In a fast-changing environment, SME retail businesses need quick access to finance to adapt and grow. Traditional business loans require large amounts of paperwork, and it can take six to eight weeks to get an answer. 

More and more retail businesses have discovered the benefits of fast unsecured business lending to adapt quickly when needed. This type of finance is often used to increase inventory, overcome cash flow shortages during slow periods, upgrade shop fit outs, launch marketing campaigns, or open new locations. 

How retailers use fast and simple finance solutions 

Gourmet Living is a Melbourne-based business that creates gift hampers using local ingredients from small gourmet food suppliers. In addition to individual sales for holidays and social occasions, the business has some big corporate clients with very large hamper orders. This means a substantial outlay of working capital and long payment periods before revenue comes in from the sales. 

Bek McMillan, the owner of Gourmet Living, understands the impact cash flow can have on a business, balancing getting paid with needing to pay suppliers. As she explains, “We have large customers taking huge orders of hampers and taking their time to pay, which is a massive cash outlay for us. That is exacerbated because some of our largest hamper customers work in the real estate industry, so if sales slow down that trickles down. And I have a couple of hundred suppliers who I need to pay, so we definitely feel the cash flow squeeze.”

Bek discovered Moula as a solution to get quick access to business funding. Speaking about her experience, Bek says, “It was a really quick process. I had the funds within 48 hours. After starting the year with a little bit of a cash flow gap, I really needed some funds to increase the inventory so I could start the year with a store full of amazing stock. Moula helped me do that.” 

Nicholas Design is a furniture manufacturer and retailer based in the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Founded by Nick and Julie Bible in 1984, cash flow has been one of the biggest challenges for the business. It can take six to eight weeks to create a custom order. “We have 30-day accounts with the fabric supplier, so we’ve paid for all the labour and all the costs, around 90%, before we get paid by the customer,” Julie explains.

On one occasion, they had a large order to fill and didn’t have the funds to purchase material after having a challenging year. Julie called their bank and was turned down for a loan to cover the cost of supplies. Frustrated, she turned to her accountant who suggested she get in touch with Moula. 

“We did it all online. Moula linked to our Xero data and we got the loan approved the same day. It worked really well. I was able to do all the purchasing to fill this big order with no stress.”

Julie appreciated the transparency of the process, and the ability to repay early without being charged any fees or scheduled interest, “You know what to expect, and there are no surprises.”

Other ways you can use short-term unsecured business loans include: 

• Purchasing inventory quickly when there is a limited opportunity
• Increasing stock for peak sales periods
• Hiring new staff 
• Ramping up marketing during slow times. 

With Moula, there’s no penalty for early repayment, so you have the flexibility to repay early without paying interest for the full loan term. 

Find out how a business loan from Moula can help you fund your opportunity.