How businesses can survive the Christmas 'blackout period'

Is the period around Christmas the most dangerous time of year in the cash flow cycle of SMEs?

Leigh Dunsford, co-founder of Waddle, says even if a business has had "a great trading period leading up to Christmas, and a healthy stack of money owed to you, you likely won't see this money until closer to February next year".

Co-founded in 2014 by three high-school mates, Dunsford, Simon Creighton and Nathan Andrews, Waddle's cloud funding software technology integrates with cloud-accounting software providers and enables borrowers to close cash-flow gaps by automatically tapping into funds locked up in receivables.

"Cash-flow cycles can make or break businesses of all shapes and sizes," says Dunsford. Waddle has coined the term the Christmas "blackout period" for small businesses for this time of year because it relates to a similar process of halting trading or in this case invoice payments – not a halt in trading, rather an analogy for the payments slowdown, he says.

"You don't know what you don't know until you've been in business long enough to experience extended periods of stress, ranging from sudden drops in sales, non-payments, unexpected bills, production halts and the list goes on."

Waddle recently passed $100 million in loan value. It has already achieved 70 per cent of last year's total loan volume in just four months this year – a 175 per cent increase in lending volume compared to the same time last year. Read more