Client Review on BillFloat, Inc

Feedback:

I began the lengthy application process with smart biz in mid-April 2018 and found out yesterday that 7/25/18 that my business financials would not meet the loan criteria for the SBA. I was not happy with that outcome, but understood as our business had a difficult 2017 financially. We made some bad hires that affected our profitability very negatively. I was prepared for this outcome and honestly as we went through the process our financial fortunes were improving. So the money was not really needed as much as wanted for expanding the company and accelerating our growth. However, in going through the process there were 2 things that bothered me greatly about the whole deal. 1. I dealt with 3 different account reps(?) during this very lengthy and time consuming process. None of the 3 reps Jon, Jefferson or Phillip were very good at communicating. It took as long as almost a week in one instance to respond to an email requesting status of the loan application. There were several other instances that took inordinately long periods of time for responses as well. Usually after a couple of these instances I was changed to a different representative. This proved to be frustrating especially when smart biz is going to get 2.5 to 3 percent of whatever amount you end up borrowing. I don't begrudge them getting paid for their efforts but I do not appreciate slow and even arrogant responses to legitimate questions.2. The second problem which bothers me the most is the fact that the issue that according to smartbiz prevented our eligibility for the loan existed and was disclosed very early in the loan application process. The issue was our profitability in 2017, which as I stated earlier was due to a couple of very bad hires that greatly affected my company. Prior to 2017 my company was growing for over 5 years with 30% to 50% sales increases annually. Additionally, we maintained a six figure bank balance prior to the rough year and I anticipate reaching that level again in the 1st quarter of 2019. By any definition my company is a good and growing small business that hit a rough patch due to a couple of bad decisions. I think almost every small business goes through something similar at one time or another. The insult here was the waste of dozens of hours of my time and the time of my bookkeeping staff in working to secure a loan that the "3 stooges" knew from the beginning would not be approved. When I asked Phillip why they decided to waste so much of my company's time, effort and money in having go though the entire process his response was "we were hoping the numbers would improve". Did Phillip and the other stooges think we would somehow find another couple of hundred thousand dollars under a rock? Perhaps they thought the tooth fairy would look kindly on me and give me the money I didn't get for a tooth when I was 5 years old with accumulated interest. I was not informed when this information was disclosed that our 2017 numbers were such a deal breaking problem. It seems to me that their actions bely a very selfish and uncaring company that only seems to be truly concerned with collecting a fee rather than the amount of resources people have to put into seeking an SBA loan. They're marketing is very good in leading you to believe they’re here to help but like a lot of marketing out there it's as full of hot air and hypocrisy as just about anyone else.I recommend you look to your own financial institution first when seeking an SBA loan and don't believe the hype. Make very sure they are upfront with you about your actual possibilities of getting the loan. The primary issue with us is our perceived ability to repay the loan with very little consideration of the circumstances and how they may have changed. If you had a bad year just prior to seeking the loan I suggest you find another source of funding.