For many mortgage brokers, the summer season can bring a noticeable slowdown in the housing market – Australian property sales have been found to drop by more than 11% during summer.

Instead of viewing the quieter period as downtime, you can use it to step back and reassess your service offering. This is a natural moment to explore adjacent opportunities, such as business or cash flow lending, without the pressure of peak-season workloads.

Rather than trying to master new lending categories in a matter of weeks, summer can be a useful window to familiarise yourself with the landscape and identify where referral partners can support your clients.

Expanding broker expertise beyond mortgages

Diversifying into the business lending space allows you to add another string to your bow. By stepping beyond the familiar realm of home loans, you have a chance to expand your knowledge base and develop new skills.

Commercial and business lending often involve understanding business financials, different loan structures, and even tax implications, all of which broaden your expertise. This expanded knowledge makes you more versatile and valuable to clients.

Commercial lending is a broad and sometimes complex field, and developing proficiency typically requires substantial time and experience. However, not all business lending falls into this category. Cash flow and working capital solutions operate quite differently from traditional commercial products and don't require brokers to become specialists.

With the right support from lenders and aggregators, brokers can become familiar with what opportunities exist without having to manage the full lending process themselves. Often, simply recognising when a client might benefit from a business loan is enough. From there, specialist lenders like Bizcap can step in to guide the client directly.

Importantly, adding commercial lending to your services can strengthen your client relationships. Instead of risking your clients turning elsewhere for their business loans, you become their go-to broker for all things finance. For example, a loyal home-loan client who also owns a business will be relieved to learn that you can help with a business line of credit or small business loan, not just their mortgage. You’ll deepen that client’s trust by being able to handle multiple facets of their financial needs.

It’s no wonder the industry is seeing a surge in brokers diversifying: the number of brokers writing commercial loans jumped 24% year-on-year, according to the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA). This reflects a growing recognition that broadening expertise is key to staying competitive.

This flexibility in offering both residential and commercial products also hones your sales skills: you learn to tailor your approach to different scenarios, from first-home buyers to seasoned entrepreneurs. The result is a more well-rounded, resilient brokerage practice.

Diversification opens income and client base

Beyond professional growth, diversifying into commercial finance can improve your income opportunities as the deals frequently come with lucrative commission structures. Certain products may even provide ongoing trail commissions or lead to repeat transactions, compounding earnings from a single client relationship.

Diversification doesn’t always mean taking on the complexity of handling commercial or cash flow deals yourself. Many brokers find value in simply identifying client needs and leaning on specialist lenders to manage the process end to end. This approach still opens up new income streams through referral commissions, while ensuring clients receive expert guidance.

Cash flow lending, in particular, offers relatively fast turnaround and strong repeat business potential – a benefit you can tap into without becoming a specialist.

Expanding your product offering also means unlocking a new client base. By marketing yourself as not just a mortgage broker but a “finance broker” who can handle business loans, you can attract clientele you might otherwise miss, including business owners, commercial property investors and more. You’ll also find that doing a great job on a commercial deal can lead to word-of-mouth referrals within the business network, creating a virtuous cycle of new opportunities.

There’s also a counter-cyclical benefit to diversifying your revenue. When the property market cools, as can happen with interest rate rises or seasonal lulls, businesses might still be borrowing for expansion, cash flow or equipment. Offering commercial finance therefore gives you an income stream that isn’t tied to the housing cycle.

Meeting evolving client needs with savvy solutions

Broking is evolving rapidly, driven in large part by more savvy, informed clients who are increasingly coming to the table with a solid understanding of finance. They’ve talked to accountants or financial advisers, and they know about concepts like loan structuring, tax deductibility and portfolio strategy.

These clients aren’t just looking for a one-size-fits-all loan; they want tailored solutions that consider their broader financial picture. If you rise to this challenge by improving your technical know-how, you can set yourself apart.

In fact, many customers now expect their broker to be a strategic financial partner, not just an order-taker. A recent survey of small businesses found that the top reason they turn to brokers is for their advice and expertise, with 59% wanting a broker’s opinion, even above getting the best price. And once they find a broker who is “switched on” and knowledgeable, clients tend to stick with them – a remarkable 86% of small businesses said they would return to their broker for future finance needs.

Clients increasingly value brokers who can recognise when a different type of funding may benefit their business. This doesn’t mean brokers need to become experts in every lending product; rather, having trusted referral relationships allows you to connect clients with the right specialist support.

In many cases, your role is to identify the need and facilitate a warm introduction. This adds value without requiring the depth of technical knowledge typically associated with commercial lending.

Bizcap’s Tick ‘n’ Flick: A quick path to diversification

One hurdle that holds some brokers back from diversifying is the learning curve and effort involved in handling unfamiliar loan types. This is where Bizcap offers a clever solution through its Tick ‘n’ Flick referral model. 

Through this pathway, you can refer your client to Bizcap with just their name and contact details, and our lending team will handle the process from start to finish on your behalf. Bizcap acts as an extension of your brokerage – reaching out to your client, explaining the suitable business loan product, and working to secure the best solution for them – all while keeping you in the loop.

Once the deal settles, you earn your commission as the referrer, without having to manage the deal yourself, and even enjoy trail commissions if that client comes back for repeat funding.

Tick ‘n’ Flick is essentially a light-touch way for you to participate in commercial lending without needing to become an instant expert in it. In fact, we typically see higher conversion rates when Bizcap’s internal team handles the discussions directly, ensuring clients receive clear explanations from cash flow specialists. This means you can confidently support business clients without needing to take on the learning curve of new product sets.

Tailored solutions first, sales second

While diversification brings the promise of higher earnings, it’s important to approach it with the right mindset: put your client’s needs first and the sales will follow.

You shouldn’t diversify just to “chase dollars” or push unnecessary products – the true power of offering a broader product suite is the ability to match your client with the right solution. When you take the time to listen to your clients and assess their circumstances in depth, you may find that a business line of credit or unsecured working capital loan is more appropriate for their goals than a second mortgage, for example.

By having multiple tools in your toolbox, you can recommend a financing option that genuinely helps the client, rather than forcing a one-dimensional solution. This client-centric approach not only leads to better outcomes for the borrower, but it also enhances your reputation as a trustworthy broker.

Embrace diversification this summer

Diversification doesn’t have to mean reinventing your practice or taking on new areas of technical expertise. By building relationships with specialist lenders and referral partners, you can broaden the support you offer clients while keeping your focus on what you do best.

Summer can be a great time to explore these partnerships and set your business up with additional revenue pathways – not through rapid upskilling, but through smart collaboration.

In the end, helping clients achieve their home ownership, investment and business ambitions will cement your status as a trusted financial partner, ensuring your brokerage thrives no matter the season.