Banks said no. Cash flow is tight. Orlando Darden Jr. shows SMB owners how to get funded fast — without collateral, without the runaround.
GROWTH PILLAR: Sales & Revenue
WHO THIS IS FOR: SMB owners / Solopreneurs / Corporate escapees / Leaders building systems
WHAT THEY'LL GAIN: Real strategies for accessing working capital fast, understanding alternative funding, and knowing exactly when and how to apply — even if the bank already said no.
Most business owners hit the same wall. The bank wants collateral. They want a perfect credit score. They want six to eight weeks. And most SMBs don't have any of that.
Orlando Darden Jr. is an independent certified business funding broker with David Allen Capital. He works with business owners across the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada who need access to working capital — fast. No collateral required. No lengthy committee review. Just a five-question application and same-day or next-day funding in many cases.
In this episode, Orlando breaks down why 90% of businesses can't qualify for traditional bank financing, what alternative working capital actually is, and how his company's network of 20+ private funders compete to give business owners the best possible offer. He shares real stories — a Mexican restaurant owner who doubled her revenue after securing $100,000 in expansion capital, a construction company funded $165,000 in a single day, and a kitchen repair business that applied and received $65,000 the very next morning.
Orlando also introduces two key funding scenarios every business owner faces: the fuel play (you have an idea and need capital to launch it) and the rescue play (you need to put out a fire before it puts out your business). He covers the Giggle Funding micro-lending platform for smaller needs — $300 to $15,000 — fully automated, no humans required.
Key topics covered:
Connect with Orlando: David Allen Capital | LinkedIn — Orlando Darden Jr. | Easy Loan Helper
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Orlando (00:05)
my name is Orlando Darden and I'm an independent certified business funding broker with a company based out of Milford, Michigan. This company was founded 10 years ago by the business owner, his name is David Rutz.
Orlando (00:13)
And
And ⁓
Orlando (00:20)
Many
entrepreneur ventures come to fruition as a of frustration or a problem that someone decided that they wanted to solve. His long story short was he's a multimillionaire, he's run businesses before, had a bank relationship at his community bank. Long story short, he needed quicker access than banks are normally able to accommodate to let's say 300,000 for a juicing company that he was a part of.
Although he had been a customer of that bank and put lots of deposits on there when he asked for the loan to ⁓ bankers as he angrily describes, came into his office, sat down and asked him for a business plan and said that he would have to put a collateral. And he says, I don't believe this. I've been banking with you for all this time. You know me. I've never bounced a check. I have all this money on deposit and you still want to treat me like I'm a day one customer.
And so from that, he built the company, he started the company, David Allen Capital. What the driving force of our business is this, according to the Small Business Administration, nine in 10 businesses, so 90 % of businesses in the US and I would also say in Canada, not able to get access to working capital. There are variety of reasons that I will go into briefly in a few moments here.
Orlando (01:19)
And
⁓ are not
And
Orlando (01:40)
But here's the other thing they need to take into consideration. Six in 10 businesses are either breaking even or they're losing money. The number one reason that has been cited why businesses actually go out of business is lack of access to capital. They don't have that access to their friends or family. They probably totally use up all their credit cards and other sources of capital. So if they can't go to the bank because they don't qualify, most business owners are not bankable. The reason cited for them not being bankable
are number one, you gotta meet a certain credit standard ⁓ in Canada as well as in the United States. In the United States it's 700 and higher to be able to get over the hurdle, to be able to be in the ballpark, to qualify potentially for business funding. I'm not sure what the credit score, but I know it's pretty stringent in Canada as well that you must have a pretty high credit score in order to be considered for funding. The next big issue is collateral.
Okay, we all know that's equitable real estate, either a residential property or commercial property. Most business owners either don't wish to put up their home as collateral because, you know, of the unknowns that are out there in the world, COVID, okay. Who would expect that COVID would shut down pretty much the world, but it did. And that upended some businesses as a result. Or many business owners don't have the collateral. So if they don't have the collateral,
Orlando (02:56)
on.
Orlando (03:01)
to satisfy the bank's lean purposes there, then they're not able to qualify. So what is the business owner to do? Again, six in 10 business owners are either just breaking even or they're struggling trying to be profitable. And so that's where our business came into existence.
Orlando (03:17)
Our.
Orlando (03:18)
Alternative working capitals is has been around for 10 years. Basically what it is. It's alternative to the banks in other words banks underwrite a certain way whether it's United States or similar in Canada The alternative working capital space is a place where you have basically private investor banks that are willing to underwrite differently from what the banks acquiring What makes our industry very different and unique and efficient is the fact that rather than requiring
Orlando (03:38)
are required.
Orlando (03:46)
that collateral is put forth in order to be considered for funding. What we're looking at is what is your three months, your most recent three months sales revenue? Most recent meaning in the last 90 days, what is your sales revenue? Our sweet spot or main point where we can help business owners get access to capital is $15,000. And let me qualify that in sales revenue in the United States and in Puerto Rico. I forgot to mention that we just
Orlando (03:58)
are.
Orlando (04:12)
Expanded it to Puerto Rico as well. So as long as the business owner for the most recent three months has 15,000 or greater in and reoccurring sales revenue that begins the ⁓ that begins their qualification their foundation for qualifying for business funding Credit is not as an important issue. We're more interested in your cash flow than your credit. We have approved business owners with a 550 credit score in the United States
Orlando (04:39)
⁓
Orlando (04:39)
We've also on rare occasions approved a business owner who had a 475. The mitigating factor there was the business owner had a long business history and strong cash flow. So cash flow is going to be our main thing that we're looking at. How strong is your cash flow? Do you bounce checks? How many days do you have NFS? Because the idea is that once you are approved for funding, and let me just go briefly into that process.
My website, for example, what you're able to do is in five minutes, you're able to complete a very simplified application. What is challenging, whether it's running a, whether it's buying a home or, or going to the bank to get a loan, to get a loan. Let's say I get a loan for either a home or, for your business. It's a, it's a lot of owner's paperwork. We simplify it. You just answer five questions. Literally it takes you five minutes to complete.
Orlando (05:13)
on normally
Orlando (05:33)
online, you upload that and it's uploaded to our chief funding underwriting officer that works on the Bank Breezy side of our business. There's David Allen Capital, the marketing arm, if you will, and then there's Bank Breezy that represents our company ⁓ putting out qualifying applications from business owners into our marketplace of 20 of the top funders in the United States and Alternative Working Capital. So
Orlando (05:49)
And
in.
Orlando (06:02)
The advantage to the business owner there is that instead of running around to any person, any business that says, we help business owners get funding. If you're a business owner, probably get on average about five to 10 solicitations a day, either by phone, text, in the day fax machine or whatever then. But nowadays I talk to business owners all the time. It's like, my God, every day I get the same messages from some guy.
Orlando (06:20)
⁓
Orlando (06:27)
with a New York accent, you know, so that's kind of the reality, the reality of our, of our business. And a lot of them, unfortunately, are in it for the commission. We're in it for the mission, the mission of helping business owners to get the capital that they need to continue to grow and launch their idea, whatever it may happen to be, whether it's expanding their business, buying more equipment, hiring talent in, into their business.
Orlando (06:33)
and
time.
Orlando (06:52)
paying for a marketing campaign, having the money to grow their business. That's what we're in it for. So our mission is to help that business owner get quicker and simplified access to working capital, just using their, primarily their most recent three months sales revenue. So ⁓ in instances like that, we're able to turn around a business funding anywhere between the same day or the next business day. Let me give you, I'm gonna...
give you a couple of examples, a few examples of businesses that we've helped. And again, two things to keep in mind, we help businesses throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and to a degree in Canada. We're working on building more relationships with funders in Canada. That's been a little bit ⁓ trickier because we are very particular about who our funding partner is because we don't want business owners that we recommend to that business to that business.
funding company to have a bad experience. again, it's been a slow growth area. But yes, we are still funding business owners in Canada as well. So just we had a story today. There was a kitchen repair business that received $65,000. They applied yesterday. They received it yesterday. It's that quick. You complete a five question application. You uploaded
Orlando (07:51)
in the in.
Again,
They
Orlando (08:10)
to during our business hours, nine and five East Coast time to our chief underwriter who then reviews the package to make sure that it meets minimum requirements. And then he ships it out to our business funding partners. They all compete. Whoever is the winning bid is submitted back to us. We submit it to the business owner and then the business owner says thumbs up, thumbs sideways, meaning, hey, I like it, but can we adjust, make a few adjustments here? Or they say, hey, thanks, but no thanks.
Orlando (08:24)
and
Orlando (08:38)
I'm really really do they say no thanks because they realize our acts they have a need they have a need now versus later the banks and I want to say something to be very clear this is not an indictment of the banks the banks have and will continue to provide a very good service but you have to be well qualified for the bank you also have to I need access to your capital baby for six or eight weeks if you can wait and you're well qualified the banks
Orlando (08:59)
⁓
Orlando (09:05)
And we have, and I have, and our company does recommend that you go to the bank instead. You know, if you have those S2 criteria, but if you don't, you need access to capital sooner rather than later. The typical situations that we have in terms of needing access to capital quicker rather than later is you're either doing what's known as a fuel play or you're doing a ⁓ rescue play. A fuel play by definition, which represents better than
90 % of our fundings are you have an idea as a business owner quick example There was a business owner who had a had a mexican restaurant long story short She had her problem was she had too many customers showing up and they had they had to turn them away because she didn't have enough seating capacity So what she decided to do was to say I you know if I could just get my hands on a hundred thousand dollars I could I could renovate my restaurant put expand the seating area and accommodate more more ⁓
Orlando (09:43)
⁓
Orlando (10:03)
more customers. She was able to secure the $100,000 and also able to, as a result, expand her restaurant. She was given a term of seven months to repay the funding. She did it in 90 days. Return the funding because she was able to use our capital to complete her renovations that allowed her to create more sales space, if you will, tables of sales as well. And as a result,
Orlando (10:17)
you know.
And
Orlando (10:31)
She was able to ⁓ double her revenue and that's the goal. We want to see you double or triple your revenue. So that's a that's a fuel play. You have an idea. You need capital to launch it. On the other side, there's the ⁓ there's the rescue play. The rescue play is your business owner. You've been trying to do the best to keep your revenues at a certain level to stay profitable, but you're behind on your rent. You haven't paid your rent and your landlord's threatening to kick you out. So if you don't have the money.
to take care of any back obligation, then you're out of business. Essentially that happens to business owners a lot of the time and it probably happens probably every day somewhere in our two countries here is that a business owner faces that. So in that instance, the business owner gets access to capital. So at least they can take the fire off their back in terms of dealing with that issue. Another instance is a tax liability issue. A business owner again is in a situation where they have to pay
back tax lien or otherwise have their business taken away from them. I know of a business in the Washington DC area. It was a mesh lawn, mesh lawn level restaurant. They had back taxes. Unfortunately, they didn't speak to me or speak to our company. We might have been able to help them. So their business was closed. A mesh lawn level restaurant because because of a unsatisfied tax lien in the District of Columbia. So it happens. It happens all the time. It happens every day in our goal.
Orlando (11:47)
⁓
Orlando (11:55)
is to my goal and by being on part of this whole meeting today and presentation is to begin the is to continue the education process. Most business owners do not know that alternative working capital, our company, our business exists. So they don't know that they have this as a choice that will help most business owners. We can't help every business owner, but we can help more business owners throughout the United States, Canada, and also Puerto Rico than the banks are able to further.
Orlando (12:12)
⁓
Orlando (12:24)
reasons that are cited there. So another instance of a business that we were able to help there was a construction company in Virginia. They needed $165,000 to help them expand their business from application to funding. They were able to get that funding in a day. So again,
Orlando (12:26)
⁓
Orlando (12:44)
That's something didn't require a whole ton of paperwork, didn't require a committee that had to sit around and decide whether they were going to provide this funding. It just took a simple application sent to our chief underwriter who sends it to our top funders. One thing I'll mention about our funders is not all funders are created equal. And I'm sure you have some idea what that means. There are funders that are better for restaurants than others.
There are funders that are better for landscapers as others. There are funders that like to do business with, let's say, nail salons over others. So the advantage that a business owner has by coming to us, our company is, again, our chief funding officer, he's been doing this for over 30 years. He's helped fund tens of thousands of deals. So he knows the ins and outs of businesses. He knows which funder in our partner.
consortium of business funders are suitable for that particular type of industry, for that particular type of risk, even if it's cannabis. We know the funder that is more than likely to fund and also it's twofold, not only fund that company, but also want to do that business and they are willing to take a bit more risk, meaning that they're willing to give them more money. ⁓ As a result, that another funder that says, well, you're a cannabis company and
Orlando (13:55)
either.
Orlando (14:00)
We're just going to give you a certain level and that's that they don't understand the business these Partners that we refer them to do so again, we save them time They're able to leverage our relationship with our funders to give them the best opportunity For for a best offer then and that's pretty much how we work in that instance. I'll give one of the quick example It's a landscaping company and by the way I'll mention this very briefly in the remaining four days that we have of the month of March
Our company has been doing different promotions. This month it's landscaping month. ⁓ The landscaper companies that apply and approved are able to receive either higher amounts than they would normally qualify for and also a lower repayment. In other words, the amount that they would repay would be negotiated to be at a lower rate. Maybe what would be the standard rate based on where they qualify for. But in an instance of a landscaper,
Orlando (14:32)
⁓ where
Orlando (14:52)
They wanted to expand their business by having more workers and also more equipment. In that instance, we were able to get them an $85,000 funding that they needed. Again, that was a one-day turnaround from application to funding. They were able to get that funding and grow their business and continue to expand that then.
to me the joy of what we do is helping business owners to solve the big X factor. Where do I get the money from to do what I need to do to grow my business here? What I could also say about our space here is that we've been successful. When we say that
we offer the best offers in the industry, even better than banks in some instances for the business owner. The key thing there is that we've had a prize, if you will, a $500 gift Visa card. We said, if you can beat this offer and show it to us, we'll give you a $500 Visa card. So far that Visa card has collected dust sitting in the office because no one has been able to beat it. They either don't accept it, which is fair, and go on and do something else or
Orlando (15:32)
⁓
Orlando (15:54)
they have not been able to beat the offer that we provide to business owners there. So our company provides itself on being very ethical. There are a lot of ethical business funding companies out there that basically get a desperate business owner to get a funding. And then if they trip up by not making a payment or whatever, they're after them to take their business down and do in many instances. What we have as our standard is that we say,
We know stuff happens. know, there was a business in Florida last year. The hurricane came through and knocked out two of three locations for this business owner. So the business owner and we encouraged them not only at checkout, which is you've been approved for your funding. We just ask a few other questions. We give you the chance to ask any questions, but we also encourage them. Hey, if you do run into a problem, give us a call. Let us talk to you. We'll either lower your payment. We'll either suspended for a period of, you know, for
maybe up to 90 days or something like that. It's in our interest, it's in your interest for us to talk about any problems that you have. You have a slowdown in sales, you know, talk to us because our goal is to manage the risk and keep the relationship between us amicable. If you don't, then it's a different problem. But other business funders in the space, they don't give you that grace. They're like, if you don't pay, it's almost like watching, you know, one of those mafia movies. If you don't know,
will break your kneecaps, meaning will break your business. It's basically what they do in that instance. So again, that's why it's so important. And that's why every opportunity that I get to share.
Orlando (17:22)
Bye.
my who I am that
Orlando (17:28)
what I represent in our industry,
business owners know they do have better choices out there in terms of access to capital. One other brief aspect of our business I'll mention, we have a automated platform called Giggle Funding. It's not Google, but Giggle. It does make you laugh when you think about it. But what it is, it's a platform that we set up about two years ago. I like to refer to that as our micro lending platform.
A business owner, could be an Uber driver or just a very, very small business owner. They need maybe $1,000 or something like that. They can apply online on my website for Google funding. That's a totally automated process. There's no humans involved. They put their basic information in. They have to be making at least $3,000 in sales revenue in order to qualify. But they put that information in, answer some additional questions.
The algorithms can go and find out all kinds of data about them to see what their credit worthiness is. This is not based on credit, but it's just really looking at your payment habits. Your cell phone, your car note, and other things of that nature, they can access that information. based on that, that will determine what you qualify for. On that platform, a business owner can qualify for anywhere between $300
Orlando (18:32)
and
Orlando (18:46)
up to $15,000 and they can get it in an instant. You apply online, the algorithms do their thing. They give you an amount. You review the contracts online, you submit everything online, you submit it back and as long as you have a debit card which is used to fund your checking account, then you can go ahead and receive the funding and go from there. So we do have that platform.
Orlando (18:52)
⁓
Orlando (19:11)
as well to business owners who just are on the micro borrowing side of the equation. So again, we try to help all business owners who qualify for funding, the lower side as well as the average medium size and larger. We fund up to $2 million in terms of business owners getting access to capital then.
Orlando (19:23)
you