Notes on Specialty Finance

Every week I see the same assumption repeated: the business used cash flow financing because the bank said no. I have been in this market long enough to know that framing is wrong more often than it is correct. The bank did not decline them. The bank does not offer this product. Those are two different statements and the distinction matters at the level of the operative legal document.

I pulled the Q1 numbers this week. Five sectors are leading non-bank capital demand across the country, and they're the same five sitting on my desk most days. Here's what I see when I read these files.

I have been reviewing files for a long time. The use case for cash flow financing has changed. It used to be emergency capital for a slow month or a surprise expense. Now I open a file and the entire growth plan is built around it. New hires, new locations, inventory orders. This is the primary way most small businesses on Main Street are growing now. Not bank loans. Not SBA. Cash flow financing. When did this happen?