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Key Details
The business
Trading for: 7 years
Sector: Hair & beauty salon and ecommerce shop
Location: Hackney, London
Reason for funding
Business expansion
Solution
- Unsecured business loan
- Fixed repayments
- £15,000 over 12 months
Results
- Moving to larger premises and taking on double the amount of stylists
Being in a position to expand your small business is something that all SME owners aspire towards. But timing a premises move or expansion perfectly can be challenging, especially if you have to coordinate it with a business loan application.
This is the position that Olivia Crighton, founder of Hackney-based Glasshouse Salon, found herself in. After having recognised a gap in the market for organic hair products several years ago, Olivia founded Glasshouse Salon to cater to those looking for safer and more natural hair and beauty services.
After a few years of working as a sole trader, Olivia realised that the business was growing faster than she could manage on her own, and so incorporated Glasshouse Salon and brought in a team of stylists. Not long after, further expansion was on the horizon, with the business setting up its online shop. This meant that the beauty products sold in store, such as Glasshouse's own hair and body wash, were available to customers all over the world.
Unsurprisingly, both the online shop and salon have gone from strength to strength, resulting in Olivia being in the position to move the salon to bigger premises and take on more staff.
One of the many products you can find online at Glasshouse Shop.
Securing the funds for a bigger space
Olivia was originally approved for a loan with a top tier lender to facilitate moving her salon into a bigger space. However, when she went to retrieve the funds they were no longer available. Nothing in her credit had changed, and the lender wasn’t willing to explain the change of heart.
Unfortunately, the changing nature of the lending market can mean that a bank business loan available one day is gone the next, often without any follow up or explanation. This can be down to a number of factors which are often out of the hands of the business in question, such as the overall risk of the industry changing.
To get her back on track, Olivia's broker introduced her Fleximize - an alternative finance provider aiming to provide small businesses with the flexibility and transparency that the top tier lenders are missing. Crucially, revenue-based lenders such as Fleximize ground their lending decisions on how the business in question is performing as opposed to the overall health of the industry. This means that each application is given the time of day it deserves, and decisions are made by real people as opposed to automated processes.
How Fleximize helped
Fleximize was the perfect fit for Glasshouse's needs, and the lender was able to provide Olivia with the £15,000 she needed to prepare for the salon's relocation. The funds provided by Fleximize mean that Olivia can at least double the number of stylists on the salon floor, whilst also enjoying a bigger retail area and staff room.
It feels like you’re being invested in on a personal level as well as on a monetary level.Olivia Crighton
Another draw for Olivia was Fleximize's personal approach to business lending. Her relationship manager Izzy was just a call away, ready to help with any paperwork or questions Olivia had about the application process. Likewise, the ability to make overpayments on her Fleximize business loan, and the fact that Fleximize also has no early repayment fees, means that Glasshouse can adapt the loan to how the business expands over time, giving it the breathing space it needs to grow organically.
At Fleximize, we love being able to help small businesses with their growth plans. If you run a small business and need funds to facilitate a move to bigger premises, to develop a new product range, or simply to improve your cash flow, drop us a call on 020 7100 0110, and our team will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Or, if you're ready to start your application process, click the button below.
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