Whenever you watch a sporting event whether it’s baseball, football, hockey, basketball or some other sport, the objective is to score as many points as possible to beat your opponent. I usually score really high at my favorite sport–unfortunately it involves golf clubs and a little white ball. The same is true for the factoring business.
Whether your company is a startup or a seasoned veteran your goal is to score points in the form of revenues while keeping expenses low and eventually turning a profit. There are tons of marketing strategies, that can range anywhere from hiring a salesforce to execute your game plan, internet marketing, social media, and a myriad of others that will best suit your company. Experience has taught us that it’s best to have several irons in the fire that compliment your overall message. For example, social media might be a great way to get potential customers to learn about the goods or services your company provides as well as getting them to attend an event your company is having on a specific date.
Starting A Factoring Business
When we first started our factoring company we had a very specific niche that we were prepared to target since we had experience in that industry, in previous jobs not related to factoring. However, we quickly learned the market was oversaturated with competitors who had been in business for many years. The margins were extremely tight and the competition was fierce. Rather than fight a losing battle we cast a wider net to include other similar industries while focusing on a specific business profile. It didn’t happen overnight but we managed to fund a few, find our sweet spot and as they say the rest was history. This is not to say we rest on our laurels as we realize there are a ton of new competitors entering the asset based lending space every month.
I remember when I got started in the factoring business there were tons of people whispering in my ear as to the best way to find new clients. One friend suggested we align ourselves with a hard money lender, another thought we should hire an SEO professional to get loads of likes and followers on Facebook and Twitter. This is not to say these were poor strategies but it wasn’t who we were as a company. The first and most important step for any company is to look inside first to see who you are and how to project your image to new customers, colleagues and shareholders. Our core values are integrity, transparency and dedication. From there we built our mission to be a first class provider of cash flow to businesses with exceptional service and superior product knowledge.
Stay true to your message and most importantly believe in your core values. Eventually you will score a few points and maybe that golf score might get a little lower.
Don D’Ambrosio is the president of Oxygen Funding, Inc., an invoice factoring company located in Lake Forest, California. For more information, he can be reached at don.dambrosio@oxygenfunding.com or you can visit his company’s website at www.oxygenfunding.com