What would your business do with a piece of Ksh. 10B?

This week Absa had an awesome event in conjunction with Shetrades. I loved the session. There were many lessons shared, opportunities discussed and above all, women were hungry to leverage these opportunity to scale their businesses.

The details articulated below, I drew them from the Safaricom WIB Mentorship session which was co-hosted by Absa. You can read all about here

A scoop!

ABSA would like to loan you money. They have over Ksh. 10B. to loan women. Elizabeth Wasuna, Director Business Banking, Karen Kiambi Head of Enterprise and Supply Chain Development, Carol Mbuvi, the head of SME Credit took us through the Financing options Absa offers women in business, compliance documents banks need to give you financing, and much more. Officially being your company's sponsor, literally. They have different packages that they offer and not only loans, this list is not exhaustive. Different projects require different types of financing. Please make sure you talk to the customer representatives/relationship managers before you apply.

Here are some of the financing propositions I captured;

1. Flexible security unto Ksh. 10M on unsecured loan
2. Flexible loan repayment terms unto 6years.
3. Leverage on trading partners to offer unto Ksh. 50M on unsecured basis to unlock funds held in expected receivables
4. Unsecured lending of up to Ksh. 12M to service LPOs, of corporates clients where the disbursements are paid directly to suppliers and receivables are payable to customer account with BBK
5. No requirement for audited accounts to assess financing limits up to Ksh. 30M. Use of account statements supplemented by Mpesa statements
6. Finance unto 80% of the project cost
7. Foreign Currency lending
8. Working Capital products- Letters of credit, short term loans, grantees, bid bonds
9. Business managers- Equity release
10. Term loans
11. Asset based financing for vehicles and machinery
12. Insuarance premium finance
13. Absa - Credit cards- Company and personal.

What kind of documents would you need to prepare?

• Registration: Memorandum and articles of association and Registration certificate (Find out the specific CR documents they need if you registered via E-Citizen for your type of firm)
• Compliance; Latest Annual returns along with filing receipt. Business permits and licenses. Industry specific licenses.
• Financial information; Account statements and audited accounts applicable for facilities above Ksh. 30M. Ageing structure of outstanding account receivables and accounts payables. Business plans and cash flow projections. Credit history (CRB Report)
• Financial institutions; Copy of facility letters with other banks. Copy of 12 months bank/Mpesa statements.

How should the business plan look like?

Business plans are usually 1-2pages. Should be short and succulent. Less stories and more details. Your business plan should include the following pointers;

Where are you now?

• Outline of your business
• What goals do you intend on achieving? What opportunity have you sighted?
• How do you exploit/harness the opportunity. strategy
• What partners do you need to journey with you?
• Your customers
• Customers impact?
• Resources required-funding/equipment/staff

Where do you need to be?

• Future business objectives
• Outline of your request
• Outline of why you need financing

How to get there?

• Marketing plan
• Additional resources required
• Your contribution
• Financial information- projected profit and loss account and cashflow forecast

Supporting documents

Appendices, refer to the documents you need above.

What should you avoid?

• Governance breaches
• Failure to disclose crucial information
• Underselling or overselling your company performance
• Failure to keep records
• Over commitment- Seek appropriate level of funding
• Borrowing for non income generating activities
• Over diversification- spreading yourself too thin

Of course, don't take my word for it, go to your nearest ABSA branch and get more details.

Have you ever heard of Botlab? If not, here is your snapshot. Botlab enables different audiences leverage technology through capacity building to enable you grow your career, business and minimise risk. We offer leadership trainings in Data science and cyber security. In addition, we offer SME tech master classes, every month intertwining Technology and another business aspect, we've covered, cyber security, digital marketing, data protection. Next? HR. Dont miss the next one. We have awesome reviews. We are an credited Huawei Training partner. come to our session, or invite us to conduct one in house, whichever works. We promise value, knowledge and impact. Follow us on Twitter, instagram, facebook or LinkedIn and lets explore endless opportunities together. #botlab #Absa #Shetrades