How a NSW Business Owner Slashed Weekly Repayments with a $256,730 Debt Consolidation Facility

Business Finance, Debt Consolidation, Private Lending

Discover how Go For Broker helped a NSW business owner consolidate six high-cost loans into one streamlined first mortgage facility at 12.34%, dramatically reducing weekly repayments and restoring cash flow stability.

Debt doesn't always fail a business by being too large. Sometimes it fails by being too fragmented - six separate facilities, six different lenders, six repayment dates, each one just distant enough from the others that no single number ever looked as bad as the total actually was.

This isn't an unusual position to be in. Business credit growth in Australia has remained strong through 2026, and lender competition for credit-worthy borrowers is intense - meaning access to finance is rarely the problem. The harder question is whether that finance is sustainable. Nationally, the average rate quoted on debt consolidation lending sits around 17.95% per annum, a figure that gives some sense of how expensive fragmented, stacked borrowing can get well before it reaches genuine crisis territory.

First, why Traditional Lenders said No

Every reason given was a symptom of the same underlying problem: complexity, not capability.

The Credit file had been damaged. Missed or strained payments across multiple facilities had left marks that a standard lending process reads as a simple read flag.

Multiple high-cost facilities were stacked together. Six separate loans, several at very high effective rates, made the overall position look far riskier on paper than a single clear picture would have.

It looked too complicated. On paper, a business carrying six concurrent facilities doesn't present as a straightforward application - regardless of whether the underlying business itself was sound.

Our Thinking

This wasn't a bad business. It was a bad finance structure. The short-term loans were forcing her to borrow money just to make repayments on existing debt. That's a cycle no business can sustain, no matter how strong its actual trading position is.

The Numbers

Before:

Number of Facilities: 6 Separate Loans

Some Facilities effective rate: up to 110% per annum

Weekly Repayment: $6,200

Term: Multiple Shot-term facilities

Security: Various

After:

Number of Facilities: 1 Consolidated facility

New Facility Rate: 12.34% per annum

Weekly Repayment: $1,330

Term: 5 Years

Security: First Mortgage

Facility Amount: $256,729.64

Why Private Lending Made Sense

In a market where non-bank and specialist lenders play an increasingly important role in SME finance, the right private lending solution can bridge the gap the moment a bank steps back. For this business, three things mattered more than a headline rate.

• Speed. Approval and settlement moved considerably faster than a standard bank refinance - critical with six sets of repayment obligations compounding by the week, not the month.

• Flexibility. A complex profile - six stacked facilities, a damaged credit file, prior arrears - is exactly the kind of deal mainstream business lending is built to decline on sight. A private lender was willing to assess the whole picture instead of stopping at the first red flag.

• Security-led pricing. Structuring the deal as a first mortgage let Go For Broker negotiate a rate that reflected the strength of the security, not just the recent credit history - landing well below what the broader consolidation market typically charges for a comparable risk profile.

Importantly, this facility was never meant to be permanent. It was built as a stepping stone: with cleaner statements, one consistent repayment, and cash flow restored, the client is now in a genuinely stronger position to refinance back to a mainstream lender down the track - likely at a lower rate again once trading performance stabilises further.

What people miss

The instinct with debt problems is to focus on rate - find the cheapest facility, and the problem is solved. But this client's core problem wasn't rate. It was structure. Six repayment schedules meant six chances each week for something to go wrong, and enough of the borrowing was happening just to service other borrowing that the business was never getting ahead, regardless of how any single facility was priced. Consolidation didn't just lower the average rate - it turned six moving parts into one.

The point isn't that one is better

A 12.34% rate over five years with principal and interest repayments is a considerably more sustainable structure than what it replaced - but it's also a genuine, long-term commitment, not a quick fix to be taken lightly. The point of this deal wasn't "private lending beats six separate facilities" in the abstract. It was that a single, clear structure was achievable where the previous arrangement had none.

The Outcome

• Six separate high-cost loans consolidated into a single $256,729.64 facility

• Rate reduced to 12.34% per annum, structured over a 5-year principal and interest term

• Weekly repayments reduced from $6,200 to a single, manageable amount

• Debt spiral eliminated and cash flow restored

• Client now repairing her credit and focusing on growing the business again

Could Your Clients Benefit from a Similar Strategy?

If you're an accountant, adviser, or agency working with a client buried under multiple high-cost facilities, this case shows what's achievable with the right structure and the right lender. For businesses and SMEs across Australia - consolidating into a single, well-designed facility can be the difference between constant firefighting and sustainable growth.

Whether the underlying pressure is a recent bank decline, mounting short-term debt, or simply too many expensive facilities stacked on top of each other, a tailored debt consolidation strategy- backed by experienced brokers with access to non-bank and private lending - can restore control and meaningfully cut weekly repayments in the process.

FAQs

Can I consolidate multiple business loans into a single facility in Australia? Yes - a broker with access to non-bank and private lenders can often combine several existing facilities into one, provided there's adequate security, even where a damaged credit file or complex existing debt has caused traditional lenders to decline.

Why would multiple loans be more dangerous than one large loan of the same total size? Multiple facilities often carry different rates, terms, and repayment schedules, which can create a cycle where new borrowing is needed simply to service existing repayments - a single, clear facility removes that fragmentation even where the total debt is similar.

Is 17.95% or higher a normal rate for debt consolidation in Australia? It's within the range of what's commonly quoted for consolidation lending nationally, though rates vary significantly based on security, credit history, and loan structure - a secured facility with clear structuring, as in this case, can often land below that average even where a bank has already declined the deal.

Can I use a family member's property as security for a business loan? In some cases, yes, provided the property owner consents and understands the obligations involved - this is a significant commitment and independent advice for the property owner is strongly recommended before proceeding.