Term Loans in the Big Country and Concho Valley

Big purchases in small markets

This editorial grouping covers 27 counties in west central Texas, from Taylor and Tom Green to Brown, Nolan, Scurry, Runnels and McCulloch. It is a region of regional hub towns and long stretches between them. A business in a town like that tends to serve a wide area, which means the largest costs are often vehicles and equipment, not storefronts.

When the big purchase is a truck, a piece of machinery or a building improvement, the thing you need is a lump sum, not a flexible cushion. That is where a term loan is the more natural fit.

Three questions before you commit

Does the asset earn its keep?

A second service truck earns if it keeps a technician in the field; a larger trailer earns if the hauling work is there to fill it. Write down the jobs it will do.

What happens in a slow stretch?

Regional economies can swing with agriculture, weather and energy activity at the edge of the basin. A purchase that pays only in a good year is a risk; one that still pays in an average year is a better fit.

Is this a purchase or a gap?

If the need is covering payroll between invoices, that is working capital, not a term loan. Mixing the two is the most common reason an otherwise sound request goes sideways.

Typical uses in the Concho Valley and Big Country

• Replacing or adding a service vehicle, trailer or piece of equipment.
• Building or upgrading a shop, a yard or a storefront.
• Buying a larger volume of inventory ahead of a season or a price change.
• Purchasing a competing business, a customer list or a set of equipment from a retiring owner.
• Hiring and training a second crew before the extra work arrives.

Writing the request

A good request is short. It says what the money buys, what it costs, when the money is needed and where repayment comes from. For illustration, with round numbers that are not our terms: a $90,000 equipment purchase that lets a contractor take on one more crew's worth of work. The owner should be able to say which customers are the reason for the second crew. If you cannot name them, it may be too early.

The funding facts

The application takes about five minutes and uses a soft credit pull. Funding runs from $25,000 to $5,000,000 and can arrive in as little as 24 hours. Sole proprietors can apply.