Declined by GetCapital? What to do when your company looks newer than your business

Here’s a situation we see a lot. You’ve run your clinic, studio or practice for years. On your accountant’s advice, you moved it into a company. New ABN, new bank account, same business. Then you apply for finance, and suddenly you look like a start-up. If GetCapital declined your application, or it’s dragging, the age of your structure may be part of it.

Who GetCapital is

GetCapital is an Australian online lender to small and medium businesses. It offers working capital and business loans, assessed on the business’s financial position and trading.

Why an established business can look brand new

The issues below are common across online business lending. They’re not a claim about GetCapital’s reasons in your case.

History follows the entity. Lenders usually assess the company that’s borrowing. If the company has six months of statements, that’s often all that counts, whatever happened before.

Old accounts don’t always carry over. Your years as a sole trader may sit in a different account under a different ABN. Joining the dots isn’t always part of an automated assessment.

Expansion costs land first. A new treatment room, a second practitioner or a new location means fit-out and wages now, revenue later.

Rebate and claim timing. Practices paid through third parties, such as health funds or insurers, can see income arrive in batches rather than evenly.

Director credit. For a small company, the director’s own file counts. Recent enquiries from a home loan or car loan can weigh on the result.

What to do in the next 24 hours

1. Ask GetCapital what drove it. If it was trading history, you’ll know where the problem sits.
2. Pull together the bigger picture. A short note on how long the business has really traded, and under which structures, helps any lender who reads files by hand.
3. Cost the plan exactly. Fit-out quote, wage cost until the new hire is busy, equipment. That’s your borrowing figure.
4. Pause the application spree. The company’s age won’t change between now and next week.
5. Check your property position. A home or investment property held by you or a co-director is the key to our kind of loan.

A loan that doesn’t ask how old your ABN is

Our loans run from $20,000 to $50,000, secured on a house, unit or commercial property, at up to 80% of residential value or 70% of commercial value. There’s no valuation, and no bank statements, financial statements or tax returns are needed. Bad credit, defaults and ATO debt are considered.

The company’s age doesn’t decide our answer. We look at the property, what’s owed on it, what the money is for and how you’ll repay. For a practice that’s expanding, the exit is usually the extra billings once the new room or the new hire is busy, or a refinance once the company has built up its own track record. Up to three months of interest can be prepaid to cover the ramp-up, then repayments are weekly. Once approved, the money can be in the account in as little as 24 hours.

Our page on using your home as security explains how a director’s property works for a company loan.

Example: a Newcastle physio clinic

A physiotherapist has run a practice in Newcastle for nine years and moved it into a company eight months ago. She wants $42,000 to fit out a third treatment room and cover a new graduate’s wages for the first couple of months. An online application stalls on the company’s short history.

She owns a home in Merewether with good equity. A $42,000 loan against it pays for the fit-out and the ramp-up. The new room’s bookings repay it, and the company’s eight-month history isn’t the deciding factor. Illustrative only.

When waiting is the better option

If the expansion can wait three to six months, building a longer track record on the company account may open up unsecured lending without involving property. Our healthcare industry page talks about how lenders look at practices. But if the room, the hire or the equipment is ready now, property can get it moving now.

Show us the real business

If GetCapital said no and the expansion is ready to go, tell us about it. It takes roughly a minute. Your credit file isn’t checked just because you asked, so there’s nothing to lose by finding out. We’re the direct lender, so your enquiry isn’t shopped around and you won’t get a wave of calls. A real person reads it and gets in touch. Please be accurate about the property and what’s owing so we can give you the right answer straight away. See if you qualify →