How long does a first business loan call take?

So, how long should I set aside?

Fifteen minutes, somewhere you can talk and jot down a note or two. That’s the honest answer for most first calls. Plenty wrap up in five or six minutes because the situation is simple and the caller has the figures ready. A few run longer because there’s more to unpick.

What you don’t need is an hour. The first call isn’t an application. It’s a conversation to work out which options are realistic and what the next step would be.

What a quick call looks like

The fastest first calls tend to share a few features:

• One clear purpose. “Buy a used truck”, “cover the BAS”, “fund a stock order”.
• An amount or a tight range.
• A single business entity, often a company or sole trader with no complicated structure.
• Figures to hand. Rough monthly turnover, time trading, whether there’s property and what’s owing on it.
• Nothing hidden. Any ATO debt or credit issue mentioned early.

With those, a specialist can often say within a few minutes: “This looks like an unsecured option in this range, here’s what we’d need, here’s roughly how long it takes.”

What makes a call run longer

These add questions, not problems:

Situation	Why it adds time
Property owned by several people or a trust	Working out who signs and whether all owners are on board
Several existing business debts	Understanding balances, repayments and which ones are under pressure
ATO debt	Checking lodgement status, payment plan and what the debt consists of
Past credit problems	Understanding what happened, when, and whether it’s resolved
A hard deadline	Mapping each step against the date to see if it’s realistic
Seasonal or irregular income	Explaining the pattern so it’s read correctly

If your situation has one or two of these, allow the full fifteen minutes. Our what to say pages have short scripts for each, which can shorten the conversation a lot.

Getting the call done in one go

The single biggest cause of a second call is a figure the caller didn’t have. A few minutes of prep avoids it:

1. Open your bank app and glance at the last three months of deposits into the business account. You’re after a rough monthly average, not an audit.
2. Check your ATO balance if you owe anything. Business owners can see account balances and any overdue amounts through the ATO’s online services for business.
3. Know your property numbers roughly: an estimated value and what’s owing on any mortgage.
4. List existing business debts: who with, roughly how much, and the repayment.

Or use the call planner, which builds a prep list matched to the reason you’re calling and shows when our line is open in your time zone.

Is a second call a bad sign?

Not at all. It’s common to say, “Let me check that and call you back,” especially for property values or the exact ATO balance. A second call of a few minutes to confirm a figure is far better than guessing on the first one.

What we try to avoid is making you repeat yourself. The specialist keeps notes from the first call, so when you ring back you pick up where you left off.

What if the call runs long?

Sometimes the specialist will suggest pausing and picking it up later, for example to confirm a property value, check an ATO balance or bring a co-owner into the conversation. That’s normal, and it usually means the second call is quicker and more useful. You’ll never be kept on the line to fill time, and you can always say you need to go.

What about the time after the call?

How long the whole process takes from first call to funds depends heavily on the option. The specialist will map it out for your situation. Broadly:

• Unsecured and cash-flow options move mainly on how quickly bank statements and identity checks are completed.
• Property-secured loans also need a valuation, loan documents and settlement, and the timing depends on the property, the owners and the lender.

Our page on what happens after the call covers each step. If you have a hard date, read what to say about a tight deadline before you ring.

Short on time? Try this instead

If fifteen quiet minutes is hard to find, there are two ways to keep things moving:

1. Ask one question now. A two-minute call to check whether something is possible is perfectly fine. “Can you lend against a property that already has a second mortgage?” or “Do you look at businesses with ATO debt?” can be answered quickly, and you can book the longer conversation for later.
2. Let us call you. Send the 60-second enquiry with a preferred time, and the specialist will ring when you’ve said you’re free. Because they’ve read your enquiry first, the call itself is often shorter.

Either way, the conversation you have is with a lending specialist, not a switchboard. If your situation involves a date that can’t move, have a look at what to say about a tight deadline before you ring so the specialist can map the timing straight away.

Fifteen minutes well spent

If you can find a quiet quarter of an hour during Melbourne business hours, ring 03 4059 1829. If you can’t, leave a 60-second enquiry and tell us when suits. No credit check when you first enquire, no bundle of lenders ringing you afterwards, and one specialist who follows it through. Rough but accurate figures are all you need to get a useful answer.