Equipment Finance & Business Growth

A business equipment lease can add considerable value to a small to medium sized business. Whether it be for restaurant equipment, cars or trucks, salon and beauty equipment, excavation equipment or retail fitout, the ability to secure this form of finance can be of great importance when looking to expand.

Its often only when you come to needing finance that owners of small to medium sized businesses wish they had been more conscious of keeping accurate and up to date financial records. Many business owners are so immersed in the day to day running and operations of their businesses that the administration side of their operation suffers.

In our experience their are a number of industries where this tends to be more common. Those who operate in the excavation and hospitality industries are amongst the main culprits. Many of these businesses are 'one-man shows' and its extremely difficult for these people to find the time to keep their accounts in order. While the ability to maintain accurate records is of great importance in any business, its now possible for business owners to secure finance with little or no financial documentation. Our Express No Doc Business Solution product is aimed at the business person that wants to grow their business but for one reason or another just can't produce the necessary documentation to satisfy mainstream lenders. Whether it be an equipment lease, rental, or commercial hire purchase - we have an ability to assist.

The productivity of many businesses today is so dependent on having the latest equipment. Without the right equipment a business can go under very quickly as customers or contracts move to suppliers who can cater for their needs more quickly and efficiently. The right equipment can also have significant cost savings in a business as there is the potential for it to replace manual labour or produce larger outputs in a smaller time. The purchase of new photocopier was a recent example for one of our clients. They replaced a copier that was 10 years old with one of the new range of copiers. The copier increased output by 60% and reduced the manual involvement of employees in the office, freeing them up to work on more productive tasks.

Unsecured Business Loans - Finance Business Projects with Ease

A person aspiring for establishing a business may not be having enough at hand for supporting the project. Though he has the option of loan open but since he is starting a business, he may not think it fit to risk his property merely for a loan or may be he does not own a property. In such conditions unsecured business loans are useful for these types of borrowers. Usually unsecured business loans are preferred by those who are entering in a business field freshly. But the loans are taken for expending the existing business as well. Through unsecured business loans one can buy office space, furniture, equipments etc or the loan can be utilized for paying previous debts also.

Unsecured business loans are provided without taking any of the applicant's property as collateral. So the loan is completely risk free for the business persons. Unsecured business loans are thus provided solely on the basis of repayment capability and past record of the borrower. If the credit history of the borrower is good, the loan comes at easier terms and conditions. If the lender is convinced about its safe return, any amount from ₤5000 to ₤100000 can easily be availed. Because of the risks, lenders charge higher interest rate on unsecured business loans. However there is convenient repayment duration of 5 to 25 years attached to the loan. This means the business person has many years for establishing business and repaying the loan.

It is clear that unsecured business loans are costlier as higher interest rate is charged by the lenders. This means the loan should be availed only in the time of urgency. Also make sure that you have adequate surplus amount for regularly paying the loan installments. If you are unable to repay the loan then you are burdened by a higher interest rate debt which may jeopardize you financially.

It should be noted that unsecured business loans are offered mainly on your financial credentials. In terms of credit score, it can be said that you should be having a good credit score of 6oo to 620 for ensuring a unsecured business loan at good terms. But that does not mean that bad credit borrowers can not apply for unsecured business loans. Bad credit business persons too are eligible but they should convince the lender that the loan will be returned in time. Take a convincing repayment plan along with your income sources and bank statements and the loan will be in your pocket. The type of business you are investing the finance in also matters much while considering loan application of bad credit borrower.

For unsecured business loans seekers the cost is the most worrisome factor. Higher interest rate can scare some business persons. But instead of running away from the loan, make efforts for availing at comparatively easier terms. Compare different unsecured business loans providers on internet for individual interest rates. Settle for the lender of comparatively lower interest rate. Also see if the lender is interested in providing unsecured business loans to bad credit borrowers. Apply online to the lender for quick processing and timely approval of unsecured business loans.

Rosa Bonheur

French painter Rosa Bonheur (1822-99) was "the most internationally renowned woman painter of the mid-nineteenth century."1

Bonheur was one of the most talented and successful painters in the 19th century, she began showing her work in the Paris Salon in 1841 and quickly made a name for herself as a painter of animals with a focus on the domesticated animals of France.  In the 19th century a greater number of women were pursuing art as a career and studying in the École des Beaux-Arts.  Yet it wasn't usually possible for women to draw and paint from the nude model where students would learn anatomy as it was considered morally corrupt. Due to this, female painters of the time often turned to subjects other than figurative history paintings. Mary Cassatt famously painted mothers and children, Cecilia Beaux painted portraits, Berthe Morisot painted scenes of modern Parisian life and Rosa Bonheur focused on painting animals.

While the move away from history painting put limitations on paintings and commissions for women artists, Rosa Bonheur was so skilled at painting animals that she attracted attention at an early age.  By age 26 she received an important commission from the French government to paint her work Plowing in the Nivernais.  Bonheur traveled to the Nivernais region so that she could paint the landscape and oxen accurately.  

Ploughing in Nivernais, Rosa Bonheur, 1849, Musee D'Orsay

The work shows a typical French rural farming theme of the fields being tilled in the autumn.  While her work is part of the Realist movement of Millet, Breton and Courbet, in a sense this rural scene is rather romanticized.  There is a nobility given to both the animals and cowherds.  When she was painting this the influences of the industrial revolution were spreading throughout France and Europe, and this scene pays homage to traditional methods of labor.  

Rosa Bonheur "based the work on a description of oxen in George Sand's celebrated pastoral novel of 1846, La Mare au Diable (The Devil's Pod), on her long study of animals in nature, and on the paintings of Paulus Potter, a Dutch seventeenth-century painter of cows whose work she admired."2  Below is an example of Potter's work; The Bull, Paulus Potter, 1647, The Hague.

Bonheur's painting was widely acclaimed and after it was shown in the 1849 Salon she received numerous other commissions.  She went on to have many well known and influential patrons such as Britain's Queen Victoria and the American millionaire and philanthropist Cornelius Vanderbilt.

The Horse Fair, Rosa Bonheur, 1852-55, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Bonheur's most well known work may be her later painting, The Horse Fair, painted from 1852-55.  The painting is owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the museum website says of the painting The Horse Fair, "The artist drew inspiration from George Stubbs, Théodore Gericault, Eugène Delacroix, and ancient Greek sculpture: she referred to The Horse Fair as her own "Parthenon frieze."3

More than one version of The Horse Fair exists, after it was exhibited Bonheur painted another version and prior to the finished work she painted several smaller studies.  After exhibiting the work she traveled to England for a while where she enjoyed further success.  She was represented by gallery owner Ernest Gambart who had many of her popular paintings turned into lithographs and published.
 

Bonheur did much of her drawing and painting outdoors (rather than solely in her art studio) and preferred wearing pants to the elaborate dresses that were popular in the mid-19th century, at that time it was necessary to obtain a permit in order for a woman to wear pants in public.  Rosa Bonheur obtained one and was able to move about with ease painting her subjects in their natural setting while wearing pants to do so.  She was considered "radical in her personal life, but artistically and politically conservative, a confirmed monarchist and a realist."4

Rosa Bonheur, André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, 1861-64, Getty Museum

Rosa Bonheur enjoyed a successful lifelong career, and lived to be 77.  Her work was popular among all classes in society and during her career she became the first woman officer in the Legion of Honor.  It would be no exaggeration to say that most artists painting animals in the 20th century would have been influenced by Bonheur's work.



1 Rosenblum, Robert and H.W. Janson. 19th Century Art. NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1984. p. 223.
2 Chadwick, Whitney. Women, Art, and Society. NY: Thames and Hudson Inc. 1990. p. 180.
3 Metropolitan Museum of Art website- http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/435702
4 Chadwick. p. 180.