The Client: SaviLinx
SaviLinx offers technology support and business processing services to big companies and government agencies. The Maine-based firm is growing fast. In fact, it was recently named one of the fastest growing private companies in the country by Inc. Magazine.
That’s pretty impressive for a four-year old company, and it’s partly thanks to Bluevine, says founder and CEO Heather Blease: “I will say that Bluevine was really an important part of our growth.”
What SaviLinx Needed
Cash For Bigger Projects
SaviLinx started with two employees and a few small business customers. The company ramped up quickly. But taking on bigger deals became tough because of limited financing.
It’s the typical dilemma faced by small firms that are just starting out: a bigger customer wants to work with you, but you don’t have the cash to take on the project.
Payroll was the SaviLinx team’s most pressing concern, and the company frequently faced what Heather calls “the classic timing problem” of having to pay its employees “before we receive the cash from our invoices.”
Alternative to Traditional Banks
Heather Blease tried traditional banks, which she quickly realized is a challenging option for a business that’s just starting out: “Banks like to have companies that have three years of profitable financials or at least three years of solid financials with recent full years of profitability. We were new and growing and we were not quite there yet.”
Alternative to Traditional Factoring
Heather also tried invoice factoring which allows businesses to take cash advances on unpaid invoices, giving them access to capital trapped in accounts receivables.
It’s a centuries-old system. But traditional factoring companies are known for stringent requirements. For example, traditional invoice financing firms typically seek significant control over a businesses’ invoicing operations. “It seemed all rainbows and unicorns at first,” Heather says, “but once I started reviewing their documents, some of their terms were really outlandish.”
How Bluevine Helped
Reasonable, No-Hassle Financing
SaviLinx eventually found Bluevine which Heather says quickly became a reliable and flexible financing partner that offered her team “reasonable” terms.
“I may have had some issues with language or whatever,” she recalls. “Bluevine was willing to look at my concern and address it and make a change. Some of these larger older invoice financing companies would never make any changes. It’s our way or the highway essentially.”
Getting advances on invoices on the Bluevine platform was seamless and hassle-free, Heather says: “We were able to very quickly and easily use the portal to request funding against our invoices. We would get funding often by the end of the day. It’s really a quick turnaround in terms of the funding.”
Cash To Pounce On New Opportunities
With the quick turn around, Heather’s team didn’t have to worry about not having the funds to take on new projects and customers. SaviLinx could use unpaid invoices to get quick access to capital.
The more SaviLinx worked with Bluevine the stronger the partnership became, which offered Heather’s team even more financing flexibility.
“Bluevine was more than willing to increase our line of credit as they saw our business growing,” she says. “All I needed to do was ask: ‘We’re going to need a little bit more.’ So long as we had the invoices to back as collateral they were very willing to add to our credit which was helpful.”
“It was just a really great relationship,” she adds. “Bluevine funded quickly and they got paid back on a regular basis.”
Explosive Growth
Easy access to financing paved the way for SaviLinx’s explosive growth, says Heather Blease: “We were probably around $2 million to $3 million a year in revenue when we started with Bluevine. We finished last year at $11 million.”
From a tiny firm with a couple of employees, SaviLinx now has a staff of more than 300.
“Bluevine was really an important part of our growth. If we didn’t have Bluevine, we probably would have had to sell more equity in our company to have the cash we needed to grow. In that way, Bluevine was valuable.”
Financing Took Company To Next Level
Eventually, with the lift it got from its partnership with Bluevine, SaviLinx achieved the strength to qualify for traditional bank financing, becoming a company that’s “profitable, stable and predictable.”
“Bluevine helped us through a critical period of our growth,” she says.
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.
More From the Bluevine Business Blog:
Small Business Loans and Financing: A Bluevine Guide
Invoice Factoring Basics: How To Pick A Factoring Company
Business Line of Credit: A Smart Financing Option for Entrepreneurs
