A clothing manufacturing company located in Ohio found themselves facing a dilemma. They had been producing the same uniforms for local schools, sports teams, and businesses for over a century. However, the received a very large order for custom shirts for a large corporation wanting to hand out swag to their employees. The order had a very short turn around time of three weeks that was going to waylay their other production for that entire production period.
Additionally, the order required custom fabrics and threads to be ordered very quickly and purchased at a premium. In the end, the order was highly profitable, but the manufacturing company would not be paid until the order was delivered, with the exception of a small upfront deposit.
The company simply did not have the cash available to fund the additional supply expenses and overtime hours that would be required to complete the order successfully.
Their manufacturing equipment already had loans against it so couldn’t be used as collateral for any additional loans. The company turned to an unsecured short term loan to finance the order. They were approved for a $900,000 short term loan. The company had the required tax returns and was able to provide several months of bank statements to verify their revenue. After applying for the loan, they had the funds in their bank account within two days thanks to the quick underwriting process. The loan carried an interest rate that was higher than their equipment financing, but with the profitable order on the line, the additional interest expense on the loan was worth it.
Once they received the funds, they were able to pay their suppliers and obtain the materials necessary for production. When the next payroll came around, the company was able to pay its employees for all their regular and overtime. Because the use of the funds was not dictated by the loan terms, when one of their production machines broke down, they were able to use the loan funds to repair the equipment.
The order was completed on time and on budget thanks to the funds available from the unsecured short term loan. The company then sought out additional contracts with corporate clients to create custom shirts and found that there was a great demand for such products, especially when produced by a company that could meet quick turnaround times.
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.
