A premium specialty bakery had grown from $5 million in revenue to nearly $12 million in just two years. New school supply contracts were set to launch that summer, and the business needed to consolidate existing debt and secure working capital to execute. The challenge was not the business case. It was the clock. School contracts have fixed start dates, and any delay in financing would cost real revenue.
Vision
The company had already proven it could grow. The incoming school contracts represented the next level of scale, and the leadership team was not interested in losing that ground to a slow lending process. The goal was to clean up the balance sheet, secure the capital, and enter the summer ready to deliver.
Opportunity
A business growing at this pace does not get many moments where everything is lined up: the contracts are signed, the capacity is there, and the only open question is financing. This was one of those moments. The company worked with a strategic partner to bring it to Fora Financial.
Challenge
Fixed Launch Window
The school supply contracts had a hard start date. A missed deadline was not a delay, it was lost revenue the business had already built plans around.
Existing Debt Obligations
Consolidating existing facilities was a condition of moving forward. New capital alone was not sufficient; the balance sheet needed to be restructured as part of the deal.
Lenders Too Slow
A deal of this size involving credit committee approval and full underwriting typically takes weeks. The company needed a lender that could compress that timeline without compromising rigor.
How Fora Financial Helped
Working with the company's strategic partner, Fora Financial received the funding request and turned it around in three business days. The deal was underwritten, reviewed by credit committee, and closed. The structure was a traditional term loan that handled the debt consolidation while releasing $720,000 in working capital. The company had more than it originally requested, on a timeline no other lender had offered.
Results
Funded in Three Days
From submission to close, three business days. Capital was available before any deadline was at risk.
Debt Simplified
Existing obligations were consolidated under a single facility, giving the company a cleaner financial foundation going forward.
Contracts Started on Time
The summer launch proceeded as planned, with the working capital in place to execute without interruption.
Conclusion
This was a growth-stage company that needed a lender capable of moving at the speed of business rather than the speed of banking. Fora Financial delivered more than was requested, in less time than any alternative could have managed.
Why Fora Financial
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Underwritten in Days
Full credit committee review and close in three business days. The alternative was watching a contract window close.
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Collaborative Execution
The strategic partner relationship allowed for a coordinated, efficient process from submission to funding.
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More Than Requested
The original ask was $700,000. Fora Financial funded $720,000 and structured it in a way that solved more than one problem at once.