
Sunday 7th of January 2018 11:18:16 AM
My company has been in business for about 4 years and all of which have been profitable. Last year we did over 1.4 Million in sales but throughout our growth, we never sourced funding or even more than one single company credit card. Little did we know that when we hit an unusual slow patch that sourcing funding would be so difficult. I have tried to source a line of credit and/or a business term loan from 4 separate banks, both small credit unions and large national banks with no luck. I have over $500,000 worth of sellable inventory and very close to no debts. It did not make sense to me in any way I looked at the situation. To say the denial's were not just words but a giant kick in my company's stomach would be an understatement. I just about threw in the towel with sourcing any kind of funding, but then I stumbled across StreetShares while looking into registering my business as a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business and figured, I did not have much to lose at this point. After creating an account and basically pulling images off of my company's facebook and eComm site, I had my profile ready and just had to upload a couple documents. I had the fortune of already having all of the documents prepared from the previously denying banks and simply uploaded all of that information. When that was complete, I seen that I had a chance to upload documents to give the Investing parties a better idea of who was running the company and what exactly we stood for. I thought the personable approach to this process was something I remember wishing banks would do, as it allowed me to not just show our financials but what we exist for and what our driving force is for my company. After uploading some videos, customer reviews, charities we stood behind, some event photos and screenshots of various events on our facebook, I was done. I believe it was the following day when I received a phone call to simply touch base about the application and to explain the process over the phone. Honestly, it wasn't but a day or so later I was told the loan offer was going to go live and to my surprise, not 24 hours later I was told the entire amount was funded! The funds hit my bank in literally less than 48hrs! Unreal! It is very refreshing to know that there are Veteran Owned Companies that exist today, that are really in the business of helping other Veterans. I will be recommending StreetShares to anyone I hear talking about sourcing funding. You guys took Shark Tank & Ebay, put it in a blender and poured out Awesome! Keep up the great work!!!!