Ways in which to get your business funding in order

Lefentse Chapman sets out what it takes to get the funding to take your business to the next level and how to avoid the pitfalls when turning to the banks for credit

ENTREPRENEURS face challenges such as a lack of funding, access to markets and business management skills the world over. There are intervention programmes by public and private sectors to help entrepreneurs to succeed.

Absa Enterprise and supplier development programmes are designed to support entrepreneurs in setting up, managing, growing and making their businesses sustainable.

They are fundamentally important in funding small and medium enterprises (SMEs), or entrepreneurs who would not normally qualify for traditional funding because of a lack of security, bad credit history, lack of own contribution and a lack of credit history.

Here are suggestions what entrepreneurs can do for a better chance of accessing traditional and development funding. Adverse credit status

A business and the owner’s personal credit status is taken into consideration during applications. If there were longstanding adverse records that have been ignored, or reckless credit, this will definitely have a negative effect. Get your credit status in order. Bank account management

Most entrepreneurs are not aware that the way they manage their personal and business accounts can result in having an adverse impact on their credit status. When you have debit orders against your bank account on a certain date and there are insufficient funds in the account, the debit order will be returned and this will have a negative impact on your credit status, even if you pay cash the next day.