Financing needs in a company's life cycle

The different phases of a companys life cycle entail different financing needs, which crowdfactoring can help to address

When a baby is born, it needs to be fed to survive. Whether it's breast milk or a bottle, when he is young, his parents invest time and money in his education to provide him with the best of futures. When he becomes independent, he must pay a mortgage to buy an apartment. Money is not the most important thing in life, but it plays an essential role in people's lives. And even more so in the life of a business. Throughout the life cycle of a company, it needs to obtain financing to manage each vital phase in the best possible way.

Starting a company involves tremendous talent and ingenuity, but it also requires an investment. Betting on the company to see the light of day. To grow, take off and consolidate, all businesses need liquidity, whether to meet expenses, cope with unexpected incidents or invest and deploy a successful business strategy.

The possibility of obtaining financing also allows companies to adapt to changes, transform their business model and maintain their competitiveness and market position.

Below, we will analyze the various stages of a company's life cycle, the financing needs that businesses have in each of them and what role alternative financing platforms can play in meeting these needs.

Getting started

It is popularly said that "to make money, you need money." Therefore, setting up a business involves making an initial financial outlay. This outlay can sometimes be large, especially if expensive machinery and technology must be acquired. In other cases, on the other hand, it is optional to have a considerable amount of money.

Every company is different. But what is clear is that entrepreneurs need access to financing when designing and launching a business project.

In addition to resorting to traditional banking entities, they can bet on alternative financing modalities such as crowdlending or crowdequity. And, once the business is up and running and already has customers, they can also resort to crowdfactoring to finance their invoices.

For a company to be successful, it is key that its beginnings are solidly grounded. In addition, having liquidity at this stage of a company's life cycle is key to making investments and meeting expenses, bearing in mind that not all companies are profitable from the first second.

Growth

If a company succeeds after its launch and manages to establish itself in the market, it should enter the growth phase of its life cycle.

This is undoubtedly a good indication of the success of a business. However, the growth phase, in addition to multiple opportunities, also carries several risks.

Growth often requires a large number of financial resources. Making investments, expanding into other markets, integrating other companies, adjusting prices to compete in extremely competitive markets… all require companies to have liquidity.

It is, therefore, essential that companies choose to diversify their sources of financing. They must have a variety of channels available to them to obtain the liquidity they need at any given time. Otherwise, growth can lead to financial problems, unbalancing accounts and transforming opportunities into dangers.

Even the most successful and profitable companies need financing channels. Therefore, financial planning is an inconspicuous but crucial aspect of business success.

Maturity

A company's life cycle phase can be characterized by one verb: to consolidate. Companies that reach maturity have consolidated their business model, built customer loyalty, built strong relationships with their suppliers and secured their position in the market.

As is obvious, at this stage of a company's life cycle, it is not necessary to successfully manage high levels of growth. Instead, companies can focus on optimizing how they operate, improving their business strategy and, above all, adapting to changes in the market. So what is the best way to do this? By anticipating them.

A mature company has the human resources and knowledge to analyze its business model and implement improvements that result in cost savings and increased revenues.

Even in the mature phase of a company's life cycle, businesses need to obtain liquidity and funding to continue to succeed.

Crowdfactoring can be a key ally at this stage in complementing traditional bank financing. Companies can finance their customers' invoices when needed and get an early start on their collection. This is undoubtedly helped by the reputation they have built up in the market.

Innovation to avoid decline

When talking about a company's life cycle, one cannot avoid referring to the stage in that no company wants to go through a decline. The business model begins to show its weaknesses, revenues fall, competition occupies the space the company used to occupy in the market, and losses occur.

The decline phase of a company's life cycle sometimes ends in a closure, and, on many other occasions, the company is acquired by more competitive companies. During this phase, the financial needs of companies increase since profit margins are reduced, resulting in increased indebtedness.

Nothing lasts forever, but it is possible to fight against decline. To do so, companies must be able to reinvent themselves and adapt their products, services and operations to the world's transformations.

To undertake this renewal, focusing on innovation and research is essential. This requires human talent, investment, and, therefore, liquidity.

Therefore, companies in this phase of a company's life cycle renewal need access to financing channels that meet their liquidity needs.

Crowdfactoring or invoice financing can be an interesting alternative to complement bank credit lines and other forms of alternative financing.

You know, renew or die.

Crowdfactoring helps businesses throughout the companys life cycle

Each stage of a company's life cycle has its particularities. The opportunities, challenges, needs and objectives differ from one to another. But they all have one thing in common: the need for financial resources to succeed.

People far removed from the business world think that financing is only necessary for a company's early and late stages. They do not need to obtain liquidity during their growth and maturity because they are profitable. But this does not correspond to reality. Successful companies also need to have avenues of financing. Cash flow fluctuates, and business opportunities often appear suddenly. And as we said at the beginning, you need money to make money.

That is why all companies carry out thorough and rigorous financial planning.

Until just a few years ago, companies depended exclusively on financing and credit lines from banks. However, the rise of alternative financing has transformed the landscape. They now have access to alternative and complementary financing channels to banks.

Inversa Invoice Market is one of these channels. A marketplace where companies can finance their issued and uncollected invoices, thus advancing the collection and obtaining liquidity to make investments, meet expenses and make strategic decisions.

As soon as a business project has customers, it can opt for crowdfactoring as a source of financing. An alternative financing method that is easy to use allows for obtaining liquidity in the short term and helps companies grow, consolidate and renew themselves.

A company's life cycle is a challenging but, above all, deeply satisfying adventure. Having financing is the key to success.