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To be a successful importer you need three things – good suppliers, solid customers and the right financing. As a matter of fact, having the right financing can make or break your company.
Importers always play a delicate balance with their financing. The idea is to have as much financing as possible that is active (in use), backing up active purchase orders from clients. However, this delicate balance of living on the edge with financing has its drawbacks. What happens when you get an order that exceeds or exhausts your bank financing? Unless you have a great track record, it is unlikely that the bank will extend you further financing.
Your best option is to use purchase order financing.
Purchase order financing can cover up to 100% of the necessary financing to deliver on a purchase order from a large client. The financing company handles the process of getting a letter of credit (or similar method of payment) and paying your supplier. This enables your supplier to deliver the product and allows you to book the sale.
Purchase order financing also allows you to increase your purchasing capabilities dramatically, enabling you to book orders that in the past may have been too big for your company. With it, you can take your company to the next level.
As a financing tool, purchase order funding is easy to use. The process of establishing an initial account with a financing company can take a week or two. All qualified orders after the account is established can be financed in days. And, qualifying for purchase order financing is much easier than qualifying for a bank loan or line of credit. The main requirement is a purchase order from a solid commercial customer.
Purchase order financing is commonly used in conjunction with factoring (invoice factoring). Generally speaking, factoring is cheaper that purchase order financing. So, by combining both financing tools, you can lower the total cost of financing.