These days, a lot of people have a side gig either because they need the money or they have a hobby that is easily monetizable. In either case, there are a lot of small businesses that people are working on in their free time. But sometimes, those businesses start small and grow more rapidly than expected.
In 2019, two friends graduated from college in Arizona, and they were looking for a way to pay off their student loans more quickly. They decided to start manufacturing custom keychains and coasters for small businesses to use for promotion. The business initially started out very small, with just a few orders from supportive acquaintances.
After impressing a few of their friends, the business grew organically through word of mouth.
Initially, the laser cutting could be completed on a few small laser cutters purchased from Amazon. But while their business grew, they found themselves having to be very hands-on during the production process. Two years after starting their endeavor, they decided that it was time to invest in commercial-grade laser cutting machines. While their business was expanding quickly, it did not have $50,000 on hand to purchase the new equipment.
The friends turned to an equipment loan to fund the purchase. Because they were young and newly graduated, they had credit in the low 600s. Even with the lower-than-ideal credit score and the short history of the business, they were able to apply for an equipment loan and obtain financing.
Once they had successfully applied for the loan, they were able to purchase the equipment within three days. It took a few weeks to deliver, but they were up and running within a month of their initial application. The 5 year term of the loan kept the loan payments reasonable compared to their operating income.
With the new equipment, the manufacturing processing time was cut by 50%, and they were able to spend less time overseeing the actual manufacturing. With the additional time available, they focused their attention on marketing and building their business.
Casey has 12 years of technical writing experience. She is also a CPA and bookkeeper. Casey graduated from the University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) with a B.A. in mathematics and currently resides in San Diego, CA.
