Working-capital diagnostic
Cash conversion cycle, payment terms by channel, inventory turn, days-sales-outstanding, days-payable-outstanding. Where the cash actually sits and how long it takes to come back.
Home
Layer 04 of 04
Capital Layer.
Can growth be financed without breaking the business?
Most CPG failures aren't sales failures - they're cash failures. A big PO arrives and there's no production money. A retailer pushes payment 90 days and runway evaporates. We model the cash conversion cycle alongside the growth plan so financing is in place before it's needed, not after the problem starts.
What we do
The work, broken out.
PO financing intros
Pre-qualified PO financing partners. Match the funder to the specific retailer + production cycle + margin profile, not a generic intro.
Invoice factoring + AR financing
When and which retailer invoices to factor, at what discount, with which provider. Net-90 receivables turned into next-week cash without overpaying.
Inventory + production planning
Production-run math against committed orders + forecasted sell-through. Avoid overproducing into demand that isn't real and underproducing into demand that is.
Lender + line-of-credit intros
Pre-qualification with the lenders who actually fund emerging CPG. Documentation prep, banker meetings, term-sheet review.
Equity vs debt sequencing
When debt is the right move, when an equity raise is, when neither is. We are not your investment banker - we tell you when to call one.
What you get
- Cash runway model tied to actual order pipeline and payment terms
- PO-funding-ready package: order details, terms, supplier capability, margin math
- Invoice factoring quotes from pre-vetted providers with rate ranges
- Pre-qualified lender intros and term-sheet review
- Inventory + production plan synced to capital availability, not just forecasts
- Working-capital plan reviewed quarterly against actual cash flow
Common pitfalls
- Selling growth into a cash crunch - winning a PO you cannot fund kills brands
- No PO financing relationship before the big order arrives
- Owner-funded production runs that drain personal capital instead of working capital
- No factoring relationship for slow-pay retailers - cash gap compounds quarterly
- Building lender relationships only after you need them - they will pass
Where this fits
One layer of four. They only work together.
Capital Layer is one of four growth layers. The Shelfer system connects all of them so the work in one layer reinforces the others.
Not sure if this is your constraint?
Start with a Shelf Readiness Review. We'll diagnose where you're actually constrained across all four layers and recommend the right sequence.