Thinking Outside the Box – When Traditional Financing Isn’t Available

You have a great business idea. It’s well-researched, you have set aside money for an equity injection and you have a solid business plan.

Now all you need is financing.

Is your next call the local bank?

Not necessarily.

Just as you are the expert in your own business, we are an expert in ours. You should know a little bit about what banks are considering as they are evaluating your business ideas to decide whether or not to fund them.

Banks are not that interested in new ideas:

It’s true. Banks want to fund businesses that have a proven track record of success. So, bank underwriters want to see business owners who have a hefty paper trail of documents showing previous successes. Brick and mortar lenders are typically not willing to take a risk on a brand-new concept, even if the loan applicant is an experienced business person.

Each bank has a finite amount of money for each variety of loan:

Bank management set goals and limit funding decisions based upon those goals. Each bank has different “buckets” – these could be buckets for various industries, buckets for businesses that are in a specific geographic area or even buckets that do or do not qualify for Small Business Association (SBA) guarantees. Some banks won’t do any construction loans; others have ample funding for construction.

If you don’t understand the allocations and the risk-averse nature of each specific bank management team, you may be wasting your time and money by applying for a loan that the bank will not eventually close.

We encourage you to call GRP Capital first with your innovations and ideas.

We advise our clients in two specific ways: securing traditional lending or finding other avenues when traditional lending is not the answer.

If we feel that your business can find funding in the traditional marketplace, we help match your needs with one of our many lending partners. By doing our due diligence on your behalf and knowing the goals of the various lenders, we have found greater success in sourcing
funding and more expedient loan closings for a large variety of clients.

We also evaluate if your business is a good candidate for funding with the GRP Capital Debt Fund. Having the vast resources of the GRP Capital Debt Fund allows us to secure funding when traditional lenders are not the correct solution. We have successfully provided loans for acquisitions, interim refinances and construction shortages.

GRP Capital can help secure funding for a variety of projects in construction, hospitality, storage, senior housing, student housing, retail and office space and medical buildings.

The Learning Experience – New Haven, CT

The Learning Experience property was not a cookie cutter business and needed some expert assistance to secure funding. The majority of the costs in starting this business were rolled into franchise fees. Our client was not required to supervise construction or remodeling but would instead receive a turnkey operation. This setup is not a typical SBA one and GRP Capital and our lending partner had to make the case with the leadership of the SBA that the business model was a sound one and that our client, who already owned a Learning Experience in another location, was worthy of funding.

Our client received funding and was able to start the school year with a pristine facility, ready for children and teachers.

Springhouse Living – Cartersville, GA

GRP Capital Debt Fund stepped in to fund Springhouse Living in Cartersville, Georgia. Our clients saw the facility, a former hotel, and realized that it had the bones to be utilized for greater profit as an assisted living facility. In addition, the facility would be located in an underserved area, where residents had to travel untenable distances for assisted living options.

GRP Capital believed in our clients’ ability to oversee the conversion and to achieve the necessary cash flow to pay back their loan. This was a perfect use of the GRP Capital Debt Fund, sourcing financing when traditional lenders were reluctant to do so. Move-ins to the new facility are expected in April.

Whether you are expanding your existing portfolio or investing in your first business, GRP Capital has the resources to help you meet your required capital needs. Our services include divisions of Real Estate Capital Markets, Small Business Financing, Construction Lending, GRP Capital Debt Fund, and Consulting and Advisory. Learn more at grpcapital.com.

We are a leader in commercial lending, advising, and investing because we are experienced, connected, and invested. Contact us to start the conversation.