On the 3rd of December 2003, Mike Locke of Barclays Bank presented to the Business 4 Breakfast grouping a two part sketch entitled "HAVE A DRINK ON BARCLAYS". You can read the entire acts by downloading part I and part II.

Essentially if you are an entrepreneur looking to finance your business venture then you need to make certain preparations. The bank you approach will assess you on a number of criteria. These are best remembered using a simple acronym and that is CAMPARI. The following is extracted word for word from Mike's mini play.

C is for Character.
Like, are you trustworthy? Have you repaid previous borrowings on time? Is there anything detrimental that the bank knows about you?

A is for Ability.
Such as your business acumen, how or if you monitor your business’s performance? Who will run your stall if you are ill? Any relevant qualifications you have…

M is for Margin.
How much you are going to be charged. Generally the higher the risk the higher the fee. The bank will look at the income that it makes, or doesn’t make, out of your account and set it’s price accordingly. You can’t expect the good customers to have to pay the same price as the poorer ones.

A is for Amount.
Are you asking too much or even too little? Are you putting any money up yourself? Generally, why should the bank be asked to put any more into your business than you are prepared to put in yourself? It doesn’t have to be cash, the net asset you have in your business would count. This is called your stake.

R is for Repayment.
Did you have any trading records of your ability to repay with you? Such as accounts, like you give the taxman - no, like you should give the taxman. Silly question I know, but this will evidence your strengths and weaknesses in areas such as profitability and liquidity. The bank will want to see a clear source of repayment and possibly a secondary source of repayment if the business fails.

I is for Insurance.
If you can’t repay the bank they want to look for some form of security for the borrowing.

©2003 Micke J Locke

I guess if you read the above, prepare your paperwork and put in a good show then you stand a much better chance of getting your Bank manager's approval.

The Editor.
editor@buck4sbiz.co.uk