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Commercial Finance Launch Programme · Stage 1 of 10
Choose Your Model & Niche
Make the decisions that shape everything else: the finance you broker, how you charge, and who you serve.
How long
1–2 days
You’ll have
A product set, a lender-reach model, a charging model, and a niche
Steps
3 steps
Resources
2 resources
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01 Step 01
Step 01
Decide what you broker and how you reach lenders
"Commercial finance broker" spans six very different products reached very different ways, so defining your set and your route is the first decision.
Do it yourself
- List which of the six lines you will broker at launch: business loans, asset finance, invoice finance, commercial mortgages, bridging, development finance.
- Decide your lender-reach model: whole-of-market, a defined panel, or via an aggregator, packager or master broker who holds the panel for you.
- Note that deep lender access is usually earned through a network or trade body over time (see Get Authorised), not held on day one.
- Write a one-paragraph "what we do and what we refer" statement to reuse everywhere.
Common mistake · Claiming whole-of-market on day one with three lender relationships. That is a fair, clear and not misleading problem before you write a word of ad copy.
Time~half a day CostFree DifficultyEasyResource for this step
PDFWhat I broker: product and route worksheet
A grid that turns "commercial finance broker" into a concrete product set and how you reach a lender for each.
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02 Step 02
Step 02
Choose your niche and its trigger events
A broker who markets to "all businesses" is invisible; a niche plus its trigger events is what makes introducers and marketing work.
Do it yourself
- Pick a beachhead niche, a sector, deal type, region or stage, where you have a real edge or a warm network.
- List the niche’s three to five finance trigger events (a VAT bill, an asset purchase, a lease event, a property completion) and the product each maps to.
- Sketch the ideal client, and note whether they tend to be limited companies or sole traders, since that drives the regulated line (see Get Authorised).
- Write your positioning in one line: who you help, with what, and why you.
Common mistake · Choosing a niche by what is glamorous rather than where you have warm introducers, which starves your first clients work before it starts.
Time~1 day CostFree DifficultyMedium -
03 Step 03
Step 03
Decide how you get paid
Lenders pay commission and some brokers also charge a client fee, but the pay model comes with a disclosure obligation, so design the two together.
Do it yourself
- Decide your model per product line: lender commission only, a client fee only, or both.
- Note who owns your disclosure wording: your network or compliance function, not this programme.
- Adopt the sector’s safe posture: disclose the existence and nature of your commission proactively, and be ready to disclose the amount on request, on regulated and unregulated deals alike.
- Record your model so Get Compliant and Your Brand can build the compliant wording on top of it.
Common mistake · Treating commission as a private matter between you and the lender. That is the exact assumption recent court rulings and the regulator’s scrutiny have punished.
Time~half a day CostFree DifficultyMediumResource for this step
PDFCommission model decision log
Records your chosen charging model per product line and flags who owns the disclosure wording for Get Compliant to complete.
What you’ll have after this stage
- A written list of what you broker and what you refer out
- A decision on whole-of-market, panel, or via a packager
- A charging model per product line, with the disclosure owner noted
- A defined niche, its trigger events, and a one-line positioning