The Small Business Finance Industry is BACK

The industry is back. I say this while sitting in a Miami hotel, my third such trip to Florida since becoming fully vaccinated against Covid in May.

There’s a lot of action going on. I’ve sat down in multiple broker shops in both New York and Florida and the phones are ringing off the hook.

The demographic of the average customer in the post-covid recovery seems to vary. Some say the credit quality has gotten better, others have said it’s worse. Some merchants have become used to forgiveable loans and low APR financing while others appear willing to take capital at any price just to keep up with the pace of their growth. It’s one of those things where everyone is just trying to adjust to the new normal, even if there’s little consensus as to what that is.

In New York City, the return of packed bars and overflowing restaurants stands in stark contrast to the rows of abandoned stores and For Lease signs that dot the landscapes around them. And yet if one looks past all that, the only reminder that Covid was ever even there is the requirement that one still wear a mask on the subway even if they’re vaccinated.

In Florida, it’s the opposite. I recently got yelled at by a bus driver for wearing a mask in the first place.

The broker shops I’ve visited still had office space that were filled with teams that were more than happy to be occupying them in person. But at the same time, the industry has become extremely popular with the traditional work-from-home crowd.

Leo Kanell’s 7-day marathon challenge on facebook draws in more eager industry participants than I would’ve ever thought possible, an accomplishment I know to be true because I dropped in on him unannounced late one friday night while he was live.

Similarly, Oz Konar, who I did a livestream interview with in person, has trained more than 3,000 brokers in the industry, many who work for themselves from home.

We’ve also been very busy in the last couple months and have met a lot of brand new entrants on both the funding and broker side.

All this activity is setting the stage well for Broker Fair 2021 on December 6 in New York City. It is perfectly timed to discuss the new disclosure law that goes into effect in New York on Jan 1, 2022, one that is so consequential that at least one company has relocated to New Jersey.

What a time to be in the industry!

Sean Murray is the President and Chief Editor of deBanked and the founder of the Broker Fair Conference. Connect with me on LinkedIn or follow me on twitter. You can view all future deBanked events here.