00:08.400 --> 00:11.790 John Celifarco, managing partner of Horizon Funding Group. 00:11.910 --> 00:14.280 James Celifarco, Horizon Funding Group. 00:14.540 --> 00:18.440 My job is basically we're the middleman, I have- I find the 00:18.440 --> 00:22.220 customer, find out what they want, and then place them with a 00:22.220 --> 00:24.800 company that could give them what they need, whatever that 00:24.800 --> 00:28.760 product is, if it's an MCA, if it's equipment financing, if 00:28.760 --> 00:32.810 it's a commercial-backed real estate transaction, the majority 00:32.810 --> 00:37.160 of our business is MCAs and cash advance. For the three months at 00:37.160 --> 00:39.740 the beginning of this year, January, February, March, are 00:39.740 --> 00:43.160 probably three of the strongest months we've ever had. A lot of 00:43.160 --> 00:46.010 marketing, a lot of things that we were putting into place at 00:46.010 --> 00:49.160 the end of last year really was coming into fruition and our 00:49.160 --> 00:54.950 business was doing excellent. And then COVID hit. And for lack 00:54.950 --> 00:57.110 of a better term it was basically like a bomb going off. 00:57.110 --> 01:00.600 The brothers say they had to act quickly if they wanted to stay 01:00.600 --> 01:00.960 open. 01:01.440 --> 01:05.100 It was really tough, we were down 60 or 70% at one point, we 01:05.100 --> 01:09.300 really had to readjust our thinking and readjust our 01:09.300 --> 01:13.410 business model, whether it be marketing, or, you know, just 01:13.410 --> 01:16.230 getting the clients to, you know, pick up the phone, and 01:16.230 --> 01:18.900 really just have a conversation with them. We had to adjust. And 01:18.900 --> 01:21.120 it's been tough, but we're better for it. 01:21.330 --> 01:23.970 Especially since COVID, we've definitely expanded our 01:23.970 --> 01:28.350 products, offering a little more stuff just because with changing 01:28.350 --> 01:30.660 times, we needed to make sure that we were giving our 01:30.660 --> 01:33.360 customers every opportunity to work with us and not go work 01:33.360 --> 01:34.200 with somebody else. 01:34.200 --> 01:36.300 We were getting different requests. It wasn't just for a 01:36.300 --> 01:39.900 quick financing package, whether somebody needs to refinance 01:39.900 --> 01:43.590 their home, or refinance their business property or get some 01:43.590 --> 01:46.590 equipment that they needed. It wasn't just the conversation of 01:46.590 --> 01:49.890 I need, you know, 20 or 30, or $50,000, just for example, 01:50.280 --> 01:53.280 quickly, there was you know, there was other needs, and we 01:53.280 --> 01:55.680 needed to find partners that could fulfill those needs 01:55.680 --> 01:59.490 quickly. 01:59.490 --> 02:01.190 They say a key element to making sure their business state of 02:01.190 --> 02:03.880 flow was incorporating new technology and ideas while 02:03.880 --> 02:07.630 maintaining old business relationships. How exactly has 02:07.630 --> 02:10.300 technology been implemented in horizon, especially during this 02:10.300 --> 02:10.570 time? 02:11.980 --> 02:15.460 Well, we're lucky, we were able to find another company that we 02:15.460 --> 02:18.130 work with that that helped us a lot, that name of the company is 02:18.130 --> 02:22.180 Babylon Solutions. And what they were able to do is set us up 02:22.180 --> 02:26.710 with a CRM, that not only helps us track our existing deals, but 02:26.710 --> 02:30.880 new deals, working with our partners, ways to get 02:30.880 --> 02:34.960 submissions from them helped tremendously with our renewal 02:34.960 --> 02:38.830 business, having a decent sized book of business working with so 02:38.830 --> 02:42.190 many people, sometimes it's hard to keep track of when it's time 02:42.190 --> 02:45.940 to contact a client again to do new business, or where they're 02:45.940 --> 02:49.480 at in their current deal. And with the right systems in place, 02:49.510 --> 02:54.670 by putting this in place, we're able to do more with less. 02:54.670 --> 02:57.360 A lot of times you'll see in the cash advance industry, people, 02:57.480 --> 02:59.700 you know, keep very to themselves. And, you know, we'll 02:59.700 --> 03:03.660 talk about partners and marketing and funders, and 03:04.260 --> 03:06.690 we're the complete opposite. We are an open book, we want 03:06.690 --> 03:08.670 everybody to know everything that we're doing. And we think 03:08.670 --> 03:12.000 that, you know, having this open relationship with our partners 03:12.000 --> 03:15.540 it gains trust, but it also, you know, you see the problems that 03:15.540 --> 03:17.700 I'm trying to figure out, and we see the problems that our 03:17.700 --> 03:20.640 partners are trying to figure out, openly, and we get to the 03:20.640 --> 03:21.480 bottom of that quickly. 03:21.570 --> 03:23.190 Is there opportunity in real estate? 03:23.360 --> 03:27.170 Yeah, so brokers really can't leave money on the table at this 03:27.170 --> 03:29.750 point. You know, if they have a client that is looking for a 03:29.750 --> 03:32.810 real estate backed transaction, they should be able to, you 03:32.810 --> 03:35.930 know, place that transaction, there is money in it, you know, 03:35.930 --> 03:40.670 the deal takes longer to get done, the paperwork is longer, 03:40.970 --> 03:44.540 but there is absolutely a great opportunity, you put these deals 03:44.570 --> 03:47.240 in the hopper, so to speak. And then three, four months later, 03:47.240 --> 03:49.700 you're not going to make the 10% that you used to or the, you 03:49.700 --> 03:52.610 know, 8% on an MCA, you make a couple of points, you know, 03:52.610 --> 03:55.640 you're working with multiple people, but uh, these deals, you 03:55.640 --> 03:57.740 know, you put them in the hopper, like we say, and, you 03:57.740 --> 03:59.150 know, three, four months later, they come around. 03:59.300 --> 04:02.120 Talk to me about the future of the company in the next couple 04:02.120 --> 04:02.600 of months. 04:02.660 --> 04:05.720 It's really john and I hitting the phones. We are on the front 04:05.720 --> 04:08.240 lines and we are the ones calling the merchant, 04:08.240 --> 04:11.240 introducing ourselves during the introductory call and you know, 04:11.240 --> 04:14.030 holding their hand from the first funding but anybody can 04:14.030 --> 04:17.360 get paperwork in. It's about keeping a client after the first 04:17.360 --> 04:20.600 funding and, and being able to sell them different products. So 04:20.750 --> 04:23.960 yeah, you might be able to sell them one, you know, one MCA, but 04:23.960 --> 04:27.350 can you manage that relationship for you know, I have clients 04:27.350 --> 04:30.380 for- one client I had for the last 12 years. I've had clients for 04:30.380 --> 04:34.130 the last 10 years. And it's about you know, sending that 04:34.130 --> 04:37.130 person a Christmas card and, you know, really forming a 04:37.130 --> 04:39.920 relationship with that client, and your partners not just your 04:39.920 --> 04:40.400 clients. 04:40.940 --> 04:43.250 Johny Fernandez, deBanked News.