Following our success in Tampa, Washington DC, Chicago and Minneapolis, COO James Hobson headed to Denver to continue the OnDeck Main Street Tour tradition of visiting with real customers to get unfiltered feedback.
We started the day with Tom Schumacher, who opened Hot Cakes Diner in Denver nearly 12 years ago. After growing his business organically, Tom needed financing to improve his restaurant by adding new chairs, installing flooring and fresh paint, and launching new marketing initiatives.
Tom simply didn’t have time to go the bank route, and had a past negative experience with a merchant cash advance. Speed and ease of funding were his biggest priorities when searching for financing. When he heard about how fast OnDeck’s application process was, he decided to give us a try.
After starting his application at 10:30am, he had the funding he needed by 2:30pm the very same day. Now, he has the financing he needs to take his business to the next level and can focus on growing his business.
James then stopped by Elixir Mind Body Massage, a massage spa and wellness center that was voted as “Editor’s Choice” from 5280 Denver Magazine.
Owner and founder Sandy Stroehmann started Elixir Mind Body Massage in 2007. Located in the heart of downtown Denver, Sandy’s location offers massages, facials and other spa services. To accommodate growing demand, Sandy needed financing in September of 2013 to take on additional employees and purchase inventory.
For Sandy, building her business credit was her biggest priority when looking for a lender. After learning that OnDeck reports repayment to the credit bureaus, she decided to do some research. Although a bit skeptical at first, Sandy was excited to learn she could complete the entire process online and over email.
Within a few days of starting her application, she had the financing she needed. Since then, Sandy has been able to hire five additional employees and is continuing to expand her business.
To finish off the day, James and the team had dinner at Black Pearl Restaurant. Although the place was packed, owner Steve Whited managed to spare a few minutes to chat with us.
Steve started his restaurant nearly eight years ago. As we could clearly see, Steve is an incredibly busy business owner. Recently, Steve needed financing to update his patio before springtime. Like Tom and Sandy, he simply couldn’t devote several weeks to the bank application process.
After learning about OnDeck, Steve decided to apply online and was approved the very same day. Now he has the financing he needs to update his back patio before his busiest season begins.
The next day, the OnDeck Team ended the tour with a catered lunch in our Denver offices from customer Will White, owner of Caveman Cafeteria, a Paleo caterer and food service delivery.
View the video below for a full recap of Will’s experience with OnDeck:
A big thank you to Tom, Sandy, Steve and Will for taking the time to chat with us! We wish you and your teams the best of luck.
OnDeck is a Google Ventures-backed company with an A+ Rating with the Better Business Bureau. The company offers small business loans nationwide to over 725 different industries.