Small Business Owners of America is the 11th fastest-growing business in the U.S. Over the last three years, the short-term financier and business-building resource has experienced 12,060 percent growth. (Yes, that’s a five-figure growth rate.)
Founder James Moore says he got into the alternative finance industry at just the right time.
“I knew that banks were not going to be loosening up their guidelines for business loans anytime soon, so it was a great time to get into the alternative finance world,” he says.
Founded in 2011, “Essentially we were helping people get incorporated, we were writing business plans, we were helping people obtain tax IDs, do pitch decks,” Moore explains.
SBOOA was assisting with all the first steps a budding business needed to take to get itself to the big goal – getting money.
It was an evolution to the short-term finance finance game. First, SBOOA didn’t offer any financing options, but eventually started brokering deals. Moore would find funders and lenders outside of traditional banks to work with businesses. After brokering deals for a few years and saving up money, it was time to start directly funding them.
“We don’t broker deals anymore now, we fund them ourselves,” Moore says.
SBOOA’s financing options are not for businesses in distress or that need to catch up on bills.
“This is for growth,” Moore says.
SBOOA largely provides loans for short-term capital needs. The opportunity arises for a business to fulfill a large purchase order and they need inventory, people or equipment. A piece of machinery breaks down and the company needs to replace it quickly.
Funding is based on historical revenues (so no startups) and looks for businesses with at least a year of experience.
“We don’t care about credit as much as the company having a strong, healthy cash flow,” Moore says.
SBOOA’s average deal is $87,000, but has brokered deals as large as $800,000 and as small as $5,000. Moore says it all depends on what a business needs and what they can afford to pay back.
SBOOA helps about 100 – 120 business a year in all sorts of industries, from mom and pop shops to large manufacturing facilities. Locally, they have worked with Robert Mason, Traxler Custom Printing and Hype Socks. With it’s national reach, “About 10 percent or less of our clients are in Central Ohio,” Moore says.
That’s a percentage he would like to see grow.
As for SBOOA’s own growth, Moore knew he was in the right industry, but didn’t expect things to extrapolate as quickly as they did.
“The main factor is me being able to take on some investment money,” he says of the growth.
For the first year and a half, Moore didn’t take on any debut and used his own money to broker deals. Boasting a low default rate, he was able to attract other outside investors that wanted to fund deals – mostly wealthy individuals, doctors and friends. SBOOA hasn’t taken on any institutional or equity investors yet, but Moore says it may be something he’s open to in the future.
For more information, visit sbooa.com.