Estimate what a business loan would really cost — monthly repayment, total interest and total amount repaid. Then see the actual rates you qualify for.
Rates on the market vary hugely between lenders — the same business can be quoted rates several points apart. The only way to know your real number is to check your actual options.
Calculated on a standard repayment basis (capital + interest each month, like a repayment mortgage). Interest-only and revolving products work differently.
A shorter term raises the monthly payment but cuts the total interest dramatically. Try 36 vs 60 months and compare the total repaid.
Arrangement fees, early repayment terms and personal guarantees all change the real cost. Free, impartial guidance helps you compare like with like.
This is a repayment calculator, not a quote. It spreads a flat monthly repayment across the term at the rate you type in, which is how most term loans behave — but it is arithmetic rather than an offer, and a real facility will carry costs this does not know about.
Use it for the comparison that actually matters: change the term and watch what happens. A longer term lowers the monthly payment and raises the total repayable, every time, without exception. That is the single most useful thing to understand before you talk to anyone, because the monthly figure is the number this market advertises and the total is the number you pay.
Arrangement and drawdown fees, and on some deals a broker fee — sometimes deducted from the advance, so you receive less than you borrowed while repaying the full amount. Early-repayment charges, which decide whether refinancing later is worth doing at all. And on secured lending, valuation and legal costs, which are yours whether or not the deal completes.
Two questions expose more than any rate comparison: what is the total amount repayable, in pounds, over the full term — and what happens if I clear it early?
If you are sizing something up, run a range rather than a single figure. Try a rate you would be pleased with, then one you would grudgingly accept, and see whether the repayment still works at the top end. A facility that only works at the best possible rate is a facility that does not really work.
What you are actually offered depends on whether the lending is secured, how long you have traded, your turnover and its direction, your credit position, and which lender you end up with. The same business on the same figures gets materially different answers from different funders, which is the whole argument for comparing rather than taking the first one.
A repayment that works on paper still has to survive a bad quarter. Take the monthly figure this produces and set it against your worst month in the last two years, not your average one. If it only clears in a good month, the term is too short or the amount is too high — and that is a far cheaper thing to discover here than eighteen months into an agreement.
It takes a few minutes to see what your business is eligible for. Free, impartial, no pressure.
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