As reported in the Australian Financial Review, Australia and New Zealand have seen some incredible results in ‘flattening the curve’ and putting in place policies and initiatives to preserve the nation’s economic fabric without throwing millions of workers into permanent unemployment. Our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison’s various initiatives, from an individual level with Job Keeper, Job Seeker, Superannuation (Retirement Fund) draw downs, to business support initiatives like Cash Flow Support, Loan Repayment Relief packages and Commercial Lease Waivers mean that we’re in a pretty good position here in Australia.

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The combination of these initiatives contributes to our increased confidence in the future of Australian small businesses, it’s been incredible to see how some of our customers have pivoted their existing operations to better position themselves in the current climate. We’ve seen micro-distilleries go from producing Gin to producing hand sanitiser, a Men’s Suit company diversify from their normal tailored lapels to creating highly sought after face masks along with, a once relatively slow Italian Restaurant pivot to Sous Vide’ lamb shoulders and pastas to cook at home which has seen transaction levels peak.

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Like any other lending business, in light of Coronavirus, we have updated our Credit and Risk Management policies to ensure we can still loan while mitigating our exposure. The procedures are continually changing due in response to ever-changing conditions. Changes include Restricted and Semi Restricted industries. E.g. ‘Pre-Corona’ we were lending to Retail & Hospitality industries without a qualm, ‘Peak Corona’ we were extremely diligent about lending to them, and now we are again very open to lending to these industries assuming sustained revenue figures.

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In the Australian lending space, we’ve seen competitors take a blanket rule approach to industries, we instead, are taking a 1:1 approach. We’re looking at every submission request individually, and, assuming the business has sustained revenue, we’re open to lending to industries such as Retail, Hospitality and Agriculture (Planting & Harvesting).

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“Bizcap is open for business, we’re here to support Australian small businesses with the loans they need to grow in this environment,” says Zalman Blachman, Bizcap Co-Founder, “and welcome businesses that are having hardship obtaining funding through other sources.”

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We are committed to continuing to be ‘Australia’s most open-minded lender’ and encourage discussions around how we can help you or your clients with a Business Loan.