Commercial finance brokerage business plan (free template)
A commercial finance brokerage business plan should cover your target market (typically limited companies needing unsecured or secured B2B lending), your commercial model (commission from lenders, no franchise fee), a realistic revenue ramp from your first deal, fixed and variable costs, and a 12-month pipeline target. With CoreFi the lender panel, criteria and BDM relationships are provided, so the plan is about your business and your niche, not applying to lenders yourself.
Quoting a client before you have checked lender criteria loses deals. Writing your business plan after you have already incorporated is the same problem in reverse. Do the thinking first. A plan forces clarity: who you serve, which products you place, what commission looks like at conservative assumptions, and whether the numbers actually work.
On CoreFi you do not build your own lender panel or apply to lenders one by one. The panel, the per-product criteria and the direct BDM relationships come with the platform, so the plan is for you, not for lender applications. Four to eight pages is enough. You are not raising capital; you are mapping a low-overhead commission business with no stock, no premises, and income that starts from your first funded deal. This page covers every section your plan should contain.
Market and niche
Start with who you will serve. The UK SME market runs to over 5.5 million businesses, most of them starved of decent bank relationships. That breadth is too wide to build a plan around, so you have to narrow it down. The plans that land well with lenders pick a lane: property bridging for developers, asset finance for hauliers, working capital for manufacturers, acquisition finance for owner-managed buy-outs.
A tight niche sharpens your lender submissions, makes your referral network easier to build, and cuts your marketing cost. It also makes for a much more credible conversation when a BDM asks who you are targeting.
Be exact about borrower type, because it sets your regulatory position before you write a single deal. Broking unregulated commercial finance to limited companies does not require FCA authorisation. That is the cleanest starting point, and where CoreFi's model sits. Broking to sole traders or partnerships is different: Article 36A(4) of the Regulated Activities Order can bring those arrangements inside the regulatory perimeter even for loans that would otherwise be exempt business agreements. Regulated products (consumer credit, residential mortgages, Start Up Loans of up to £25,000 to individuals) always require FCA authorisation, full stop, whatever the borrower type. If your plan touches any of those, get regulatory advice before you trade. State your borrower type and regulatory position plainly in your plan; lenders check.
Business model and revenue
Commercial finance brokers earn lender commission, expressed as a percentage of the facility value. Any arrangement fee charged to the borrower is separate and optional. On the CoreFi platform, agents keep 55% to 70% of that commission depending on tier: Associate at 55% from day one, rising through Broker (60%, £50k funded), Senior (65%, £1m funded) and Partner (70%, £2.5m funded). There is no franchise fee and no minimum volume, so you earn from the first deal that funds. Franchise-model networks charge roughly £6,000 to £30,000 before you place anything.
For your projections, model a conservative blended commission rate of 1% to 1.5% of facility value. Working capital facilities averaging £150,000 at 1.5% generates £2,250 gross commission. At Associate tier, you retain £1,237 from that single deal. Build a 12-month table: realistic lead volume, an honest conversion rate (10% to 20% from enquiry to funded is credible for a new broker), and funded deal count per month. Show the workings. Lenders and introducers can spot a made-up table.
Startup costs and ongoing overhead
This is a lean business. The cost structure is genuinely modest.
- Company formation: around £100 via Companies House online - Platform access: CoreFi charges no setup or franchise fee; some networks charge £6,000 to £30,000 upfront - Professional expenses: an accountant, and a read-through of any introducer agreement you sign before you put pen to paper - Marketing: a simple website, LinkedIn, and local referral network activity - Ramp period: plan for 60 to 90 days from incorporation to first funded deal while your pipeline builds (the CoreFi lender panel is ready from day one, so there are no panel applications to wait on)
Total cash to first deal, running lean, is typically under £2,000.
12-month revenue ramp and targets
A credible ramp does not claim 20 funded deals in month one. It shows a build.
- Months 1 to 2: company set up, CoreFi onboarding and training done, referral network conversations started, first leads in the CRM - Months 3 to 4: one to two funded deals, commission received, pipeline growing - Months 5 to 12: a working monthly run-rate of three to eight funded deals, depending on deal size and niche
Set a year-one gross commission target and work backwards to the active referral relationships and deal volume you need to hit it. Keep your assumptions visible so a lender or partner can stress-test them. These are planning figures. Your actual niche and effort will move them.
On the CoreFi platform your pipeline, submissions and commission tracking sit in one place. Your real numbers at month three will tell you quickly whether your assumptions were close or optimistic.
What you bring (CoreFi brings the lenders)
You do not need to assemble a lender panel; that is what CoreFi gives you. The platform brings a curated panel of specialist lenders, their per-product criteria and the direct BDM relationships, plus a matching engine that scores your deal against lender appetite. That is the part most new brokers spend a year building, and here it is there on day one.
So the question your plan answers is not which lenders, but what you bring. For most new independent brokers your edge is one of: sector knowledge, an existing referral network (accountants, solicitors, estate agents, fleet managers), regional relationships, or speed of execution on straightforward deal types.
Be specific about it. "Our target clients are logistics businesses in the West Midlands with assets between £100,000 and £500,000, and we have five regional fleet accountants who refer two to three enquiries per month" is a real plan. "Fast, tailored service" is not. CoreFi handles the lender side; your plan is about the demand you can bring to it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a business plan to start a commercial finance brokerage?
Not legally, and with CoreFi you are not applying to lender panels yourself, so a plan is not a gate to trading. But it forces you to pressure-test your numbers and your niche before you commit time. Most brokers who skip it regret it around month three, when their pipeline stalls and they have no baseline to check against.
How long should the plan be?
Four to eight pages. You need a market section, a model and revenue section, a costs section, a 12-month projection, and a short section on your competitive advantage. A lender does not need 40 pages; they need to see that you have thought clearly about your niche and your numbers.
Do I need to address FCA authorisation in my plan?
Only if it is relevant. Broking unregulated commercial finance exclusively to limited companies does not require FCA authorisation; state that clearly and move on. If you plan to serve sole traders or partnerships, FCA permission can be required even for otherwise-exempt business loans (Article 36A(4) RAO). If you plan to offer regulated products (consumer credit, residential mortgages, Start Up Loans to individuals) FCA authorisation is always required. Lay out your regulatory position. Lenders check, and getting it wrong is not a minor issue.
What commission rate should I use in my revenue projections?
Model conservatively at 1% to 1.5% of facility value as a blended average. Bridging and specialist property deals often pay more. Invoice finance introductions can pay lower recurring amounts. Use the midpoint for your main product line and show sensitivity: what does year one look like at 0.8% versus 1.5%? A single set of assumptions with no range looks unrealistic.
Can I use the CoreFi free template without joining the platform?
Yes. The template is free to download and use whether or not you launch with CoreFi. If, after working through it, you want a lender panel, a deal CRM and commission tracking from day one with no franchise fee, that is when CoreFi becomes relevant.
Launch your brokerage with CoreFi
No franchise fee. No minimum volume. A specialist lender panel, deal CRM and commission tracking built for independent commercial finance brokers. Book a call to see how CoreFi works and whether it fits your plan.
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