokers to help SMEs access finance asap, if they were not doing so already.

She said: “Can I tell [brokers] that they should get involved with small business?

“There’s 2.2 million small businesses in Australia, and even the ones that may not have needed access to capital or the support of a broker prior to corona [may need to] as JobKeeper finishes, with the end of the cash flow boost etc.

“There’s going to be an awful lot of businesses who are going to have to access capital that possibly didn’t need to before, in order to keep their businesses afloat or to invest in their businesses.”

Ms Carnell added that 30 per cent of businesses are doing better now than they were before COVID-19, so she suggested that while there will be many businesses looking to access capital to survive, others will be turning to brokers to find capital to help them grow.

The ASBFEO recommended that any broker looking to get to grips with SME finance could utilise the newly updated Business Funding Guide, which was developed by the ASBFEO in partnership with ScotPac to help brokers, accountants, bookkeepers and other accredited financial advisers in understanding the appropriate funding products available.

“It goes through all the reasons that an SME may need finance, uses scenarios for the sort of finance that might be best for the SME in that space, and it then goes through the pros and cons of particular types of lending,” she told SME Broker Bootcamp.

“It is actually aimed at people like brokers, accountants and others in this space that may not have a broad-based knowledge of what is available. 

“It goes from traditional bank loans, to overdrafts, to business credit cards, to equipment financing, export financing, floor plan financing, invoice financing etc. It goes through all of those areas and explains: why you’d use them; what you’d use them for; what’s the good and bad bits; and also – the important bit – how you get an SME ‘finance-ready’. So, what they need to do to be in a position to actually get the finance that they need and, as a broker, that you are attempting to get on their behalf.”

In the second morning of the SME Broker Bootcamp, brokers also heard from business coach and educator Stuart Donaldson from Banyan Co as he walked through how brokers can appreciate an SME’s value wheel, what value boosters might be, the importance of P&L and EBITDA, and how to create a business scorecard. 

Later in the day, Beau Bertoli, the co-founder and chief revenue officer of Prospa unpacked the emerging and significant trends affecting SMEs that brokers should be across as 2021 approaches, particularly as many of these trends will drive more demand for SME credit. 

In the second part of the Alternative Product Roadmap, viewers heard from Simon Arraj, director of Vado Private; Torri Martin, national partnerships leader and broker leader NSW from Latitude Financial Services; and Mick Conyngham, head of distribution at Mortgage Ezy, as they outlined what lending products are available outside of owner-occupied mortgages that can provide solutions to a range of needs. Products discussed included development finance, personal loans, asset finance and SMSF loans. 

During the course of the day, brokers had the opportunity to speak directly with lenders at the virtual exhibition centre and learn more about the solutions available.

Congratulations go to all the prize winners:

Day 1 Winner - $500 from gold partner, Mortgage Ezy

Duane Mengel, Mortgage Choice Coffs Harbour

Day 2 Winner - $500 from gold partner, Credit Connect Group 

Tanzeem Khan   

Overall Points Winner - Five Nines Training course

Sandra Dignam, Mortgage Australia

Most Partner Connections Winner - $500 from platinum partner, Pepper Money 

Paul Boyd-Skinner, AusWise Finance

Overall Points and Connections Winner - $500 from gold partner, Prospa 

Marti Nemet, Your Loan Solutions

Those registered for the SME Broker Bootcamp 2020 will be able to rewatch the sessions via the event portal until midnight on Friday (4 December).

Thank you to our MC and coach Stuart Donaldson and all of the speakers and partners for supporting the SME Broker Bootcamp 2020.

Our Platinum Partners:

• GetCapital
• Pepper Money

Our Gold Partners:

• CAFBA
• Credit Connect Group
• Finstro
• Latitude 
• Mortgage Ezy
• Prospa 
• Vado Private.

[Related: SME Broker Bootcamp: what happened on Day 1]