Tight cash, instalments pushed back, a bank refusal already behind you. Difficulty is not what stops you getting funded — presenting it without having dealt with it is. A restructuring file hides nothing: it names the cause, quantifies the return to break-even, and shows what has already been done.
Four obstacles, and they are dealt with in this order. The order matters more than the speed.
A refusal stays on the institution’s file. Re-presenting the same file to the same contact does not work. You need a rebuilt file, and often different contacts — which means not having burnt every door at the same time.
There is no point hoping it will go unnoticed: the funder will see it on the first reading. What it is looking for is not a business without a problem, it is a director who has identified theirs and who arrives with a costed plan rather than an explanation.
Until a URSSAF or tax liability is dealt with, no new funding moves forward — and a public guarantee is out of reach. Payment schedules can be negotiated, including before the committee, but that is prepared with figures, not with a letter.
Every week reduces the number of options. Most files arrive too late, not through neglect, but because one hopes the following month will be better. The sooner the situation is laid out in full, the longer the out-of-court routes stay open.
On a distressed file, reading is at its most severe. Four points are non-negotiable.
Not all of them are funding. In difficulty, what saves a business is often time obtained, not money borrowed.
URSSAF and the tax authorities grant staged payments. Above certain thresholds, the commission des chefs de services financiers can be asked to deal with the whole public liability at once.
Opened by the president of the court at the director’s request, they allow negotiation with creditors without publicity and without loss of control. The business goes on being run by you.
Extending the term, deferring capital repayment, consolidating several facilities into one. This is negotiated with a plan in support, not over the phone.
Some regions and some funds act specifically on businesses in difficulty, often alongside an effort from shareholders and creditors.
Money from the director, a partner coming in, conversion of loan accounts. Nothing reassures a creditor like a shareholder putting money back in.
Property, under-used equipment, a loss-making business line. Often the fastest source of cash, and the most poorly used.
Two limits to know about. Novaris builds the financial file that supports the negotiation: cash position, costed restructuring plan, forecasts of the return to break-even. Novaris is neither a lawyer, nor a court-appointed insolvency practitioner (mandataire judiciaire), nor a court-appointed administrator: opening an out-of-court procedure, representation before the court and legal negotiation with creditors belong to legal professionals, with whom we work. Nor is Novaris a broker: the funding search, should you want one, is carried out by an intermediary registered with ORIAS, with no commission for us.
Cash week by week over thirteen weeks, liabilities due, facilities outstanding, instalments ahead. This is the document that says how much time is left, and therefore which options are still open.
The restructuring plan: what is cut, what is sold, what is renegotiated, and on what date trading turns positive again. With the downside scenario beside it.
The one you present to creditors, to public bodies or to a new funder — and we stay for the whole length of the assessment.
A business in difficulty calls for the complete file; as soon as there are several entities or an unusual structure, we adapt case by case. See the packages in detail — or start with the Score, which is free and commits you to nothing.
Ten questions, no document to provide, no appointment. A score out of 100 that measures one thing above all: whether your project is feasible — what is blocking it, and what has to be put right before you present yourself.
Un consultant vous rappelle, sans attendre le résultat d’un test. Réponse sous 48 heures ouvrées, comme pour toute demande.
