Finance alternatives in Canada often require the Canadian business owner/financial manager taking the ‘ middle ground. Traditional finance solutions are, unfortunately, not available to everyone – that means business alternative lending of some type must often be considered, hence the ‘middle ground’… so let’s dig in.

It really comes down to how you look at the issue – one expert suggests that it’s not a ‘ one size fits all’ scenario when it comes to bringing in either debt or operating capital to your business.. That’s of course how a business is financed – bringing new debt to the balance sheet or financing assets you already have, in effect monetizing them for working capital.

So it’s obvious that a better way to look at it is to ensure you have considered all the options under various scenarios, it is not a question of simply thinking you are some what forced into a particular finance solution.

A good example might be considering a Government SBL loan for the addition of assets or leaseholds to your business, or even to start a business from scratch, including a franchise operation of some sort. While a Canadian chartered bank on its own might refuse to consider such financings in your circumstances you might be pleasantly surprised that they will finance your project under the auspices of the SBL loan.

Many clients we talk to are often happy to consider business alternative lending if only to save time and management focus given that traditional bank type solutions might take many weeks or months to finalize. Trust us, ‘ it’s a process’!

You should of course consider all financing options, which might well include a bank financing of some sort.- just be forewarned that the financial history of your business, your length of time in business, and your cash flows and profits will come under scrutiny. All of those must align.

While business alternative lending sources might have a lower threshold level of criteria they typically therefore have higher rates – not all the time but 99% of the time. We feel that the best way to look at that situation is to ensure you are viewing alternative finance as a short term solution, typically a year or so. That allows your business to get all the capital it needs but not lock your business into a situation you cannot get out of.

And what are those alternate finance sources? You’d be surprise at the number of choices – They include:

Invoice Financing
Confidential Receivable Financing Facilities
Inventory finance
Non bank asset based lines of credit
Securitization
PO / Supply chain finance
Sale leasebacks
Bridge loans

If you want to be able to assess the ‘ middle ground ‘ in Canadian business financing seek out and speak to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor who can assist you in ensuring you’re not left behind in finance solutions for your company .