At year’s end, I reflect on the past year and appreciate how fortunate and blessed I am to work in an industry that I love and to work with people I respect and admire.
I have had the good fortune to have prospects refer me to their colleagues because of the care that we have shown them on the initial call. Oftentimes, I get calls from people that had contacted me many years ago, that we were unable to work with at the time, and have now grown their business and are ready to work together.
Many of the ways we have assisted companies over the years have been by speaking on financing panels or writing articles to educate companies about ways to access capital that may have been unknown to them. The information I shared included factoring and/or purchase order financing and factoring, or sometimes doing a bank carve out. Oftentimes, when a client has an existing bank loan and needs to fill an order or needs excess liquidity above the loan amount, a bank will allow particular debtors to be “carved out” of their collateral so that a finance company can provide immediate liquidity.
We have also worked with companies whose businesses have gone through tough times and have needed to replace their traditional financing with receivables financing, whether they are companies in turnaround or bankruptcy. Our expertise in closing these transactions quickly and painlessly has earned us a stellar reputation in the industry.
Working with our bank partners, it is nice to know that they have us on “speed dial” to assist them when they cannot fund quickly enough and know that we can help them obtain or retain a client.
In over 20 years of business development, it has been interesting to see the changes in how business is done and the new industries that have cropped up. Traditionally financing wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers, we are now seeing a huge increase in technology clients. Whereas they were once a small part of our portfolio, our clientele of technology businesses is growing rapidly.
Recently, we had two clients connected to the innovative industry of self-driving cars. Nissan’s robocars, for example, needed human intervention once every 247 miles, compared to once every 14 miles in 2015. We have seen great changes in the food and beverage industry as well. As an attendee of The Fancy Food Show for 20 years, it is amazing to see how the food industry has evolved. In the past, it was aisle after aisle of unhealthy snack companies.
Today, the aisles are bursting with Non GMO, Gluten Free, Fair Trade, Kosher, etc. products being sold. Anything from kale chips to Kombacha juice; snacks made from chickpeas to edible drinking cups…the future of food innovation is now. Our construction clients are growing at a rapid pace as they contribute to the construction boom, especially in the NY area. The amount of New York construction permits recently tested quarter highs at 45,000, which is a great sign for what’s to come in the years to follow. As I walk through the city, I am amazed at the speed in which new hotels, residences and office towers are going up.
The wonder I feel to be living during this technological revolution makes me feel so grateful to be working in an industry that provides capital. It gives me a front seat to the future of business. Being part of many companies’ successes over the years makes me feel energized and proud.
It is so rewarding to have past clients hugging me at trade shows thanking me for assisting them during hard times, and to have clients that graduate to traditional financing who then introduce me to their colleagues. It is also so extremely satisfying to have clients who have sold their now successful companies, come back to finance their new start-up. These are the rewards of the profession that I have chosen.
Therefore, with gratitude, I thank my clients and referral partners and our team at Prestige for allowing me to Do What I Love. I especially thank WeWork for giving me such a beautiful space to work in the city that I love, and allowing me to meet and mingle with their members.
