Meet Your Lendio Funding Manager: Steve Crosby

Lendio’s funding managers make the process of accessing capital for your business simpler. They ask the right questions so they can help you narrow down the list of options you receive to ensure you’re getting the right loan or other financing product for your business’s unique situation. Learn more as we meet a Lendio funding manager.

Funding manager: Steve Crosby

Lendio employee since 2019

Favorite part of being a funding manager: “I like finding ways to have money make more money and that’s what we do.”

Interesting fact: Struck by lightning 11 years ago … on Friday the 13th

Q: Why is “speed” important when you’re working with a small business owner who needs financing?

A: Sometimes you’re working with an applicant who needs the money tomorrow. Maybe they need to make payroll, or they have a job they’re trying to complete but their contractor needs payment upfront or they’ll need to find another contractor. Regardless of the situation, the sooner the business owner has access to the money they need, the sooner the business can put that money to use earning more money. 

Q: As a funding manager, you walk people through the financing process and their options. Does that human interaction ever slow things down? 

A: Working with funding manager can actually make the process more efficient. Say I know that a business owner needs the money right away. Then I can look to see what they qualify for and identify the lenders on their list who are faster to work with. When you’ve been doing this for a while, you build relationships with the lenders — so I know which lenders are quick, which ones are easy to work with and can ensure a smooth process. In some instances, if we had more time, we’d probably look at some of the other lenders and offers, too—ones that require more information or maybe more time. It’s part of why it’s so important to talk to your funding manager: so we can focus on the offers that are going to work best for your situation. There’s a big difference in the approach when the business owner needs the money now versus needing the money in a few months.

Q: What happens when a small business loan applicant doesn’t have the  paperwork they need?

A: Profit-and-loss statement, year-to-date balance sheet, and a debt schedule—those are the three documents that take applicants a little time to collect. If the applicant doesn’t have them, they either have to get them from their accountant, or if they don’t have an accountant, they have to figure out how to get those documents online. 

However, those three documents are required for certain types of loans, so you don’t always need them, but when you do need them and don’t have them, that can slow everything down.

If the applicant doesn’t have them and I know time is a factor, we take a look together at what the business owner’s best financing options are with the documents we do have to see if any of those would be a good fit. That way, we can get something set up for the business owner right now. And if the owner still wants to try something that’s a little longer term, by getting some financing now, that gives the business owner more time to put the other documents together. 

Ready to work with your own funding manager? Start the process by applying now.