Stephenville, Texas: working capital in the Cowboy Capital

What Stephenville is

Stephenville is a city and the county seat of Erath County, on the North Bosque River, which rises nearby. It was founded in 1854 and is home to Tarleton State University. It is the principal city in the Stephenville Micropolitan Statistical Area, and it is one of several communities that call themselves the "Cowboy Capital of the World." Erath County, established in 1856, had 42,545 residents at the 2020 census and covers 1,086 square miles.

A town with an academic calendar

A university adds a rhythm of its own to a small city: busier in the fall and spring terms, quieter over summer and holiday breaks. Restaurants, shops, copy centers, apartment services and repair businesses near a campus see that pattern in their receipts. The ag side of the economy has a different calendar, tied to crops, livestock sales and weather. A shop that serves both farmers and students has to plan around both.

Two calendars, side by side

What owners do with working capital

• Stock up before a term starts, rather than during the rush.
• Cover wages through a break when receipts dip.
• Replace a work truck, stove or sound system that fails.
• Take a job or order large enough to need materials up front.

Where a small shop can lose a week

A small shop in a university and ranch town can lose a week to a failed refrigeration unit, a truck that will not start or a supplier delay. A week of lost sales is felt more by a one-location business than by a chain that can lean on other stores. Having working capital on hand is a form of insurance against those interruptions. It does not replace good bookkeeping, a reserve or the right insurance policy, but it can help a small business keep its doors open while the problem is fixed.

Sizing the request to the calendar

Because the academic and farm calendars are predictable, an owner here can usually name the weeks when cash will be thinnest. Write those weeks down, add up rent, wages, utilities and supplier bills for each, and compare the total with expected receipts. If the two do not match, the gap is a working-capital question with a definite size and a definite end date, which is the best kind to bring to any funder.

For illustration only

An imaginary Stephenville farm-and-ranch supply store spends $31,000 on inventory before a busy season and extends credit to regulars who pay after a sale. These made-up numbers show timing, not terms or a typical outcome. The store needs cash now to serve customers who will pay later.

Applying

The application takes five minutes with a soft credit pull. We consider $25,000 to $5,000,000, and sole proprietors can apply. Funding can arrive in as little as 24 hours. Read the Erath County and Dallas-Fort Worth pages, or apply.