Business Plan Advice For HSBC
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Business Plan Advice For HSBC
I'm hoping to pop along to HSBC in the next couple of months to beg and plead for some money to start flying training. Can anyone who has been succesful with getting money out of them please give me some advice as to what to put into a business plan and how to set it out etc.
Any other tips greatly appreciated.
How much should I ask for at first ?? Start high and work down or start low and ask for more later ??.
Any other tips greatly appreciated.
How much should I ask for at first ?? Start high and work down or start low and ask for more later ??.
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Me too......
Hi LeezyJet,
I too am in the same boat and am going to HSBC on Monday to plead my case. I have worked out that the modular route (albeit full time) will cost me about 50k with living expenses etc.
I have thrown all the costs in to start with i.e. transport, laptop for exams etc as a starting point, so starting high and working down if need be.
I have set my business plan out with course brochures, course costs, estimates of repayment times/amounts etc and what I hope to be earning if successful in getting a job at the end of it.
I have also included my RAF aptitude test results, medical results and industry reports detailing the state of the industry and the predicted states.
Lastly I have included statements and supporting evidence of why I want to do this and what I have done thus far to achieve my aim. Also, what I will do if I fail and what other routes are open to exploration.
Lastly do a search for HSBC. There are loads of good posts that helped me. I will let you know how I get on after Monday.
I too am in the same boat and am going to HSBC on Monday to plead my case. I have worked out that the modular route (albeit full time) will cost me about 50k with living expenses etc.
I have thrown all the costs in to start with i.e. transport, laptop for exams etc as a starting point, so starting high and working down if need be.
I have set my business plan out with course brochures, course costs, estimates of repayment times/amounts etc and what I hope to be earning if successful in getting a job at the end of it.
I have also included my RAF aptitude test results, medical results and industry reports detailing the state of the industry and the predicted states.
Lastly I have included statements and supporting evidence of why I want to do this and what I have done thus far to achieve my aim. Also, what I will do if I fail and what other routes are open to exploration.
Lastly do a search for HSBC. There are loads of good posts that helped me. I will let you know how I get on after Monday.
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Hi ben, Leezy,
I'm in the same boat! Try to cover all the angles and put in as many contingencies as possible (try at least 3 'what if...' scenarios).
Ben, I'd appreciate any pointers you have on the state of the industry/future predictions e.g. websites/magazine article references. Good luck for Monday.
BTW, which branches are you guys applying to? I think I'll try the ones closest to OAT/CTC first, as they as used to lending £50K!
Best of luck to all.
K2
I'm in the same boat! Try to cover all the angles and put in as many contingencies as possible (try at least 3 'what if...' scenarios).
Ben, I'd appreciate any pointers you have on the state of the industry/future predictions e.g. websites/magazine article references. Good luck for Monday.
BTW, which branches are you guys applying to? I think I'll try the ones closest to OAT/CTC first, as they as used to lending £50K!
Best of luck to all.
K2
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Hi SkyRider,
I am applying to my local branch (Cheshunt). Spoke to the manager on the phone and he was happy to set up a meeting and said just bring the brochures. Not sure if thats a good or bad sign!
I already pay 300 pm towards loans plus haven't even dented my student loan yet so not sure if that will go against me? What are your thoughts?
Best thing for industry predictions is the department for transport website (.gov). They have a nice report. Also try BALPA, CAA, etc,
Good Luck! Will post more info Mon/Tue
I am applying to my local branch (Cheshunt). Spoke to the manager on the phone and he was happy to set up a meeting and said just bring the brochures. Not sure if thats a good or bad sign!
I already pay 300 pm towards loans plus haven't even dented my student loan yet so not sure if that will go against me? What are your thoughts?
Best thing for industry predictions is the department for transport website (.gov). They have a nice report. Also try BALPA, CAA, etc,
Good Luck! Will post more info Mon/Tue
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I am hoping unsecured as I have no security of my own, only parents to plead with.
I heard of people getting 60k unsecured and some who can't get past 10k so I guess it depends on the branch. Will give you more details after I have been to HSBC on Monday.
I heard of people getting 60k unsecured and some who can't get past 10k so I guess it depends on the branch. Will give you more details after I have been to HSBC on Monday.
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Nobody in their right mind is going to give anybody £60,000 without any security.
Go in with a good plan. Structure the plan as follows:
About you, your employment history school grades etc
About the course you wish to follow
About the cost of the course you wish to follow
About the success stories of those who have graduated from your chosen FTO
About how intelligent you are and how you aim to excel in the course
How you will be earning £50,000 a year when you qualify
How you will cope when it all goes wrong you fail to gain employment and have to pay back £450 per month
How you will eventually gain an airline job
£40,000-£50,000 is some serious wedge and you really need to carefully consider the impact it will have on you later in life. What will your quality of life be?
Meet the bank and imagine you are trying to sell them a product. Big yourself up to the max and if they think they will gain from your success, without too great a risk factor for themselves, I’m sure they’d be only too willing to throw money at you.
Good luck. If you fail at one branch, try another and don’t be disheartened.
Go in with a good plan. Structure the plan as follows:
About you, your employment history school grades etc
About the course you wish to follow
About the cost of the course you wish to follow
About the success stories of those who have graduated from your chosen FTO
About how intelligent you are and how you aim to excel in the course
How you will be earning £50,000 a year when you qualify
How you will cope when it all goes wrong you fail to gain employment and have to pay back £450 per month
How you will eventually gain an airline job
£40,000-£50,000 is some serious wedge and you really need to carefully consider the impact it will have on you later in life. What will your quality of life be?
Meet the bank and imagine you are trying to sell them a product. Big yourself up to the max and if they think they will gain from your success, without too great a risk factor for themselves, I’m sure they’d be only too willing to throw money at you.
Good luck. If you fail at one branch, try another and don’t be disheartened.
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If you read some of the previous posts on this topic Tom you will read the differences in fortune. Some people have been able to secure loans without security whereas some were only offered an 8k CDL. I guess it depends on where you go and who you see.
Hopefully my bank manager will not be 'in his right mind' when I go to see him on monday!
Hopefully my bank manager will not be 'in his right mind' when I go to see him on monday!
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Cheers for the info, ben.
Good points made by tom.
As I understand it, HSBC used to loan upto £50K unsecured around 2 years ago. That has now dropped to £15K- £20K. tom is spot on about selling yourself - you have to convince the manager, it will be a very subjective assessment.
A lot of the info on the threads we have all read is outdated. I haven't heard any recent stories of people getting more than £20K unsecured.
I have PM'd all of the people who boasted £45K-£50K unsecured loans from HSBC and not a single one replied.
The only recent (Dec 2003) case I am aware of is a guy I met on an open day at OAT. He got £56K (wow!), but mentioned his parents had to 'help him out' i.e. they staked their house for their son. Personally, I'm against this, so that rules out loans at the higher end of the scale for me. I'm glad in a way because as tom pointed out, no matter how great your first job is, repayments on a £50K loan are going to stretch you - oh and interest rates are set to increase, so bad news for all borrowers
ben, make sure you eat/drink before your interview - I've heard of some people getting grilled for 8 hours!
Cheers,
Nik
Good points made by tom.
As I understand it, HSBC used to loan upto £50K unsecured around 2 years ago. That has now dropped to £15K- £20K. tom is spot on about selling yourself - you have to convince the manager, it will be a very subjective assessment.
A lot of the info on the threads we have all read is outdated. I haven't heard any recent stories of people getting more than £20K unsecured.
I have PM'd all of the people who boasted £45K-£50K unsecured loans from HSBC and not a single one replied.
The only recent (Dec 2003) case I am aware of is a guy I met on an open day at OAT. He got £56K (wow!), but mentioned his parents had to 'help him out' i.e. they staked their house for their son. Personally, I'm against this, so that rules out loans at the higher end of the scale for me. I'm glad in a way because as tom pointed out, no matter how great your first job is, repayments on a £50K loan are going to stretch you - oh and interest rates are set to increase, so bad news for all borrowers
ben, make sure you eat/drink before your interview - I've heard of some people getting grilled for 8 hours!
Cheers,
Nik
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I had an interview for a Professional Studies Loan at HSBC last week.
I put together a report pretty much containing everything as outlined by Tom24. The guy I saw said he was "stunned" by this as it answered 10 of his 11 questions and pretty much made the interview unnecessary. I think the 11th question was "do you own your house/can you provide security". (I said "no", though may change that).
As far as he was concerned the interview was only to assertain all the details... i.e. how much, what for, how you gonna pay it pack, backup plan, state of the industry, CV etc. The he had to pass on all the details to their HQ and said he should hear back in a couple of days and would be in touch for any more info that's required. That was a week ago, and i still haven't heard anything, so I'll probly visit today.
I'll let you know when i have an update.
Also i should mention that when i initially went in to make anenquiry the lady did not know much about a the PSL but looked it all up on their intranet and there were all sorts of details specifically for commercial pilot training. It said the limit was £50,000 though there may have been an extra allowance for living expenses. I did'nt read anything about security. It did seem very geared up towards integrated courses in that a requirement is a letter of acceptance from the school. There is a paragraph at the end saying that the modular route is becoming more popular though doesn't explain this much.
I put together a report pretty much containing everything as outlined by Tom24. The guy I saw said he was "stunned" by this as it answered 10 of his 11 questions and pretty much made the interview unnecessary. I think the 11th question was "do you own your house/can you provide security". (I said "no", though may change that).
As far as he was concerned the interview was only to assertain all the details... i.e. how much, what for, how you gonna pay it pack, backup plan, state of the industry, CV etc. The he had to pass on all the details to their HQ and said he should hear back in a couple of days and would be in touch for any more info that's required. That was a week ago, and i still haven't heard anything, so I'll probly visit today.
I'll let you know when i have an update.
Also i should mention that when i initially went in to make anenquiry the lady did not know much about a the PSL but looked it all up on their intranet and there were all sorts of details specifically for commercial pilot training. It said the limit was £50,000 though there may have been an extra allowance for living expenses. I did'nt read anything about security. It did seem very geared up towards integrated courses in that a requirement is a letter of acceptance from the school. There is a paragraph at the end saying that the modular route is becoming more popular though doesn't explain this much.
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Just to let you guys know it can be done...i got a Professional studies loan from them last summer.....unsecured for £25k aged 19....and i'm now half way through my CPL...
You just have to appear professional and have a spot on plan...and have an answer to enerything.
Good Luck
Tom
You just have to appear professional and have a spot on plan...and have an answer to enerything.
Good Luck
Tom
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I've just been to visit HSBC (Slough Branch) today and it didn't go too well, but I had prepared for the worst so didn't come as too much os a suprise.
I was only making a preliminary enquiry without an appointment and was just expecting them to give me some leaflets to take away, but I was directed to wait with all the asylum seekers and other reprebates that can be found lurking in the Slough branch for someone to see us.
About 10mins later we ended up speaking to one of the regular advisors, who although knew about the Professional Studies loans didn't know too much about the Pilot loan side of things.
I asked her a few questions and she had to make a couple of calls to one of the senior managers, who after a while came out himself to speak with me directly which I thought was good of him.
I thought that as I bank with First Direct (who are a subsidiary of HSBC) then I wouldn't have too many probelms, but this guy said that I needed to have an account with them for at least 6 months before I applied for the loan as they are totally seperate from First Direct.
I would also have to use my other halfs flat as security, but as there is only £20K collateral in the property at the moment then this was borderline.
He also said I would need in the region of £10k of my own savings too to be considered for a £40k loan.
Not quite what I expected them to say after some of the things I've read on here but wasn't a complete no, but then again it was only an enquiry.
Better get saving I think, but I'll try another branch in the meantime to see what they say.
I was only making a preliminary enquiry without an appointment and was just expecting them to give me some leaflets to take away, but I was directed to wait with all the asylum seekers and other reprebates that can be found lurking in the Slough branch for someone to see us.
About 10mins later we ended up speaking to one of the regular advisors, who although knew about the Professional Studies loans didn't know too much about the Pilot loan side of things.
I asked her a few questions and she had to make a couple of calls to one of the senior managers, who after a while came out himself to speak with me directly which I thought was good of him.
I thought that as I bank with First Direct (who are a subsidiary of HSBC) then I wouldn't have too many probelms, but this guy said that I needed to have an account with them for at least 6 months before I applied for the loan as they are totally seperate from First Direct.
I would also have to use my other halfs flat as security, but as there is only £20K collateral in the property at the moment then this was borderline.
He also said I would need in the region of £10k of my own savings too to be considered for a £40k loan.
Not quite what I expected them to say after some of the things I've read on here but wasn't a complete no, but then again it was only an enquiry.
Better get saving I think, but I'll try another branch in the meantime to see what they say.
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My business plan contained the following :
What I have achieved so far (flying wise) and the costs involved (to demonstrate my financial commitment)
What I intended to do next - i.e. ATPL exams CPL/IR, etc....
How much it would cost
How long it would take to qualify
How I would pay it back (both if I get a flying job and if I don't)
The total cost, allowing for retakes, delays, accommodation, etc came to around £40K which was well on the top side (my ideal aim would be to complete in around £30K). They loaned me £15K unsecured. The only things they insisted on was that I had to switch my account to them and take out some insurance. I was in with them for no more than a couple of hours and this was in October 2003.
What I have achieved so far (flying wise) and the costs involved (to demonstrate my financial commitment)
What I intended to do next - i.e. ATPL exams CPL/IR, etc....
How much it would cost
How long it would take to qualify
How I would pay it back (both if I get a flying job and if I don't)
The total cost, allowing for retakes, delays, accommodation, etc came to around £40K which was well on the top side (my ideal aim would be to complete in around £30K). They loaned me £15K unsecured. The only things they insisted on was that I had to switch my account to them and take out some insurance. I was in with them for no more than a couple of hours and this was in October 2003.
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As promised here is my account of what happened at HSBC. The story is not over yet so I will post updates......
Went in suited and booted with my business plan in hand. All the above advice is spot on so I won't repeat it. Basically I had already arranged a meeting with my bank manager via phone. I have banked with them for 6 years and would highly recommend you switch now.
The wanted to know how much I was asking for and had a look at the brochures I had taken in. We then worked out living allowances and I was offered 2/3 of my current salary per annum. They then asked me how I expected to pay it back, what I would do if I could'nt get a job and explained I would have to take out insurances with them.
They then worked out a quote for me and said I had max. 11 years to pay it back and at least a years grace when the course ends before payments begin.
After this had all been agreed and they had asked the standard questions about the industry etc they explained they would more than likely need security and how this would work. At the end of the meeting when I had the costs etc they said we will run a credit check and call you later.....
btw...before I went in I worked out on a s/s how much I wanted, how much I thought payments would be and what I expected to earn. PM me if you want the sheet as a guide.
The result.........they called me back that afternoon and said we can lend you the 50k but we will need some form of security i.e. we will need you parents to see a solicitor and agree that if it all goes tits up we can recover our loan.
I have now arranged a second meeting with the bank at their request with one of their colleagues from head office who has a keen interest in aviation. I have been told that he wants to see me to ascertain my motivations etc.
My parents have very kindly offered to secure the loan without my asking them. I know a number of people are against this option as I am and I am not sure whether to accept yet. However, the bottom line is I have always wanted to do this and I have tried every other available option, sponsorship, RAF etc. I would never ever risk their house and would work 3 jobs to afford the 500 repayments. I also live at home and therefore have no rent costs etc. Therefore I may accept their offer of help, but it is a personal dilemma!
Anyways......I have a second meeting with the bank in a few weeks. I will post my final decision then and will gladly answer any questions that I haven't answered here.
Good Luck!!
Went in suited and booted with my business plan in hand. All the above advice is spot on so I won't repeat it. Basically I had already arranged a meeting with my bank manager via phone. I have banked with them for 6 years and would highly recommend you switch now.
The wanted to know how much I was asking for and had a look at the brochures I had taken in. We then worked out living allowances and I was offered 2/3 of my current salary per annum. They then asked me how I expected to pay it back, what I would do if I could'nt get a job and explained I would have to take out insurances with them.
They then worked out a quote for me and said I had max. 11 years to pay it back and at least a years grace when the course ends before payments begin.
After this had all been agreed and they had asked the standard questions about the industry etc they explained they would more than likely need security and how this would work. At the end of the meeting when I had the costs etc they said we will run a credit check and call you later.....
btw...before I went in I worked out on a s/s how much I wanted, how much I thought payments would be and what I expected to earn. PM me if you want the sheet as a guide.
The result.........they called me back that afternoon and said we can lend you the 50k but we will need some form of security i.e. we will need you parents to see a solicitor and agree that if it all goes tits up we can recover our loan.
I have now arranged a second meeting with the bank at their request with one of their colleagues from head office who has a keen interest in aviation. I have been told that he wants to see me to ascertain my motivations etc.
My parents have very kindly offered to secure the loan without my asking them. I know a number of people are against this option as I am and I am not sure whether to accept yet. However, the bottom line is I have always wanted to do this and I have tried every other available option, sponsorship, RAF etc. I would never ever risk their house and would work 3 jobs to afford the 500 repayments. I also live at home and therefore have no rent costs etc. Therefore I may accept their offer of help, but it is a personal dilemma!
Anyways......I have a second meeting with the bank in a few weeks. I will post my final decision then and will gladly answer any questions that I haven't answered here.
Good Luck!!
