Firestarter Capital Insights
Plain-English guides for business owners in capital-hungry industries — and for the professionals who refer them.
For Business Owners
Factoring vs. loans, equipment financing, what lenders actually check — and the mistakes that get owner-operators declined.
Your real options when the walk-in dies on a Friday.
Mobilization costs, retainage, and pay-when-paid — solved.
The plainest possible breakdown of how factoring actually works.
What actually gets a challenged-credit deal approved — and what kills it.
The real underwriting factors that decide approval — beyond the number you're worried about.
Ovens, hoods, and walk-ins — the four levers that outweigh a low score, and what the money really costs.
Bonds, deposits, and six weeks of payroll before the first draw clears — the five ways contractors fund the front end.
No business history to point at — the five levers underwriters weigh instead, and the file that gets a first-timer funded.
How iron gets financed, why hours matter more than model year, what the down payment really depends on, and when leasing beats buying.
Progress billing, retainage, and the general contractor who pays when the owner pays — how factoring fits a construction file.
The startup lane, honestly: what SBA and equipment financing can and can't do before you have a single ticket printed.
For Referral Partners
How funding referrals actually work, what makes a good one, and how to vet a program before you send a single client.
How to be the hero on the no instead of losing the client for good.
What to do when a resolution plan needs a funding plan.
The recurring cash-need signals every trusted advisor should recognize — and the exact sentences that tip each one off.
The attest bright line, written disclosure, client-data consent — how accountants add a referral lane without touching the advisory relationship.
Why a quote with a payment option beside it lands differently than a quote alone — when to introduce it, what gets financed, and how to vet a partner.
What to ask before you introduce anyone, the warm-handoff script, what never to promise, and how to stay in the loop without becoming the middleman.
What "paid on funded deals" really means, why the number moves by product, how attribution and clawbacks work, and what belongs in the written agreement.
Two words for overlapping models — how the introduction, the client relationship, and the paperwork actually differ.