Jesse Urrutia invested in his love for video production by starting MarketME Video, a full service visual content company located in the San Francisco Bay Area that specializes in videos for Kickstarters, corporate, and lifestyle brands.
What the Business Needed
Cash Flow Challenge
“My challenge is always cash flow,” Jesse says. MarketME clients typically pay 50 percent in advance for a product, and the rest after it’s completed.
Jesse uses the advance for production expenses such as payroll, equipment rentals, and logistics. “There’s not much profit for me,” Jesse says. Aside from production costs, “I also have to pay my bills, such as rent.”
Waiting to Be Paid in Full
Waiting for the final payment is “the tricky part,” Jesse says, “especially if the production actually costs more than the advance and a new month is starting. The backflow of payments can sometimes translate into overdue bills.”
Derailed By Delayed Payments
MarketME has several contracts with solid companies, Jesse says. But in video production, delays happen. “Sometimes product modifications or manufacturing delays or changes in our client’s management can affect the timely payment of our contracts.” This typically means getting paid later which inevitably triggers cash flow gaps for Jesse and his team.
“If one customer pays even just a few days late, it can really put us all behind,” Jesse says.
How Bluevine Helped
Easier Access to Funding
Bluevine helped make this juggling act work for his business. Jesse says: “It came at the right time and solved all the problems I was facing. Bluevine seemed to be the easiest and the quickest to work with.”
Easier To Take On New Projects
With Bluevine, taking on a new project is no longer a daunting challenge.
“In the past, if I didn’t have cash to pay for a production, I would just turn down the project. It’s ridiculous to turn business down because you don’t have the money, and Bluevine fixed that for us.”“There are times,” Jesse adds, “when I find myself saying, ‘Man, if I had Bluevine at that time, I probably would have made $100,000 more in revenue that year.’ It’s definitely one of those cards you want to have in your back pocket.”
You can learn more about Jesse’s business at https://www.marketmevideo.tv/.
About Growing Business With Bluevine
Our clients grow with us. They use Bluevine financing to address everyday funding needs and to pursue opportunities to take their business to the next level. This series aims to highlight the stories of small and medium-sized businesses that have grown and continue to grow with Bluevine.
