A Permian Basin county where the smallest micropolitan area in the country sits around its seat. Service businesses here live on invoices, payroll and equipment.
Apply Now →Dawson County's seat is Lamesa. The county was created in 1876 and organized in 1905, and it is named for Nicholas Mosby Dawson, a soldier of the Texas Revolution. It makes up the Lamesa micropolitan statistical area, which by population is the smallest micropolitan area in the United States. At the 2020 census the county had 12,456 residents across about 902 square miles.
The Permian Basin, where our map places Dawson County, is the highest-producing oil field in the United States. For a small county, being part of a region like that means that local businesses can be tied to the demand of larger companies in the area, even when they are not directly part of that industry.
A crew has to be paid weekly whether or not a customer has paid its invoice. For a small service company, wages are the largest fixed cost and the one that cannot slip.
Trucks, trailers, generators, welders, compressors and shop tools do hard work and break. A single failed unit can idle a crew. Having a path to replace it quickly matters more than the exact price.
Larger customers often pay on net-30, net-45 or net-60 terms. A small supplier is, in effect, lending its customer the cost of the work until the check arrives.
For illustration only, take a small repair and fabrication shop that bills a larger customer $48,000 for a month of work on net-60 terms. During those two months it pays six employees about $26,000 in payroll, $6,000 in rent and utilities and $9,000 in parts, which adds up to around $82,000. Even if its other customers pay promptly, the shop has $48,000 outstanding for two months, and a gap that large can quickly consume the checking account.
The business is not weak; it is simply financing its customer. Working capital shifts that burden. It does not change the terms of the invoice, but it lets the shop pay its crew and its suppliers on time while it waits.
It would be easy to write a page for a Permian Basin county that talked only about drilling and wells. We prefer to look at the business itself. A trucking shop, a welding outfit, a diner, a hardware store, a tire shop and a small-engine repair business all operate here, and each has payroll, equipment and receivables of its own.
Describing your business in those terms, who pays you, how often, how much, and what you need to cover until they do, is more useful than describing the industry around you. The cash-flow mechanics are the same in every county.
We look at the cash-flow mechanics of the business: payroll, equipment and receivables. Describe how your invoices are paid, how many people you employ and what you need to buy or cover. Funding runs from $25,000 to $5,000,000, funding can arrive in as little as 24 hours, and the credit check at the start is a soft pull. Sole proprietors can apply. The application takes about five minutes.
The Lamesa micropolitan area is the smallest micropolitan area in the United States by population.
Lamesa.
The Permian Basin.
Yes. Net-30 to net-60 invoice terms are a common reason for working capital.
Yes.
Three months of business bank statements and a 5-minute application. FICO 500+ considered. $25,000 to $5,000,000, funded in as little as 24 hours.
Apply Now →It takes about two minutes and it will not affect your credit score.
No obligation • No impact to your credit score
