Most business owners think about capital one deal at a time: I need $X, I get the loan, done. That’s a transaction.
The owners who scale the fastest treat capital differently — as a system, where every piece of debt is structured to work with the others instead of competing with them.
Here’s a real example from a deal our team worked on.
The Opportunity — and the Timing Problem
A fast-growing fragrance manufacturer had built its business primarily through television sales. Then came the opportunity every owner dreams about: purchase orders from major big-box retailers, including Walmart, Target, and Costco.
To fulfill those orders, the company needed capital to produce inventory — fast. Their senior lender was already in the process of increasing their existing credit facility, but that process wasn’t going to move quickly enough to meet the new retail timelines.
This is where a lot of growth opportunities die. Not because the business isn’t ready — because the capital isn’t structured to move at the speed the opportunity requires.
Building a System, Not Competing for One
Instead of treating this as a conflict between lenders, the company’s senior lender called our team directly to explore a subordinated debt solution — one that would fund the growth without adding risk to the primary lending relationship.
In just 13 days, our team worked with the client and their senior lender to form an inter-creditor agreement and establish a $10 million subordinated credit facility. The new facility sat alongside the existing senior debt — not against it.
No new equity given up. No ownership diluted. No board seat handed over in exchange for growth capital. Just a second layer of debt engineered to complement the first, so the company could say yes to Walmart, Target, and Costco without slowing down or giving away a piece of the business to do it.
The senior lender benefited too — the solution reduced their overall risk exposure while letting them retain an important, growing client relationship instead of losing it to a competitor.
The Real Lesson: Capital as Infrastructure
This deal is a good example of the difference between borrowing money and building a capital system. A transaction solves today’s problem. A system is built to support tomorrow’s growth — and the one after that.
If you’re staring down a growth opportunity right now, the real question usually isn’t “debt or equity?” It’s whether your capital stack — senior debt, subordinated debt, working capital, whatever mix fits your business — is actually structured to scale with you, or whether it’s just a collection of separate transactions bolted together.
Every deal we fund also contributes to Feeding America — so growth capital does double duty, for your business and for communities facing food insecurity.
What does your capital stack look like right now? If you’re not sure, that’s usually the first sign it’s time for a conversation, not a loan application.