The first part of a New Year is a perfect time to reflect on what has happened over the last 12 months, and to put some plans in place for the coming year. It’s also a good time for me to try and put straight a few common misconceptions that owners of professional audio kit might have about finance. In my experience, these tend to be based around what kit can and can’t be financed and who we as finance providers consider to be suitable clients.
Here are my top 3:
“I can’t get finance on second-hand kit”
WRONG!
Think of a finance agreement from our perspective. We lend money against an audio console and this asset remains “ours” until the end of the term. Worst case scenario is that the customer goes bust, and even though we get the very tangible, serial numbered equipment back and can sell it on Resurface, it may now not cover the amount outstanding. So the longer any piece of kit can hold its value the better. A brand new console which is unboxed and plugged in is no longer “brand new”, so is now worth perhaps 15% less than it was 5 minutes before.
A piece of “pre-loved” kit doesn’t have this initial immediate devaluation, so it may actually be easier to get an approval on a used piece of equipment than a brand new item.
There are other issues that we’d consider such as where had the kit been used and any service history, so if you’ve found the second hand console of your dreams on these pages, we should be able to help.
“I can’t get finance because I’m a freelancer/sole trader”
WRONG!
Specialist finance companies love freelancers. Think of it this way…The finance company owns the kit until the end of the agreement, so we need to know that it’s safe and being looked after. All the freelancers I know are totally in love with their kit, rely on it for their livelihood and treat it with more care and attention than some members of their own family!
“It’s difficult and time-consuming getting finance in place”
WRONG! (most of the time).
It is true that we generally need to see your year-end accounts and some bank statements to decide if you’re good for the finance. However, we at Azule have invested in an on-line portal which, for UK customers, can give an auto-accept on deals up to £25K, and it only takes 5 minutes. This portal has proved really popular, and we generally wake up each day to a couple of new deals. It’s been particularly popular with freelancers who don’t have time during a busy working day to discuss finance.
Check out the portal here: https://www.azule.co.uk/apply-for-finance/
Of course if you’re looking to borrow a large amount and you are new to us then as you’d expect, we will need to do some checks on you, but most of our deals are approved within a day or so of having the requested information from you.
If you’re a new business then we’ll also need to know your back story and a half-decent business plan, but we do fund many start-ups and MBO’s too.
It all comes down to risk, so anything that can be done to reduce the risk such as putting down a deposit, or taking the deal over a shorter term all helps to get a deal agreed. And of course if you do either/both of these things it becomes cheaper for you as you pay less interest.
I hope this helps to answer some of the most common questions I’m asked. You can reach me any time in confidence to discuss individual requirements on duncan.payne@azule.co.uk.
Good luck for 2017. It looks like an interesting year ahead.
About the Author:
Duncan started his broadcast career with equipment reseller Mitcorp back in 2000. Since then he has managed a kit sales team, managed a kit rental team for a large projects business and has spent 7 years helping clients finance their equipment. Employers include Fineline Media Finance, Charter Broadcast and WTS Broadcast. So he knows more about kit than most finance people, and more about finance than most kit people. Duncan splits his time between his Central London office and Azule’s Datchet HQ.
