How to fund your business in South Africa

So you need a business loan? If you’re battling to find the right one, you are not alone.

In South Africa, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can choose from hundreds of funders offering a mind-numbing array of options.

You might think all that choice makes getting a business loan easy.

But in truth, SMEs are struggling to access finance – and a big part of the problem is getting the right information.

In this recording, Moneyweb’s Ciaran Ryan chats to Tom Stuart of Lulalend and Simon Purdon from the FundingHub unpack the most common questions around applying for business funding as well as the key assessment criteria funders look at.

---

More on the guests

Tom Stuart, chief marketing officer at Lulalend

Stuart is an experienced marketing leader with a passion for all things digital. He started his career at British Airways in London, working to digitally transform what was then an analogue airline.

He then moved into the world of e-commerce, helping eBay expand into new territories before moving to South Africa to lead the e-commerce function at homewares retailer HomeChoice.

Two years ago, inspired by the opportunity to level the playing field for the nation’s SMEs by using technology to help them access vital business funding, Stuart joined Lulalend as chief marketing officer.

Simon Purdon, CEO of FundingHub

Purdon is a qualified mechanical engineer. After a few months of freelance software development work, he joined the Finch Technologies team as a business developer.

When Finch Technologies took over operational control of the FundingHub in mid-2019, he moved onto the project and has been heading up the small dynamic team alongside Finch co-founders Mike Bowren and Chris Ball since then.

You can sign up for the Ecommerce.co.za newsletter here.

Brought to you by Ecommerce.co.za.