Finance Elite Awards 2018

8 US BUSINESS NEWS / 2018 Finance Elite Awards , Best Business Loan Provider 2018 Breakout Capital Finance is a leading advocate for small business, providing innovative lending solutions to a wide range of businesses nationwide. We caught up with Carl Fairbank to find out more and explore the secrets behind the firm’s incredible success. Formally launched in early 2015, Breakout Capital is a technology- enabled direct lender that provides simple, straightforward working capital solutions to small businesses. Today, Breakout Capital is one of the fastest growing alternative lenders in the market, already providing tens of millions of dollars of working capital to hundreds of small businesses across the country. Carl provides us with a more detailed insight into the firm and the services it provides. “At Breakout Capital, we are a nationwide small business lender focused on product innovation, transparency, and responsible lending practices. Our efforts include small business finance education, to enable small business owners and decision-makers to make the best financing decision for their business. We are an advocate and leader for fairness in SMB lending to encourage access to capital without predatory practices. The structure of our loans is tailored to ensure small businesses are in the best position to grow their business.” This collaborative, supportive approach extends to both clients and staff, with the constant focus being on driving innovation in the industry and supporting clients, as Carl explains. “Our internal culture reflects our core values: transparency, collaboration, and doing the right thing. Everyone at Breakout Capital is mission, and team-oriented. Our open-door policy encourages communication, and our teaming spirit comes through in our weekly town halls and constant flow of information. We put our best foot forward while asking the question: how can we provide more value? Every employee is empowered to bring change and innovation to the small business lending space.” Since inception Breakout Capital has been at the forefront of the latest trends and developments in the small business lending market, a fact which Carl is particularly keen to share. “Breakout Capital’s core focus, since inception, has been to remain at the very cutting edge of the latest market developments. As the industry evolved, solutions were limited and not working as intended for the small business customer. We started with the borrower in mind, and developed new solutions that would work better for them – such as faster approval times, more favorable terms, an ability to have improvements in the product as their business grew. Now, we maintain our focus on innovation in both products and technology with a cutting-edge team. “Currently, within our industry there is an ongoing trend for growth in small business lending, however, it is still a fundamentally underserved market. Many small businesses do not borrow for their capital needs because they are either unaware of available products or may be scared away by some of the terms and practices. We continue to make high-quality, transparent products available that address the core reasons small businesses don’t get access to capital that will help them succeed and grow.” Adapting around these developments will be central to the ongoing success of Breakout Capital, and as such Carl is happy to discuss how economic and socio-political issues are affecting the firm and how it is adapting around these. “The business and credit cycles are the principal economic challenges that affect our sector. These independently drive demand for credit, and the performance of loans. We lend broadly across sectors and geographies, and deeply understand our borrowers’ performance, which insulates us from most of the business cycle fluctuation. As an early adopter of the SMART BoxTM, we help to prevent businesses from becoming overleveraged which reduces our exposure to macro credit risk. Our FactorAdvantageSM product is another way we create protections for both the borrower and ourselves by limiting the penetration of predatory products. “With regards to the future of our market, there are two main developments that may affect our business: the credit cycle (principally driven by rising interest rates), and regulatory change. We are largely insulated from credit cycle changes and interest rate risk based on our superior understanding of credit risk, and the deep insights we have about small business borrowers. Most regulatory efforts follow the path that we have advocated for: greater access to capital for small business with more transparent pricing, and the elimination of predatory practices.” Ultimately, despite its relative youth, Breakout Capital has achieved phenomenal success since its inception, and moving forward it will be aiming to build upon this success and grow even further, as Carl is proud to conclude. “Looking ahead, we are growing rapidly, and will be expanding our team as our origination volume and client count grows. We have a series of product and technology innovations that will be launching in the market over the next six to twelve months that will also accelerate our growth. Alongside this, at Breakout Capital we are continually expanding our distribution network with new partners and associations. All of these developments offer us a range of opportunities for further growth and prosperity which we look forward to taking advantage of over the years to come.” FEA18001