Finfind

ABOUT US

FINFIND IS SOUTH AFRICA'S LEADING ONLINE ACCESS TO FINANCE SOLUTION

Access to finance is the number one challenge experienced by SMEs - Finfind has been specifically developed to address this problem. Finfind is an innovative, online access to finance solution that brings together the providers and seekers of SME finance with a focus on finance readiness. Finfind aggregates all the public and private sector SME finance offerings into one simple platform and provides an automated matchmaking facility between the lender and the seeker. Finfind has over 200 lenders and over 350 loan products available to SMEs and each lender's listing and their loan product information is kept up to date on a daily basis.

WHAT DOES FINFIND DO?

Finfind's primary objective is to link SMEs who are seeking finance with appropriate lenders. To do this the SME simply enters their company information and loan requirements into an easy step-by-step form. Finfind uses this information to link the SME with all the matching loan offerings. The Finfind lender database includes many different types of SME finance, including:

• Startup Finance
• Expansion Finance
• Equity Finance
• Cash Flow Bridging Finance
• Debt Finance
• Contract Finance
• Asset Finance
• Franchise Finance
• Invoice Discounting
• Supplier Finance
• Import and Export Finance
• Finance to Buy Out a Partner
• Property Finance
• Finance to Buy a Business
• Emergency Finance
• Government Grants

WHAT ELSE DOES FINFIND DO?

Besides linking SMEs with lenders for funding, Finfind also provides helpful finance education information, deals with frequently asked questions and addresses common challenges experienced by SMEs seeking finance - this is found in the LEARN ABOUT FINANCE section. It also offers assistance to help ready you to access finance by linking you with accountants and business advisers who are equipped to help you generate business plans, budgets, forecasts, financial statements and any other documents that lenders need to provide finance - this is found in the GET ASSISTANCE section.

WHAT DOES FINFIND NOT DO?

Finfind does not lend money to SMEs directly; it's purpose is to provide an easy, one-stop shop for SMEs to find and link with all the available SME lenders and loan offerings in the market.

FINFIND'S HISTORY

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) undertook an comprehensive five year research and development project in South Africa to identify the challenges faced by SMEs wanting to access finance. The findings revealed that the main reasons SMEs struggle to access finance are:

• A lack of finance literacy - not understanding finance terminology.
• A lack of knowledge about who the lenders are, how to access them and what lenders require from them.
• A lack of knowledge about the different types of loan products and which one/s are appropriate for their lending needs.
• Most importantly, a lack of finance readiness.

The challenge lenders face is receiving large volumes of loan enquiries and applications that don't meet their loan product criteria or are not ready to be processed. Lenders are looking for a pipeline of quality SME loan leads that are finance ready and that match their lending criteria.

Finfind is the innovative solution that was developed to address both the SME and the lenders challenges.

At the conclusion of its research programme, USAID transferred ownership of the project to a local fintech business, called TDH, via a competitive bid. TDH subsequently registered Finfind (Pty) Ltd in February 2015 and raised venture capital to build a great team, develop a world-class product and to launch and market Finfind, starting in South Africa.

The Department of Small Business Development identified Finfind as a vital solution to address the challenges experienced by providers and seekers of SME finance in South Africa.

Finfind was launched in South Africa by the Minister of Small Business Development in October 2015.

SERVICES

Are you a Entrepreneur needing finance?

Finfind links you with the all the lenders across the country that match your specific finance needs - over 300 funds

We don't only link you with lenders to get finance, we also have a LEARN ABOUT FINANCE section and GET ASSISTANCE section to help you get your business ready to access finance.

Do You Need a Business Adviser?

• To help with your BUSINESS PLAN
• To provide FUNDING ADVICE
• To build your BUSINESS and FINANCIAL MODEL
• To assist with BUSINESS STRUCTURING
• Provide assistance with your LOAN APPLICATION

Do You Need an Accountant?

• To generate your Annual Financial Statements
• To provide up to date Monthly Management Accounts
• To build your Budget and Forecast
• To prepare your Personal Statement of Assets and Liabilities
• To generate your Tax Certificate and ensure Compliance

Finfind provides its services free of charge to businesses seeking finance. Our primary purpose is to link SMEs with all the relevant finance providers and finance products that match their funding needs. As a matching service we are not required to be a registered finance provider as we do not loan money directly.

Understanding Start-up finance

Start-up funding can be very tricky. After all you are asking the lender to give you money based on a business idea. There are no proven facts to back up your assumptions that the business will generate money, so it is considered highly risky. Formal lenders do not like risk!

What are your options?

As a start-up business you do have options available to you but each comes with its own terms and conditions. So our aim is to explain these for each of the options listed below:

• Formal Lenders
• Angel Investors
• Family and Friends
• Bootstrapping
• Personal or Business Overdrafts
• Personal or Business Credit Cards
• Home Mortgage
• Government Lending Agencies

Franchise mania

In South Africa, a franchise is considered a separate, specialised field of business and is therefore not put into the same category as buying an existing business. This is because franchises have a proven product and they also offer a lot of support to the new business owner and so they are less risky for a lender.

To read more about buying an existing business, check out Do you need finance to buy an existing business?