Five months ago web designers Malcolm Ellis and Brett Duzita joined forces to found Magnum Creative (magnumcreative.ca). Like many entrepreneurs their dreams were bigger than their budget – and reality hit them when they approached the banks for financing.

“The banks asked us for our income statements, our credit history and our business plan,” Duzita says. “But at the end they said our needs do not fit into their product mix. They wished us well and ... that was it!”

Fortunately Duzita’s partner, Ellis plays soccer.  At practice one day, he had a word with Paul Craig. And their business has taken off.

Craig is founder and CEO of Lion Rampant Business Finance Solutions (businessfinancesolutions.ca) and an interesting person to be friends with. Where others see red, he sees green. 

“You see,” Craig says, “banks and credit unions are risk averse. They tend to want established businesses as clients. And unless you’re an exception with an impressive credit history and such, they can’t, by the very nature of their business mandate, fund you the way you’d wish.”

Lion Rampant’s network of financial sources can fund loans to businesses with income or credit problems, including start-up businesses with a limited credit history.

“Banks,” Craig explains, “only offer one or two programs with a couple of versions of each. They do not really have a broad product mix. One bank – about six or seven products. Another bank – perhaps a variation or two. Nothing more.”

Fortunately for small and medium businesses like Magnum Creative, the Lion Rampant network is so broad that it boasts specialist funders who can assist in specific loans like equipment leasing, commercial real estate, asset-based loans, start-up financing, lines of credit, franchise financing and cash flow financing. 

“I asked Paul how many financial sources he has connections with,” Duzita says. “He asked me to take a guess. I thought perhaps 15 or 20.”

Craig says, “We have access to over 200 lenders. We have numerous funders to fund different types of loans. We don’t need to force-fit the client’s needs to our product template. Instead, we sculpt our product around the client’s needs.”

That’s the big difference. Some of the lenders in the Lion Rampant network can approve loans in a mere 48 hours. And loans can be provided to just about every industry – from agriculture, energy and food distribution to limo services, manufacturers and wholesale distributors.

“Paul personally visited us,” Ellis adds, “developed a strategy, walked us through the application process, guided us through the intricacies and put our fears to rest. We got our loan; we’re in business, and guess what? Lion Rampant didn’t charge us a cent.”

Lion Rampant was able to secure a $20,000 line of credit for Magnum, which allowed them to make critical computer equipment purchases, which then allowed them to hire three employees, which in turn has further spurred the growth of the full-service graphics shop that specializes in online marketing.

Traditionally, we’re all programmed from an early age to think that banks have all the right answers when it comes to money and loans and capital investments.

“People think when a bank declines financial support, it’s the end of the world,” Craig says. “It’s a cultural barrier. We’ve always been led to believe that banks are the traditional lenders of money. I’m looking to break that mindset. I’m working on enlightening more and more people that there are alternative investment-sources, that there are lenders with investment programs which the banks can work in conjunction with. Anything is possible. Everything is possible. We can make it happen.”

“The personal touch made a huge difference for us,” Duzita says. “Paul projected our minds and our thinking to beyond the set-up stage. He made us see financial solutions to issues we hadn’t even thought of.”

 In just 15 months of existence, Craig has helped finance more than 50 small and medium businesses with his expertise and network of alternative business finance sources. Among the financial solutions Lion Rampant provides are asset-based loans, accounts-receivables financing, equipment leasing, factoring, purchase-order loans and long-term loans.

“People ask me if banks are my competition,” Craig says. “Of course not. We don’t intend to be a threat to them nor any others. On the contrary, we’re trying to build a relationship with banks and credit unions, collaborate and work together so as to enlighten the banks that they can satisfy a client through us.”

Craig, 32, and of Scottish origin, certainly knows his stuff. Seven years with IBM as a financial consultant followed by a three-year stint with Telus corporate finance – mergers and acquisitions business development – have accorded him the skills to conjure up investment financial solutions in a snap.