Working Capital in the Big Country and Concho Valley

A region of hubs and long distances

This editorial grouping covers 27 counties in west central Texas, from Taylor and Tom Green to Brown, Nolan, Scurry, Runnels, McCulloch and Callahan. Between the hub towns lie long stretches of ranch and farm country, so a business in a hub serves a very large trade area, and a business in a small county seat may be the only one of its kind for miles.

Questions an owner might ask, answered one at a time

My customers pay when the cattle or crop sells. What do I do in between?

That is the textbook case for working capital. Costs come first; income comes at sale. Match the amount to the stretch between them and be ready to explain when the income is expected.

I run the only parts store in the county. Can inventory be funded?

Yes, you can apply as a business needing working capital. Inventory is one of the more common uses. The trick is to buy what turns, not what looks good on the shelf.

A dry year reduced my customers' spending. Is that a reason to apply?

It is a reason many businesses need a cushion, but be honest about whether the gap is temporary. A single bad season is different from a shrinking customer base.

I pay my crew weekly and my customers pay monthly.

That timing mismatch is the simplest working-capital need there is.

The state calendar does not care about the weather

Franchise tax reports are due May 15 (the next business day if that falls on a weekend or holiday), and quarterly unemployment wage reports and taxes are due by the last day of the month after each quarter ends. Sales tax filers are told by the Comptroller whether they file monthly or quarterly. A rural business whose income comes in lumps still has these dates fixed on the calendar, so it helps to plan the cash for them in advance.

A sizing example, for illustration

Not our terms. The method is the point: size the request to the gap, plus a margin for the unexpected.

Things that make a request clearer

Say what the money covers, for how long, and what ends the gap. If the answer is a harvest, a sale date or a payment from a named customer, say so. If your income is tied to a few large customers, mention how long they usually take to pay. If you have a seasonal pattern, a short summary of the last year by month is useful. None of this requires a formal business plan. It only needs to be specific enough that a stranger can follow the logic of your cash cycle in a couple of minutes.

The funding facts

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