Financial franchise offering, Posfin, has only been in business for two years (in the middle of a pandemic) but has set some ambitious growth targets for its third year. Director Byron Hill, explained more…
There are plenty of tales on here, some taller than others, of new millionaires having started off in their kitchen or similar rudimentarily equipped business space and achieving spectacular growth through smart branding and hard work.
Not many of those, however, are in the financial sector. Success in financial products usually demands a decent amount of capital to begin with. The cost of entry is high compared to other sectors.
Financial franchisor Posfin is offering a way into the market for less than £20,000 and has ambitions to build the largest UK network of professional Broker/Consultancy Partners in the Commercial Finance space.
Formed in 2019, it has signed up 30 partners in the last 12 months and anticipates much demand from a business community learning to walk again in a post-Covid environment.
Director, Byron Hill tells us what the thought process was behind the franchise: “Posfin was designed to build a platform that welcomes the entrepreneurial spirit by way of partnership.
“That may be in the form of broker or consultancy partnerships where our brokers support UK businesses to access funding across a multitude of financial products.
“Partners are encouraged to build their own profit centre with support in-house around processing and access to lenders.
They benefit from our FCA permissions which broadens the scope for our product suite. Whilst our range of products is extensive, we encourage partners to target a specific niche and become masters over time.”
Despite encouraging growth and sign-up, Hill understands that a certain amount of it is dependent upon the pace at which franchisees choose to grow their own businesses. Not everyone is aiming for world domination in 12-months. Some are still working at the day job at the same time. ‘Side-hustle’ is the current nom du jour.
“As it takes time for people to build their business, we understand this and accept that some partners will be suited to casual or part time efforts around their existing routine until earnings from their new business can supersede their existing efforts elsewhere.
“Our products are now focused post Covid, on what we feel is matched by demand and lender appetite.”
Hill says the current priorities are to nurture the existing team and build on it with selected new partners who are the right match.
In terms of products, the firm is specifically focused on
Asset Finance; Property Finance – Bridge Loans & Development Finance; MCA -Merchant Cash Advance; Business Loans and International Trade Finance.
Posfin only started in Aug 2019, and received FCA permissions in March 2020 pre-lock down. So it’s still pretty fresh out of the box.
Growth in that first year has been steady, with a turnover of more than £250k and it is on track for pushing through the £1m mark in the second year. Not bad considering the current difficult background.
“We will target £10m in year three and won’t stop until we achieve it,” says Hill.
Building a network of the right partners will be key to hitting that milestone.
“Most important is to build that team of like-minded partners who share the same aspirations towards growth and success, who are highly driven and prepared to prospect with genuine support all the way,” he says.
Government support has been a lifeline for a lot of businesses during the pandemic (unless you want to talk to the theatre owners or musicians) but Hill predicts it will once again turn towards private finance initiatives as normality returns. The firm has adapted its offering in line with the developing situation.
“We have worked hard to adapt to products that work post pandemic which has led us into some unforeseen opportunities that may not have been a focus pre-Covid.
“There has been a large focus on Government backed business loans and whilst this has been a terrific initiative from Government, we have at times struggled to fund businesses in need.
“We are confident, however, that as normality returns, businesses are able to demonstrate affordability around loan repayments.
Other products are now excelling.”
Hill is clearly a strong believer in the franchising model and the “systemized turn-key approach” that franchising enables.
Ultimately, however, he also believes success depends not on the package of support (and he assures us Posfin’s is excellent) but the individual business owner.
“There are no short cuts around hard work to achieve success, but we can certainly help accelerate one’s journey to achieve their aspirations.”
And you can take that to the bank.
This article is brought to you courtesy of Posfin Capital, a partnership centric, collaborative focused organisation who specialise in carefully selected financial products that can help businesses achieve their goals.
