ebroker.com.au, the fintech matching platform that works with over 70 non-bank lenders, has released a series of statistics revealing insights into Australian small business lending habits.
The insights are taken from a sample of just over 10,000 unique businesses using ebroker.com.au over the last 12 months, through to the end of June 2019.
Urgent loans within first 5 years of trading
The research shows that businesses looking for finance have typically been trading for over three and a half years (on average). Most of the time, they are looking for funds within 3 weeks. 40% of businesses need finance within just 3 days.
Homeowners versus non-homeowners
- 60% of inquiries come from people who are non-homeowners
- 49% of non-homeowners were looking for funds within 72 hours compared to only 30% of homeowners
Within the category of ‘businesses with a turnover of under $2.5million’, non-homeowners’ turnover is 55% less than their homeowning counterparts.
Industries
The top 3 industries requesting finance between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019 were:
- construction, building and trades
- hospitality (restaurants and cafes)
- transport and automotive
Overall, inquiry rates for loans in Q4 of 2019 increased by 26 per cent.
ebroker.com.au COO, Heath Fitzpatrick said, “One of the key benefits of our technological innovation is the insight it gives us into our data. We’re able to see very clearly which industries are requesting finance, how much they’re requesting, what they’re requesting it for and how fast they need it. Our enquiry rate for Q4 increased by 26%, which clearly underlines the demand from Australian small businesses.
“The average length of time a business that is looking for finance have been trading is over three and a half years. They are typically needing funds within 3 weeks.
“Interestingly, 60% of business owners looking for unsecured finance were not homeowners. Of those, 49% were looking for funding within 72 hours, compared to just 30% that were property owners.
“Non-property owners appear to be at a distinct disadvantage in small business with their turnover 55% less than their home-owning counterparts. It would appear the lack of access to capital at each point of the small business lifecycle is thwarting their growth and it could be said, growth of our economy.”
When it comes to industry type, looking at the ebroker statistics for the entire year, the construction industry and building and trade were the sectors making most inquiries to access finance. “In Q1, construction industries, including building and trades, held the highest inquiry statistic for each and every month,” continues Heath. “In the following Q2, Q3 and Q4, the construction industry repeatedly featured heavily in loan requests.”
ebroker is a matching platform that works with all leading fintech lending brands and now hosts more than 70 non-bank lenders. It is designed to aggregate non-bank, small to medium business lenders into a simple platform that replaces the difficult task of searching for the right business loan to fit each business’ specific lending requirements.
