Americas Business Capital Americas Business Consultants Business funding deception, lying about SBA financing Lancaster Pennsylivania

It is not uncommon for business finance or business consultants, lawyers or accountants today to not have an office in an office building or retail complex. The majority of SBA business development officers nationwide work from home. And it is not uncommon for a mailing address be to a post office, UPS store or other mail / shipping center. I have not had a physical office address since 1993 and with today's technology I can work effectively with staff nationwide without one.

All clients enter into a written agreement. If for whatever reason they wish to terminate service, they can do so at anytime. I have always communicated in writing and by phone. My clients have generally been pleased with my results. This opportunity could have been placed elsewhere, approved & funded elsewhere. The documentation and financial package was complete. Had I been provided the opportunity this client would have been pleased as well.

1) The website contact info does NOT list a valid street address. I did a reverse lookup on the address and it is for a UPS Store in Lancaster. Not a good sign. Are these guys working out of one of their moms basements??? 



2) You should have received all communications in writing as well as a phone call. Scammers hate to provide written documents of any kind, especially signed ones. 



3) Mark Bailey is NOT listed as an employee on the website. I have doubts there's more than one person operating this 'business'.



Bottom line is, you were 'milked' for the money. You should have signed a contract where no money was paid until the loan is closed. Keep things simple.

The complainant was referred to me by a relative representing ABC at that time. I requested significant documentation which was promptly provided, I reviewed and analyzed everything. I discussed the opportunity with several financial resources and once interest was identified proceeded with the complainant with a Letter f Intent which included terms as to a retainer and progress payments. Start-ups require significantly more detail, documentation and explanation than the acquisition or refinance of an established business.

The complainant founded a company early last year but as of the time of application had virtually zero sales activity. The applicant had strong credit, limited home equity but strong investments, very strong credentials in engineering but limited sales, marketing & management experience. I recommended he develop a sales team, sales effort and his relative assisted him as he is very accomplished in entrepreneurial endeavors. The applicant invested in his business by creating a self-directed 401K via information introduced to him by his relative attending a webinar offered by ABC but conducted by a firm specializing in self-directed 401Ks. The complainant's business plan lacked a detailed situation analysis, and the strategies & tactics which would be used to achieve the objective of the business. There was no detail as required for a start up business, it was at best an Executive Summary. There was no explanation as to why so much working capital was required, how it would be used, ad what the result would be. Despite project costs of $1.1 million of which most was for salaries, trade shows and sales activity, very little was proposed for tenant improvements, equipment or inventory, the proposed business was projected to operate at a significant negative cash flow for months. Granted his business has various phases: engineering, model development, testing, sales, testing by proposed customer, maybe an order, then filling the order, product delivery, and payment for product 30+ days thereafter. This is a very long sales cycle and explanation is essential. I invested significant time and effort to research similar businesses to build and verify projections to develop a strong business plan that was complete.

All the while I stayed in contact with the financial resource. I constantly emphasized to the applicant that he needed to begin sales activity as it was essential to approval and funding. He received inquiries from India and South Africa resulting in new distributor ships but no sales. With his relative and an experienced salesperson for Latin & South America they attended trade shows in Mexico which generated activity, requests to have product to try but no sales. As sales were demanded by the financial resource I considered other options to fund his start-up including private funding / lines of credit. Over and over I got close then faced obstacles because of the lack of sales and the length of the sales cycle yet persevered. When the applicant returned from his early December trade show in Mexico with high sales expected, again it was companies seeking a trial which "may lead to $10 million in annual sales."

Then it became my fault yet for two months I had conveyed to both the applicant and the relative that sales activity was required, that "cash flow lenders" were seeking the ability to repay debt unlike "equity participants" who invested the future expectation of ROI. The lender though interested communicated in late November they would not proceed without documented sales activity. When the applicant emailed me in mid December saying he was unhappy I responded I understood and would complete persist until the transaction was completed. I conveyed this to both the applicant and his relative. Thereafter I communicated with several financial resources, some who were simply not interested in start-ups, others which required some sales activity. None existed. Purchase order funding would not be an option until sales began and factoring would not be an option until deliveries on sales had occurred and invoices generated. Lines of credit just line SBA loans require adequate collateral, credit worthiness and sales activity today otherwise everything is merely a "maybe."

I invested significant time and effort for this client from the outset as to consulting, planning and financing. All which was required to achieve his desired result. No one can invest this time and effort for a speculative venture without being compensated for their time. I understand the applicant's unhappiness that funding was not achieved and he paid for someone's time and effort to achieve it but i did not quit, and by now funding would have been achieved and closing occurred. I did not give up on my client, he gave up on me. Maybe he should have delayed funding until sales not product trials had occurred. Maybe he should have pursued equity not debt funding. Had we both persevered funding would have been completed. I can understand his frustration though I disagree with some of his statements; yes I was compensated for time invested for him for days, weeks, and months. A simple conference call and discussion would have resolved this matter months ago. I am not the type of individual he claims I am.