Thirty-nine percent more restaurant owners have sought capital for their businesses this year compared to last year, according to a new analysis from Capital Access Network (CAN), a leading provider of alternative financial products for restaurants and other Main Street businesses. The company analyzed its use of funds data from a sample of more than 13,000 loan and Merchant Cash Advance applications from restaurants over the past two years and determined:
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34 percent of the applications were requests for general working capital. Units in this category increased 53 percent this year compared to last year.
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A total of 32 percent of the requests were for capital to buy either equipment or inventory. Unit requests for inventory purchase capital are up 15 percent this year and unit requests for equipment purchase capital are up four percent.
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11 percent of the requests were for capital for remodeling projects and facilities upgrades. Units within this category are up six percent from last year.
“Restaurants are serving up growth again,” says Capital Access Network CEO Daniel DeMeo. “Upgrading and replacing equipment, stocking up on inventory, renovating facilities, opening new locations, and advertising were the reasons cited for half of our restaurant funding requests over the past two years. We’re seeing increased interest in alternative financial products that can help restaurant owners capitalize on these business growth opportunities.”
CAN got its start serving restaurants and has provided access to more than $1.5 billion to more than 22,000 restaurants, bars, and coffee shops across the country over the past 15 years.
CAN now services small businesses in 750 different industries. The company has facilitated nearly 120,000 funding transactions, giving small businesses access to more than $3 billion in working capital in the forms of business loans and Merchant Cash Advances.
CAN’s pioneering approach to evaluating small businesses enables it to approve more finance requests than others. Its innovative Daily Remittance Platform evaluates data from a wide variety of firmographic, banking, and credit card processing sources. Many of these variables aren’t even considered in the traditional risk models and processes banks and other traditional lenders use. This use of richer, more relevant data gives CAN deep insights into the inner workings of small businesses, enabling it to base approval decisions on actual performance rather than less-meaningful information such as the business owner’s personal credit scores and collateral.
