A world class javelin thrower was once asked by a commentator why she was the best. She said it was simple: she had the best run up, strength in her arms, had perfected the technique in the throw and followed through. He asked her if it was that easy. She responded angrily to say that she had not said it was easy, but that it was simple. And that anecdote nicely demonstrates the difference.
I was approached this week to raise funding for a project which, on the face of it, looked complicated and unbankable. However getting closer to what the business wanted to achieve and investigating some options that could be explored (in connection with the property involved in the case) led to me see a way of structuring it which would be more acceptable to a bank. In fact the solution was relatively simple.
The challenge however is that when things are complicated and are presented to a bank there is a risk that the banker doesn’t ‘see it’ let alone ‘get it’, and is miles away from being enthusiastic about it. That isn’t because they are inept, but because they are busy, combined with the fact that they can only lend for the best deals – so if something is taking time to understand, it is going to cause them some challenges (as they will have to get someone else, the underwriter, to understand it and be enthusiastic also).
So whilst this case could be simple – it will still not be easy.
What will make the difference is compressing all the facts into a simple document that presents it simply – takes little time to read and understand and motivates the banker to work on the case. I’m part the way through that – will let you know how it goes….
Back to the javelin thrower annecdote: does your application for funding, inadverdently, look more like this?