There are two fundamental decisions First Class Capital National Franchise Recruitment Manager, Greg Prussia, sees when people are looking at a franchise business

First decision. Is it going to be affordable for me to get into? Second decision. What is the return for me? 

Prospective franchisees ask, “What is it going to cost me and what is it going to do for me?” Helping people understand what they have to do and what outlays are in it for them is a key part of Mr. Prussia’s role. 

With First Class Capital having “no rent to pay, no lease to bind yourself into, no staff to pay, it becomes a very cost effective business model to get into,” Prussia explains. 

Where traditional franchise models have a shopfront that may go through quiet seasons, Prussia says, “Ours is not seasonal whatsoever. If you decide to take a backseat, you don’t have those recurring costs.” 

As an independent, Australian-owned financial services company, First Class Capital is focused on delivering working capital solutions to small- to medium-sized businesses. 

Being independent and not backed by major finance companies, Prussia advises, “We have the flexibility to move with what the market requires.” Prussia looks for franchise networks or SMEs needing cash-flow funding solutions. “Every small business has cashflow issues at some stage,” says Prussia. 

First Class Capital specialises in five core products to answer cash-flow issues. 

“We don’t have an ideal SME business that suits our products. Everyone will use one or a multitude of products.” Prussia explains, “As a small business owner, do you have trouble paying for invoices at times? Well, First Class Capital will pay that invoice for you, giving you 6 months to pay it back in equal monthly instalments.” 

With summer upon us, this enables business owners to go ahead and buy lots of stock, give the invoice to First Class Capital and get summer and autumn to pay it off. Other solutions are 6-month trading terms for businesses needing more flexibility than 30-day trading terms and business overdrafts to help cash flow when using EFTPOS facilities. 

Prussia says the innovation lies in being completely automated. “There is no paperwork to sign, you just complete it online and it is done for you.” Prussia says having a seamless process, with instantaneous approval mechanisms, helps alleviate having customers waiting on the other end of the phone.