2 min read
A credit analyst is not looking for your best case. They want to know what happens when things go wrong, and whether you saw it coming. Here is the order they read in, and what they check at each step.
Stage 9 of the journey — Funding
§ 01
They start at the end
The repayment plan is read before anything else. If repayment capacity does not hold, the rest of the file is not read at all. That is counter-intuitive after weeks spent on the project presentation, but that is how it goes.
§ 02
They look for your share of the risk
An own contribution is not there to reduce the amount borrowed. It is there to show you lose something if the project fails. A file without one asks the funder to carry alone the risk of a project only you know in detail.
§ 03
They check consistency, not optimism
Three figures that do not reconcile sink a file faster than one modest figure. Forecast revenue must be consistent with production capacity, which must be consistent with the investment requested, which must be consistent with the headcount announced.
§ 04
What tips a borderline file
At equal quality of figures, two things make the difference: existing customers, however small, and a founder who knows their own numbers without reading notes. The first proves someone already pays. The second proves the file is yours, not a consultant’s.
§ 05
The matching service
These guides describe our working method and what we ask of our clients. They are not legal advice: the conditions applying to your situation are checked case by case.
§ 06
Short guides, drawn from the files we carry. They do not replace a diagnosis, but they spare you the mistakes that cost the most.
