Declined by Bizcap? Why trade businesses get caught out and where to go next

Construction and trade companies have a habit of looking feast-or-famine on paper. A $180,000 progress claim lands one month, the next month it’s materials going out and nothing coming in. If Bizcap declined your application, or it went quiet, that rhythm may well be part of the story. Here’s how to read the decline and what to do with the next day or two.

Who Bizcap is

Bizcap is a fast business lender to small and medium businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Most of its lending is unsecured and assessed on cash flow, and it also offers some secured lending. Like most cash flow lenders, it relies heavily on what your business account shows.

Why trade businesses fall outside cash flow formulas

The reasons below are typical of cash flow lending generally. They’re not a statement about how Bizcap assessed you.

• Big swings. Progress claims arrive in lumps. An average across a few months can understate a healthy business or make it look erratic.
• Retentions held back. Money you’ve earned but can’t touch for months doesn’t show as income.
• Builders paying late. A head contractor on 60-day terms can leave a sub with an empty account mid-job.
• Materials paid up front. Big supplier payments followed by quiet weeks look like stress to a formula.
• ATO arrears. Trade businesses often fall behind on BAS while waiting to be paid. Many cash flow lenders won’t touch that.
• Several loans already running. Equipment finance plus a couple of online loans can leave no room for another repayment.

What to do in the next 24 hours

Get specific. Ask Bizcap which factor drove the outcome, and whether a secured product was looked at. Both answers help.

Map the next 60 days. Write down every progress claim you’re waiting on, when it’s due, and what has to be paid before it lands. That’s your real borrowing need, and your exit.

Don’t shotgun it. Another three online applications on the same statements means more enquiries and, most likely, more of the same answer.

Note the property. A director’s home or investment property with equity in it is the key to a different kind of loan.

The property-backed route

Company Cash lends $20,000 to $50,000 to companies against residential or commercial property, up to 80% or 70% of value. There’s no valuation, and we don’t need bank statements, financial statements or tax returns. Defaults, bad credit and ATO debt are considered.

For a trade business, that changes the question completely. We aren’t asking whether last quarter’s deposits were smooth. We’re asking whether there’s equity in the property, what the money is for, and how it gets repaid. For most trades, the answer to the last one is the progress claim that’s already invoiced. Our page on exit strategies explains how to set that out clearly.

Up to three months of interest can be prepaid, so the first weeks aren’t eaten by repayments, then it’s weekly. In fast, out fast.

Example: the Perth formwork sub

A formwork company in Perth’s northern suburbs needs $45,000 for wages and a concrete supplier while a $200,000 progress claim sits with the builder for another five weeks. Its statements show two huge deposits and three thin months, an equipment loan and a small online loan. A cash flow application comes back no.

One director owns a house in Joondalup with plenty of equity. A $45,000 second mortgage doesn’t rely on those thin months. The property supports it, the purpose is wages and materials, and the exit is the progress claim. That’s a straightforward file for us. This example is illustrative, not a real client.

When to stay with cash flow lending

If you don’t own property, or the decline came down to a short-term blip that’ll clear once a big claim lands, it might be smarter to wait and reapply. Not every gap needs property behind it. Our trades and construction page has more on how lenders read trade businesses.

Find out what’s possible today

If Bizcap’s answer left a hole in your cash flow, send us the details. It’s about 60 seconds, and there’s no credit check when you first enquire, so your credit file is left alone. We lend directly, so your enquiry isn’t blasted out to a list of lenders who’ll all ring you. A real person on our team reads it and calls. Put in accurate numbers for the property and the debt against it, and we’ll come back with a straight answer. See if you qualify →