Now - Business Financial Services

Grow your
business
with flexible
funding.
Small businesses are absolutely vital to the U.S. economy.
More than 540,000 new businesses are being started each month!
Not to mention, over 50 percent of the current American
working population works in a small business setting, and
small businesses are responsible for generating more than
65 percent of the new jobs created in the U.S. since 1996.
It’s clear that the American Dream is alive and well, but for many
entrepreneurs, the statistics paint a much rosier picture than what
they are seeing day in and day out.
Small and medium-sized businesses continue to face significant
challenges when they are ready to grow. Despite having sound
financials and solid business plans, many find it difficult to acquire
the capital they need.
Whether their growth plans included launching marketing and
advertising initiatives, stocking up on inventory, investing in new
equipment or remodeling and expanding their premises, the stories
of these business owners all share one thing in common.
They needed funding in order to make their dreams a reality.
Receiving an influx of funding from BFS Capital meant that these
six small businesses were able to take advantage of the growth
opportunities presented to them. By providing capital quickly, we help
business owners focus on running and growing their business.
Marc Morrone has always found a way to make his business work. When
he first started Parrots of the World Ltd. in 1978, he was simply, according
to his website, a small company that imported birds, mammals and reptiles
from Central and South America, Africa and Indonesia. But, in 1986, when
the sale of imported birds was outlawed in New York State, he shifted the
focus of his business to breeding birds in the United States while working
with other bird breeders in the country.
Today, Parrots of the World has a large selection of parrots, reptiles,
fish, ferrets and other exotic pets, a wide variety of pet merchandise and
supplies, not to mention the large part of their business - exporting birds
and other animals that are born in the United States to other countries
throughout the world.
Oh, and did we mention that he’s a regular TV personality and animal
expert? He’s featured regularly on the Martha Stewart show on NBC;
he’s the host of “The Pet Shop with Marc Morrone” on local New York
cable; and he’s the host of “Ask the Petkeeper” on Martha Stewart Living
Radio on Sirius XM.
One thing’s for sure, Marc knows what it takes to grow a successful small
business. But, despite his impressive track record, he still finds it difficult
to obtain business funding.
Since first taking out a loan from BFS Capital 10 years ago, Marc has
used the funds for a variety of reasons. Sometimes he needed funds
for paying taxes. Sometimes he needed funds for buying inventory.
Sometimes he just needed funds to get through a slow period of business.
In October 2012, like many other businesses in New York,
Parrots of the World took a hit from Hurricane Sandy.
“We had a horrible situation because we’re in the south shore of
Long Island that had flooding and all sorts of issues,” Marc recalled.
“And, of course we had no power, so we weren’t selling anything.”
Marc didn’t even attempt to take out a bank loan to cover any of the
hurricane-related costs.
“If you’re going to deal with a bank, the bank’s not going to help you
in that respect, because, why should they? You have nothing to show
them,” Marc said. “But right away, BFS helped me out and kept me
going and helped me back on my feet until the hurricane was over.”
Running a business for 36 years, Marc knows that for his business to
continue growing, he’s going to need an influx of working capital to help
him take it to the next level. When asked if he expects to turn to BFS
Capital again to fulfill his funding needs, Marc’s response says it all:
“ Oh, sure I will. We are in the middle of a recession in New York and
still post hurricane. Banks will not help you these days at all. They
turn a cold eye to any medium or small business. Unless, of course,
everything is perfect, and if our lives were perfect, we wouldn’t have
small businesses.”
Working in the restaurant industry is not for the faint of heart. But, this isn’t
news to Harry Hatzis, restaurant owner of Harry’s Steak House located in
Independence, Ohio. He’s been in the restaurant industry all his life.
“My father had a restaurant, so I grew up working in a restaurant,” said
Harry. “Since I was 14, 15 years old, I’ve been in the restaurant business.”
There’s no denying that the business is in Harry’s blood. And, it’s no secret that he
knows the formula for running a successful restaurant. Already the owner of one
restaurant, he bought the establishment that is now Harry’s Steakhouse in 1997.
According to their website, Harry’s Steak House boasts specially-aged cuts of
meat that are selected from corn-fed cattle, with all steaks cut and trimmed on
site. And taking a look at the restaurant’s reviews, it’s clear that the priority of
Harry and his staff are high quality food and excellent customer service.
Harry knew full well that capital was part of the equation of a thriving
restaurant, especially one that a business owner intends to grow.
“When I was expanding my old restaurant, I needed the money,”
Harry said. “A little expansion here, a little marketing there, you know.”
But he knew that money was hard to come by when the bank was involved.
Harry has borrowed money on several occasions from BFS Capital. He
used funding to expand his new restaurant, including adding a parking lot
and installing a new roof on the building.
And, he fully intends to use financing from BFS Capital the next time that
he is in need of an influx of capital.
If you spoke to Warren Leighton 15 years ago and told him he would be
co-owner of a growing high-end tabletop and gift retail store in Center City
Philadelphia, he probably wouldn’t have believed you.
The head of Executive Compensation at First Union Bank, Warren had an
“opportunity to retire early” when First Union Bank was acquired by Wachovia
in 2001. So at 45, the newly-retired Warren and his business partner, Barry
Terris, moved to Philadelphia and opened Manor Homes and Gifts.
Barry had always worked in retail, and his last position as General Manager for
The May Department Stores headquarters (now a part of Macy’s) made him an
ideal business partner for this venture. Warren had intended to return to personal
financial planning, which was a big part of what he did at First Union, but when
Manor Homes and Gifts took off pretty quickly, he found his new calling.
And 10 years later, he continues to be an integral part of Manor Homes
and Gifts success. Warren attributes much of the store’s success to their
online presence.
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To this day, much of their business is done online, although the changing
demographics of Center City Philadelphia has certainly presented an
opportunity to grow.
According to Warren, as high-rise condos and apartment buildings replaced
office buildings, the area became much more residential as opposed to the
traditional mid-size city business district it once was.
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The changing dynamics of the area presented a huge opportunity for Warren
to grow his existing location. The influx of residential development means more
potential customers and building clientele on the business’ already established
reputation for high-quality products.
Rather than opening additional locations, Warren has other plans for growing
the business.
“We don’t intend to open any more storefronts, because what we’ve found,
especially with our price points, you really have to have a definite
connection to your customer base and develop a following that way.
And we just don’t feel that you can do that remotely,” Warren said.
However, growth of any kind requires business capital, something that Manor
Homes and Gifts has struggled to obtain on occasion.
“Since the economic downturn in 2008,” said Warren, “most of our vendors
are no longer able to extend terms to retailers. In the current environment,
cash flow is probably our biggest challenge. Our ability to do advertising
and marketing quite often gets hamstrung because the cash may not be
there because business may be off a bit in a particular month.”
But, that all changed when a local BFS Capital broker
approached Warren.
With quick access to capital and a simple approval process, the funding solutions
from BFS Capital proved to fit Manor Homes and Gifts’ business model while
fulfilling their financing needs.
Warren just took out his seventh loan from BFS Capital. Whether he needed an
influx of capital when business was slow or he needed to smooth out cash flow
when his vendors were unable to extend credit the way they used to, funding
from BFS Capital has proven to be a tremendous help in bridging the financing
gap necessary to grow Manor Homes and Gifts.
In a world where there’s no shortage of grease-filled fast food options, it can
be pretty intimidating to compete in the quick-service industry with a more
health-conscious product. But business owners, like Rosa Sinaeian, want to
cut through the noise and offer healthier alternatives to the typical American
fast food staple.
That’s why it was a no-brainer for Rosa to open a Washington D.C. location
of the Sandella’s Flatbread Café franchise in 2009.
Sandella’s website boasts all-natural, fat free, trans-fat free and low calorie
food based on the flatbread. And, they don’t sacrifice healthy food for flavor,
as their slogan “Where Healthy Meets Delicious” implies. After being in
business for years, Rosa has found that the “healthier fast food” niche still has
significant opportunities as she’s seen her customer-base continue to grow.
So much so that when she needed to invest in new equipment this year,
it was important that she had quick access to capital so she could keep
serving her customers.
That’s when Rosa discovered BFS Capital. Having previously had a poor
experience with another company, Rosa was a bit skeptical at first, but the
postcard she received in the mail from BFS Capital enticed her to explore
the options she had available to her.
And she’s certainly glad that she did.
The simple application process and the friendly staff at BFS Capital, not
to mention the quick access to funds, proved to be just the help that Rosa
needed. She used the capital to refurbish old equipment and stock up on
supplies to meet the needs of her patrons.
Rosa hopes to open another location in the very near future to keep up
with demand, possibly in a busy part of town or even in the airport.
A beautician by trade, Melissa enjoyed helping her clients achieve the look
they wanted. And when she opened Gloss Salon and Day Spa, she found that
helping her employees grow brought her just as much enjoyment.
“I knew the kind of place that I wanted people to come to, and I also
knew the kind of place I would want to work in, and I feel like that is
what I built,” Melissa said. “I wanted people to feel welcome and I
wanted employees to have a place to grow and really help people
and just have a good life doing something they love doing.”
According to the website, Gloss can be described as “the essence of what
total overall beauty is all about.” And in the 6600 square foot, two-story
location, Melissa does her best to ensure that every customer that walks
through her door has an exceptional experience. An aspiration she’s
certainly achieved - Gloss Salon and Day Spa won first place in 2014
for the “Best Day Spa” in Omaha Magazine’s Best of Omaha awards.
But, running a salon is no small feat, especially in the early days
of the business.
“It’s always a challenge to bring clients in the door, being a small
business and without having a huge advertising budget,” Melissa
said. “And, just recruiting really good employees. In the beginning,
that was always a challenge, just finding the right fit of people.”
Melissa first opened the doors of her salon in 2002. Over the years that
Gloss has been in operation, Melissa has learned that one thing you need
in order to grow a successful salon is capital.
At the time she opened, getting money from the bank was difficult for any
small business, let alone for a new salon. That’s when Melissa found out
about BFS Capital.
“ I think I had received something in the mail, so I went online and looked
to see what the stipulations were around that time,” Melissa recalled.
“No banks were really lending, and it was a long process to take out a
normal loan. I wanted to look for an option that was quick and easy.”
For Melissa, doing business with BFS Capital just made sense.
Melissa has used funding from BFS Capital several times throughout her
business’s growth.
“Every time (I borrowed) it has been a little different. I wouldn’t say
every time the money goes to one specific thing,” Melissa said.
“When we hit that ten year mark, a lot of things had to be updated or
renovated, so usually some portion goes to that each time. Actually,
one of the things we did was the spa renovation. Some of it was for
purchasing inventory near our busy time. A lot of it has been used
toward advertising near the holidays because that’s when we have the
highest influx of new customers.”
And, the days of growth are not over for the Gloss Salon and Day Spa.
Melissa plans to add additional rooms to accommodate her growing
client-base and hasn’t ruled out the possibility of opening another location.
Donna and Mossimo had always hoped that one day they could expand their
popular coffee shop, Cafferia 360, to sell wine and food in addition to their
signature artisan cappuccinos, lattes and espressos. And when the jewelry
store next door to their shop closed, they spotted their opportunity and
decided the time had come to take their business to the next level, much
to the delight of their loyal customers.
“We hemmed and hawed for a long time and couldn’t decide if we
should take the space next door or not,” Donna said. “We wanted
to but we didn’t know because it was quite expensive, with the
rent and expanding just a coffee shop. We just weren’t sure.”
“But everyone was eager and enthusiastic and telling us ‘Yes!
You guys have to get next door! There’s never space and we come
all this way and get here and we can’t get in because it’s packed.’
A busy business is a good problem to have for any business owner. But
Cafferia 360 had become so popular that they had to start turning a lot of
people away.
“People would drive 30 minutes to come to our place on a Saturday
and Sunday and they couldn’t get in,” Donna said. “During the week
it was different. People work and they were always coming and going.
And whoever did come, they tried to drink their coffee and have their
pastries quickly if they saw people waiting to sit – people were very
polite and would leave so somebody else could come and enjoy their
coffee. It was working out during the week, but on the Saturday and
Sunday, who wants to come for five minutes and just quickly drink
their coffee and leave?”
After much deliberation and negotiations with their landlord, the two finally
decided to take the plunge and expand their shop.
In addition to Cafferia 360, Donna and Mossimo work with the liquor
commission in their province of Manitoba and are wine agents and food
importers in Manitoba and Ontario. Mossimo moved to Manitoba 10 years
ago from Italy, and with already established relationships with Italian wineries,
importing was a natural fit. So in expanding their shop, they were now in a
better position to introduce food and wine to their market.
Expansion was the logical next step for the coffee shop and everything
was coming together nicely for Donna and Mossimo – or so it seemed.
They needed to knock down a wall to connect their 500 square foot café
with the 1200 square foot space next door, which required the services of an
engineer and an architect. In addition to the construction, they also needed
all the proper licenses to serve their new products.
In order to sell wine, they needed to apply for a liquor license. But to apply
for a liquor license, they first needed to prove they had an occupancy of at
least 20 people. With the addition of the new space, they were able to seat
32 people inside and another 25 outside, so that wasn’t an issue. The
curveball was that in Canada, in order to have the occupancy permit required
for the liquor license, you need to have air conditioning. Your space needs
to be ventilated in a certain way in order to accommodate all the patrons.
This was an expense the two had not accounted for. Having already signed
a contract with their landlord, they were unable to include provisions for air
conditioning in the terms of their lease agreement and were forced to pay
for the installation of air conditioning completely out of pocket.
The unexpected expense threw a monkey wrench in their growth plans
and the two thought that maybe they had made a mistake.
And on top of all the costs of expansion, the business remained busy, forcing
Mossimo to train others in the art of making his artisan coffees, adding
employee costs to the once two-man operation.
Eventually, the air conditioning, occupancy license and liquor license all
fell into place and the two were ready to revamp the new space. The only
problem was that they had already spent most of their money.
With the funding they received from BFS Capital, Donna and Mossimo were
able to completely revamp their space, bringing their Italian flair to Manitoba.
They’ve lined their shelves with authentic Italian groceries, introduced a wine
menu that perfectly pairs with their gourmet paninis, salads and pizzas, and are
finally able to accommodate all their customers. It’s been a dream come true.
“When we were opening our coffee shop back in 2012, it was always
with the intention to expand it to bring in the food and wine.” Donna
remembered.
“We wanted to get in with the coffee and then we would work on getting
the wine and food in there, too. And, it took a while, but I was ecstatic
when they said your (liquor) license is ready to be picked up. I thought
‘Wow, this is an opportunity where we can really make money!’”
What’s next for Cafferia 360? There are some great growth opportunities on the
horizon for this business. Let’s just say, their growth plans don’t end with this
single expansion.
Products offered by BFS Capital and affiliates are not consumer loans. These products can be
either Business Loans or Merchant Cash Advances. Business Loans may be provided by third
parties and are subject to lender approval. Loans to borrowers in California will be made or
arranged pursuant to a California Finance Lenders Law license in California by BFS West, Inc.
Funding subject to processing by the receiving bank.