Under R250,000, or under R50,000 a month.
Most South African business lenders are built for bigger tickets. Under about R250,000, or when the business turns over less than about R50,000 a month, the choice narrows and the pricing changes shape. This page says what is actually available, without pretending the panel is the answer when it isn’t.
Panel lenders that lend below R250,000
Read from the same directory the results page uses. The minimums are the lenders’ own; a blank means the lender has not published one.
| Lender | Product | From | Min turnover / month | Min trading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lula | Cash Flow Facility | R10 000 | R40 000 | 12 months |
| Merchant Capital | Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) | R30 000 | R50 000 | 8 months |
| Merchant Capital | WELL by Merchant Capital | R30 000 | R50 000 | 8 months |
| Pollen Finance | Unsecured Business Loan | R100 000 | R83 000 | 12 months |
| Geddes Capital | Invoice Factoring | R200 000 | R166 667 | 12 months |
A low minimum is not a low price. Small, short facilities from alternative lenders are usually the most expensive rand for rand, so the routes below are worth reading before applying to any of them.
The two routes the panel doesn’t cover
SEDFA
The Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency is the state development financier for small businesses. It lends directly and through partner intermediaries, and its pricing is set by policy rather than risk appetite, which is why it can go where commercial lenders will not. Applications take longer, ask for more paperwork, and are assessed on the plan as much as on the bank statements.
Frank does not list SEDFA and is not paid by it. Start at its own site and expect to deal with a regional office.
sedfa.org.zaA business overdraft
For a small, recurring gap, an overdraft on the account you already bank with is usually the cheapest money a small business can get, because it is priced off prime and you only pay for the days you are in it. Banks are slow to grant them and want to see the account behaving for a while first, which is why owners skip straight to an alternative lender.
Ask your business banker for the limit they would consider and the rate over prime, in writing, before you sign anything elsewhere. Compare it to the totals on the results page, not to the monthly rate.
What to have ready, whichever route
- Six months of business bank statements, with the account in the business's name.
- CIPC registration and the directors' IDs. Every lender on the panel needs both.
- A tax clearance or SARS compliance status pin. SEDFA and the banks will ask.
- The amount, what it buys, and how it gets repaid, in one paragraph. If that paragraph is hard to write, the application will be hard to approve.