CBJ

Merchant advance capital

www.merchantadvancecap.com

MerChant advanCe Capital 02

Finance

MerChant advanCe Capital 02

FinanCe » Merchant advance capital4

Merchant advance capital (Merchant

advance) is a canadian owned and operated

company headquartered in vancouver, B.c. the

Founder and ceO, david Gens, comes from

a family of entrepreneurs, and with his back-

ground in finance, he saw the opportunity in the

market to provide alternative financing to small

businesses, offering short term loans that these

businesses would most likely not be able to

receive from the mainstream canadian banks.

“this form of financing is more common

in the U.S., and has been in this market since

1990s. When i started to research this form of

financing in canada, i spoke to small business

owners, and nobody heard of it at that time,

so that got me excited about the idea. i always

wanted to do something entrepreneurial, so i

took the leap and launched Merchant advance

capital,” says Gens, as he took on the challenge

in 2010, and started helping small canadian

business to find the capital they needed. While

the market saw new players coming into this

finance landscape, according to Gens, there

are only about four larger players (including

Merchant advance) in this niche market in

canada today.

the Small Businessthe small business often faces the challenge

of financing projects, business cross-

roads, and needs of day-to-day operations.

david Gens, Founder, president & ceO dean drysdale, chairman

5JanUarY 2014 « the canadian Business Journal

Merchant advance provides alternative

financing to a wide range of businesses

including restaurants, pubs, clothing stores,

convenience stores, coffee shops, auto repair

shops, clinics, franchise operations, hotels,

and many others across canada. if these busi-

nesses have been in business for over one

calendar year, they are qualified to apply for a

“merchant advance” or “small business loan”,

and receive cash funding of up to $125,000

per location from Mac.

“Our clients are the small ‘mom & pop’

stores that will likely never be able to receive

financing from a bank. it’s very difficult for a

single location business – a store, a restaurant,

etc. – to get a business loan. this trend has

been forming for decades with the canadian

banks reducing their small business loans.”

Merchant advance capital does not instill

any caveats and limitations as how the business

is to spend the merchant advance. popular uses

for a merchant advance include inventory pur-

chases, allowing the business to take advantage

of special deals or unexpected opportunities;

covering growth capital expenditures such as

renovations, equipment purchases, advertising,

or even business acquisitions; and debt reduction

and emergency cash requirements such as tax

payments or other obligations.

in practice, the company’s merchant

advance program takes future cash flows

and turns them into immediate cash that the

david Gens, Founder, president & ceO/ alex chisholm, Marketing & client Manager/ alexandra Suto, Operations Manager/ dominick St-denis, head of Underwriting & Systems design

FinanCe » Merchant advance capital6

businesses can use right away, while the bal-

ance is paid off automatically through a portion

of future debit and credit card sales, or through

an automatic fixed daily payment (if the business

does not receive many debit/credit transactions).

Gens strives to provide an easy and fast

way for small businesses to acquire financing.

Merchant advance does not require collateral,

and offers both variable and fixed payment

options (payments are made automatically).

Financing is clear and simple with no hidden

fees, fast (the company can provide funding in as

little as five business days), and a portion of pay-

ments to the company are also tax deductible.

“We finance businesses that have been

in business for at least one year, so we

understand their cash flow, the seasonality of

the business, and we are very diligent in our

underwriting. We currently serve some 250

business, and our model is designed to retrieve

the full return within one year’s time, but that’s

subject to each business’ cash flow, and we are

looking to realize investor returns between 10

and 20 per cent,” says Gens.

in its short existence, the company has

supported many canadian businesses and the

reception of the service has been tremendous.

Besides financing, Merchant advance provides

its clients a window to the larger view, educat-

ing clients on how the service can benefit their

business, whether the money is earmarked for

renovation, expansion, or to increase sales.

alex chisholm, Marketing & client Manager/david Gens, Founder, president & ceO/dominick St-denis, head of Underwriting & Systems design/alexandra Suto, Operations Manager

7JanUarY 2014 « the canadian Business Journal

Your Corporate Search and Registration Specialists.

A full service search company catered to legal, financial and business professionals specializing in Corporate Record Searches and Filings, Due

Diligence and PPSA Registry Services. We save you time and money by going directly to the source.

www.centrolegalworks.com416.599.4040 | 1.877.239.6616search@centrolegalworks.com

Proud service providers of Merchant Advance Capital

needless to say, it is a risky business sup-

porting small businesses through unsecured

loans. that is why Merchant advance’s research

and diligence towards each applicant are para-

mount to protect the investment. the Merchant

advance team thoroughly analyzes the profit-

ability of each business, and determines the

potential of the loan, the amount and the with-

holding percentage or daily payment that will

be profitable for Merchant advance, but will not

infringe on the cash flow and the operation of

the business in question.

“We have to remain disciplined in our under-

writing, and shore the temptation of taking on

more risk when things go well. Of course if there

is bad debt, we need to do our best to ensure

we recover funds for our investors. there are

also challenges affiliated with business growth,

finding more clients, processing more deals and

positioning the staff efficiently to do so. So there

are many exciting challenges to be concerned

about,” concluded Gens. CBJ

https://www.merchantadvancecap.com/

alex chisholm, Marketing & client Manager/david Gens, Founder, president & ceO/dominick St-denis, head of Underwriting & Systems design/alexandra Suto, Operations Manager

aS Seen in the JanUarY 2014 iSSUe OF the canadian BUSineSS JOUrnal

GEORGE MEDIANETWORK

WWW.cBJ.ca | WWW.irJOnline.cOM | WWW.taBJ.cO.Za | WWW.aUBJ.cOM.aU | WWW.aBJUSa.cOM