Will taking the quiz affect my credit score?

No. It's a self-assessment and nothing is shared with any lender or credit agency.

What score do I need to get funding?

There's no single pass mark. Different lenders and funding types weigh different things. The score is most useful for showing which areas to strengthen before you apply.

What if the bank has already said no?

That's often the point at which this is most useful. The UK SME Funding Handbook covers the main alternatives, and the quiz will show which of them are likely to fit your situation.

Free business tool

The Funding Readiness Quiz

Are you ready to borrow or raise money? Score yourself out of 100, see which funding is likely to fit, and find out where a lender will push hardest, before you apply. About six minutes.

How it works

Most declined applications have little to do with the business itself. They come from how it was presented, or when. This quiz is the readiness scorecard from our UK SME Funding Handbook, with a short first step about your situation so we can point you to the funding types that are likely to fit.

Part 1: your situation

Six quick questions: what the money is for, how much, and where the business is now.

Part 2: your readiness

20 statements across five areas lenders check, each scored 0 to 5.

Score honestly: this is for you, not the lender. Score what is true today.

Better still, ask your accountant or a colleague to score it separately and compare.

Who this is for

Owners who are thinking about a loan, asset finance, invoice finance or investment in the next year and want to know how a lender will see them before they apply. It's also useful if you've been turned down and want to understand why.

What it measures

The quiz has two parts. Part 1 asks six quick questions about your situation: what the money is for, how much you need and where the business is now. That points you to the funding types that are likely to fit. Part 2 asks you to score 20 statements from 0 to 5 across the five areas lenders check. Together they give a readiness score out of 100. It's the scorecard from our UK SME Funding Handbook.

How to read your results

Your score shows how ready you look to a lender today, and the area scores show where they're likely to push hardest. A low area doesn't mean you can't get funding. It means you should fix it, or be ready to explain it, before you apply. Most declined applications come down to how the business was presented, or when, rather than the business itself. Use the funding types suggested by Part 1 to narrow down who to approach.

Worked example: Brightwater Fabrications

In this illustrative example, Brightwater Fabrications wants about £200,000 to fund growth and a new machine. It scores 61 out of 100: "nearly there". Its track record is strong, at 19 out of 20. Cash and forecasting is weakest, at 9 out of 20, because it has no 13-week cash forecast and no three-year forecast with a downside case. The quiz suggests a term loan or a government-backed loan under the Growth Guarantee Scheme. Before applying, it builds both forecasts and starts a monthly board pack.

Sample results · PDF

See Brightwater's full results: every figure, what it told them and what they did next.

Download the worked example (PDF)

Frequently asked questions

Will taking the quiz affect my credit score?: No. It's a self-assessment and nothing is shared with any lender or credit agency.
What score do I need to get funding?: There's no single pass mark. Different lenders and funding types weigh different things. The score is most useful for showing which areas to strengthen before you apply.
What if the bank has already said no?: That's often the point at which this is most useful. The UK SME Funding Handbook covers the main alternatives, and the quiz will show which of them are likely to fit your situation.