Your Business – May 01, 2018

"Take advantage of the current optimism
and positive sentiment in South Africa,"
says Dov Girnun, Founder and CEO of
Merchant Capital, when asked for advice
for entrepreneurs looking to set up a
retail outlet in 2018. "Ensure that you
have sufficiently researched your target
market, competition, margins, regulation
etc and develop a product offering that
is unique, and also scalable." Of course,
every business owner, both aspiring and
current, knows that any future business
growth requires upfront investment, and
that is the gap that Merchant Capital
seeks to fill with its business funding
product. They're there to help when
business owners of retail outlets get
presented with certain opportunities that
typically require disposable cash. "Some
examples would be a supplier offering a
discount on goods for a limited period of
time or another location or franchising
opportunity becoming available at a good
price. Conversely, as in life, unforeseen
emergencies occur such as fire or flood
in the retail store, a key staff member
becoming sick or a new competitor
setting up shop down the road. As with
the opportunities, these emergencies
can only be dealt with by having cash on
hand," says Girnun.

Furthermore, most retail businesses
typically encounter some form of
seasonality in their business cycle,
whether it's a business that is busy in
summer and quiet in winter, operating
out of a shopping centre undergoing a
renovation, a franchisee having to do
a refurbishment as part of its franchise
agreement and so on, explains Girnun.
"This seasonality has a significant effect
on the business turnover resulting in
volatile cash flow. The problem comes in
during the months when their turnover
is down and the business still has the

A boost for your business

when you need it most

Merchant Capital helps entrepreneurs achieve

smooth cash flow cycles, in good times and bad...

same fixed expenses

that they need to pay;

rent, staff salaries,

loan repayments and

insurance premiums etc."

An easier way to pay

The Merchant Capital

offering is specifically

designed to make the

application process as

quick and simple as

possible (approval and

funding in 2 working days)

but more importantly, the

unique Pay as You Trade

collection mechanism,

collects directly in line

with future turnover. So,

when turnover is slow, the

repayments to Merchant

capital reduce and when

business picks up, the

repayments increase.

Merchant capital does not charge an

interest rate but rather agrees a fixed

cost to access the funds which is agreed

upfront and remains fixed over the

period. Consequently, there is no fixed

repayment term and the upfront fixed

fee remains the same irrespective of the

term. "The price of the Merchant Capital

product is comparable to unsecured

loans offered by the larger financial

institutions," says Girnun.

While the company has been intensely

focused on getting this alternative

funding solution into the hands of the

people who need it most, this year they

are also looking at adjacent products

where the repayments are in line with

turnover, in order to smooth the cash

flow issues faced by the majority of

business owners. "One such product is a

small business insurance product where

Merchant Capital has partnered up with

Hollard and First Equity to offer a product

called Hollard Merchant Insurance

("HMI"). Similar to the fluctuating cash

advance repayments, the HMI product

facilitates premium repayments in line

with how the business trades. Watch

this space for more!" ends Girnun.

Call 0861 6227 4825, email:

[email protected] or visit:

http://www.merchantcapital.co.za

Take advantage

of the current

optimism and positive

sentiment in South

Africa.

Dov Girnun,

Founder and CEO,

Merchant Capital

FOCUS ON FUNDING