Small business loans guide | Borrow up to €500k | Swoop IE (2024)

No matter if you’re a startup, mature business, sole trader, or a company with 25 employees, small business loans are the smart, flexible, and low-cost way to finance business activities. Stop relying on slow cashflow to expand. Turbocharge your company’s growth with a loan that’s purpose-built for your business needs..

To understand small business loans, we first need to ask, what is a small business? There are several definitions. Depending on who you ask, a small business can have as few as 1 and as many as 250 employees. In our experience, we’ve found that Irish lenders define a small business as having up to 50 employees, with turnover less than €2m.

Small business loans may be used for a variety of purposes – startup, expansion, working capital, asset purchase, debt repayment; even the purchase of a business. Borrowed sums may range from €1,000 up to €500,000 and with repayment terms up to 25 years if the loan was secured against an asset like property or land. Additionally, unlike equity financing, small business loans do not require company principals to surrender any of their ownership.

Small business loans function like many otherbusiness loans– a lender provides a sum of money which is paid back over time. The loan may be secured or unsecured and there are usually fees or other costs as well as an interest charge. There are different types of small business loan:

• Secured business loan

With secured business loans, the borrower provides collateral, (real estate, vehicles, machinery, etc) to protect the lender from loss. Best suited to mature businesses that own hard assets, these types of loans are considered less risky, tend to be larger, and are often cheaper than unsecured loans.

• Unsecured business loan

With unsecured business loans, the borrower provides no collateral, so the lender carries more risk. This means the loan is usually smaller and more expensive in terms of fees and interest. To obtain unsecured loans borrowers will typically need good to excellent credit references.

• Merchant cash advance

A merchant cash advance (MCA) provides funding for businesses that receive payment via a credit card terminal. This type of loan is ideal for businesses with less than stellar credit.

The lender provides a lump sum that’s repaid from customer card receipts. MCA loans are flexible, can be set up quickly and they provide scalable funding – as your card receipts grow, so does your ability to borrow.

• Invoice finance

Although not technically a small business loan, invoice finance utilises the security of a company’s unpaid invoices as the basis for a loan or an advance. Instead of sitting on unpaid invoices, the borrower receives a large percentage of each invoice as soon as it is raised. This type of loan is best for businesses that are trading successfully, but are being slowed down by slow payment of their bills.

Every small business loan is specific to the borrower’s business and the circ*mstances it is operating in. No two loans are alike. If one type of loan is not available for you, there may always be a different option that delivers what you need.Register with Swooptoday to start discovering your options.

Swoop’s lending partners provide small business loans from €1,000 to €500,000, but how much your business can borrow is determined by factors specific to you, your business, and the type of loan you want:

• Is the loan secured or unsecured?

Secured loans usually offer a larger lump sum.

• Long term or short term?

Long term loans tend to be bigger than short term loans which are normally used to meet temporary needs.

• Your credit

This may include your personal credit score as well as your business’s credit rating. The better the score, the more you can borrow.

• Type of business

Even without the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, some types of business have a higher failure rate than others. (For example, restaurants and retail). High risk businesses can usually borrow less than companies that operate in more stable sectors.

• Your business revenues and income

Your business turnover, your profit level, and the average sum in your business bank account all impact the size of your loan offer. Businesses that generate good profit and maintain a solid bank balance will usually be able to borrow more than a company with poor profitability and deep reliance on their bank overdraft. (That is known as ‘cash pressure’, and the more of it your business has, the less you can borrow).

• Length of time in business

Businesses with longer track records and multiple years of accounts can usually borrow more than startups and young companies.

• Assets

See secured loans above. Businesses with hard assets, such as real estate, can usually borrow more than organisations with none.

Swoop’s pool of lenders can provide a loan for many types of business. Even if you’ve been rejected elsewhere, we may still be able to provide the funding you need.Register with Swoopto discover your options.

Interest rates on Irish small business loans can vary significantly. Typically, unsecured loans come with a higher rate of interest than secured loans.

Interest rates may be fixed – which means they never change during the life of the loan, or they may be variable. Most business loans charge interest as a percentage over base rate, (or LIBOR). For example, a loan offered at 2% over base rate, when base rate is 1%, will carry a 3% interest charge. Note that merchant cash advances accrue interest on a daily rate. This type of loan can be more expensive than a standard business loan.

In practice, there is no one size fits all for business loans. The type of loan, type of business, your credit rating, length of time in business, and if theloan is secured or unsecured, all affect the interest rate. This means every small business loan is a custom fit.

Swoop works with lenders who provide business loans across the entire commercial spectrum. Interest rates vary and loans range from €1,000 to €500,000. Register your businessto obtain a quote tailored to your exact business needs.

Business loans generally come with more fees and costs than personal borrowing. This is because every small business loan is different and quite often, the lender will need to carry out significant due diligence to arrive at their loan offer. Typical costs and fees include:

• Origination fee

A fee that the lender charges for processing your loan. The fee may be flat, but usually, it is calculated as a percentage of the sum borrowed. (For example, 3% fee on a borrowed sum of €10,000 would be €300). Origination fees are paid at loan closing. Often, the lender deducts their fee from the borrowed sum. You repay the fee as part of the loan.

• Appraisal and Underwriting fees

If the lender is required to conduct an appraisal of the borrower’s assets, they may charge a fee for this service. This is the same as paying for a surveyor’s report on a house you wish to buy. Underwriters carry out due diligence on your application. They check your tax filings, bank statements etc. Fees may be charged to cover the underwriter’s costs. Both appraisal and underwriter fees are usually flat rate and charged at loan closing.

• Pre-payment penalty

If you wish to pay the loan back early, there may be a cost for doing so. This is called a pre-payment penalty and it is typically equal to one month’s loan payment.

• Referral fee

If you secured your small business loan through a third-party introduction service, the lender may have to pay them for bringing in your business. The lender may recoup this fee from you, usually collecting at the closing of the loan.

• Factor rate

The factor rate is used to calculate the cost of a merchant cash advance (MCA) as well as some short-term loans and invoice finance. It’s expressed as a decimal number usually between 1.1 and 1.5. To understand how much your loan will cost, multiply the factor rate by the total amount borrowed. For example, a loan of €10,000 and a factor rate of 1.2, will require you to repay €12,000.

• Default fees

If you make late payment, miss payments, or default on the loan, there are costs to pay. These include late fees, bank charges, unpaid direct debit fees, interest surcharges and delinquent interest rates. To avoid these costs, only borrow what you can afford.

The short answer is yes, you can. The longer answer is, yes you can, but do your homework first. Buying an existing business with a loan can have advantages over starting a business from scratch. You buy an established brand, an existing customer base, supplier contacts, track record, stock, perhaps even premises. Set against this are the ‘Goldilocks’ factors that lenders are looking for:

• Have you evaluated the business you wish to buy?

Have you thoroughly checked the accounts, the assets, spoken to suppliers and customers, researched the market value of the business, and considered the long-term potential? (It’s not a fad). Lenders need concrete answers to these questions. It pays to be prepared.

• Business reputation.

Does the business have any negative aspects – like supply chain issues, or employee grievances? Business ethics are also important.

• Customer opinion and expectations.

What do existing customers say about the business? Is it viewed in a negative or positive light? What are customer expectations? Will they be there to support the business a year or so from now? Where will new growth come from?

According statistics, only 19% of SMEs (small and medium size enterprises) are led by women. Additionally, female entrepreneurs are said to be more reluctant to seek business borrowing than their male counterparts. Which is unfortunate, because statistics also showwomen are generally more reliable than men when it comes to their borrowing.

Swoop works with trusted lenders who understand the lack of representation and difficulty that women face as entrepreneurs and business leaders. These lenders offer loan products specifically designed for women in business – secured, unsecured, merchant cash advance and more. Female borrowers may also benefit from lower interest rates and fees.

It is predicted that there will be 1.6 million armed forces veterans by 2028. Many of these ex-servicemen and women will start their own business. Some will need to borrow to make their business a success. Veterans seeking small business funding can apply for a government-backed startup loan, which provides up to €25,000 of unsecured borrowing at a 6% interest rate and paid back over five years. Other funding options best suited to veterans include:

• Secured business loan

The borrower provides collateral, (such as real estate) to protect the lender from loss. These types of loans are considered less risky, and they tend to be larger and cheaper than unsecured loans.

• Unsecured business loan

The borrower provides no collateral, so the lender carries more risk. These loans are usually smaller and more expensive in terms of fees and interest.

• Merchant cash advance

A merchant cash advance (MCA) provides funding for businesses that receive payment via a credit card terminal. An MCA is ideal for businesses with less than stellar credit. The lender provides a lump sum that’s repaid from customer card receipts. Repayments are made on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis and as a fixed percentage of card payment receipts.

Swoop’s pool of trusted lenders provides their full range of small business loans without any racial bias. Unsecured loans, fully secured loans, merchant cash advances and more, are all available to BAME business owners free of limitations. Borrow from €1,000 up to €500,000 at competitive rates, even with bad or no credit history.

Join more than 11,000 black, Asian, and ethnic minority entrepreneurs have already received funds via this scheme. Borrow up to €25,000 at a fixed 6% interest rate over as long as five years.

Farms and agricultural businesses work in cyclical industries. Mother nature controls the production line. This can make cashflow and planning more challenging than for other types of business. Swoop understand the ebbs and flows of working with the land and our lending partners have specialist loan products for farms and agricultural businesses to overcome dips between the harvests.

Borrow up to €500,000 to cover cash flow gaps, buy livestock or machinery, make tax payments, hire more staff, refurbish your premises, or make new investments. Plant the seeds to keep your farm growing.

Yes. Swoop’s pool of specialist lenders provides loan products designed for borrowers with less than perfect credit. These include merchant cash advances – where lenders provide funding for businesses that receive payment via a credit card terminal – and secured loans, where the borrower provides collateral, (such as real estate) to protect the lender from loss.

Even if you have been rejected elsewhere, Swoop may still be able to provide the funding your business needs.Register your businessto find out more.