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Two successful brokers have offered their best advice on how to flourish in the commercial lending space.
Speaking to The Adviser, some of the third-party channel’s best business brokers have provided some guidance on how to be successful when breaking into the commercial lending space, which has been increasingly gaining prevalence in the industry.
Regional broker Ian Robinson of Robinson Sewell Partners emphasised that, especially from a regional broker perspective, it is critical that brokers “incrementally” build up their knowledge and skill set as they move through the complexity of the commercial lending spectrum.
“Going in too deep too early may damage your reputation permanently as reputation and integrity within regional areas is the foundation of your business,” the award-winning regional broker explained. He was crowned Best Customer Service (individual) for NSW at the Better Business Awards 2016.
Brisbane-based broker Daniel Holden of HoldenCAPITAL, who runs a successful business specialising in construction finance for property developers, highlighted that it’s imperative for commercial brokers to be as accurate as possible when writing business loans.
“Commercial loans are generally larger dollar numbers and a small error gets magnified quickly; measure four times, cut once,” he said.
“The numbers at stake are substantially higher – the average commercial loan we do is somewhere around $7 or 8 million, so if you get it wrong you’ve got a lot more to be accountable for,” he elaborated. “It’s imperative that you’re on your A-game with good service and good product.”
Mr Holden also stressed that when it comes to either breaking into the commercial space or striving to excel in it, “the biggest key is deciding what not to work on”.
He explained that there are an abundance of business borrowers wanting solutions, but a “finite” number of lenders offering money in the commercial space.
“Managing your time on what will cost you money, if done successfully, will create good revenue and good work flow for you and your business,” Mr Holden said.
He added that having the support of a solid team to “bounce ideas off” is also a key element of thriving in the commercial space.
“They understand the challenge of the deals you may have is critical to getting both the client a good result and to ensure that you’re working on deals that have a realistic chance of getting funded,” he concluded.
HoldenCAPITAL was named Best Commercial Broker at the Better Business Awards in Queensland earlier this year.
Are you an award-winning broker with a story to tell? Is your business a cut above the rest? SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN for both individual and group categories across each state jurisdiction. Awards include:
- Best Aggregator BDM
- Best Commercial Broker
- Best Finance Broker
- Best Lender BDM
- Best Regional Broker
- Best Branded Office
- Best Independent Office
- Best Community Engagement Program
- Best Regional Office
Participation in the Better Business Awards is open to all brokers and brokerages, regardless of whether they are aligned with a brokerage, aggregator, lender or industry association.
The awards will be hosted as a dinner in each state, following the conclusion of the award-winning Better Business Summit, which delivers practical business tools, training and business intelligence to help brokers build a more productive and profitable business.
Enter yourself or nominate someone for a Better Business Award 2017.
[Related: ‘Huge opportunity’ for brokers to target SMEs]
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