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upon a time, the ISO was the company's focus; now they 3. With all of the tech advances of the past year (and
are viewed almost like a burden. Resources have been decade), great user experience, technology and speed have
removed or severely limited, leaving the ISO channel on become table stakes. This is important because it forces
an island, so to speak. providers to get back to basics. It's not just about having the
most user-friendly interface on your mobile app. You need
4. Every year, payment processing gets increasingly complex to connect – human-to-human – with business owners to
to navigate and understand. Disruptors are constantly understand their needs.
entering the highly lucrative payment processing space
for their slice of the pie. Merchants are being exposed to 4. A significant gap remains for underserved small
a much wider array of products and services than ever businesses looking for financing. Many are trying to
before. I am seeing more bundled services and closed solve this issue, but few have made a significant impact to
end products. Gone are the days where the only thing a close the gap. At 6th Avenue Capital, we believe strongly
sales rep needed to decide was which terminal or gateway in the power of partnerships to access small businesses
would be best for their respective merchant. that may not be able to unlock traditional financing. We
work not only with the business services that support
A sales rep's success in our industry today is a combination small businesses, but also local community partners that
of having a good network and broad knowledge of the understand the immediate needs of their small business
products and services available in the marketplace. My constituents. Given our high-touch servicing, partners
suggestion is to really understand how these products and like our approach of "handshakes instead of handoffs."
services may benefit your current and prospective clients.
We all know margins in our industry have been a race to In addition, as our industry continues to evolve, moving
the bottom; however, you can still acquire merchants with from cottage to mainstream, we expect continued focus by
healthy margins if you provide them a product or service legislators and regulators. The best approach to potential
that adds value to their business in some capacity. regulation is a proactive one. Develop sound practices
now.6th Avenue Capital is a member of both ILPA and
SBFA, organizations actively working to help create a
Darren Schulman regulatory environment beneficial to both SMBs and SMB
6th Avenue Capital funders.

1. As we reflect on 2019, our highlights are the successes
of the businesses we were able to support this year. Every Empowering and
time we provide much-needed funding to a small or
mid-sized business owner in need of bridge financing or
seeking to unlock a near-term opportunity, we're working connecting today’s
to help close the estimated $87 billion funding gap that
exists between funding sought by U.S. small businesses payments professionals
and capital deployed.

Our advice to others in the alternative lending space is to
understand your merchants. At 6th Avenue Capital, we
have a commitment to high-touch service and tailor-made
solutions. To that end, we've added capacity to support
our clients (and our increased volume) – from additional
account executives to new underwriters, we're ensuring November 11, 2019 • Issue 19:11:01
every merchant, regardless of size, has access to speak Multiple ways to help merchants
with someone directly. causing an estimated $306 billion in damages, according
through natural disasters
and Southwest, and wildfires in the West among them –
to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
2. We know we're losing out on potential deals and By Patti Murphy by small businesses to rebound following these disasters,
Three hurricanes alone – Harvey, Irma and Maria – cost
local economies on the U.S. mainland $265 billion, NOAA
brought the total to more than $500 billion.
said. Adding damages from other mainland disasters and
those sustained in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
partners because small businesses either don't understand or wildfire – everyone in the affected area of small firms in the states studied reported losses due to
A Federal Reserve report paints a stark picture of efforts
which were concentrated in nine states: North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Mississippi,
hen a disaster hits – like a hurricane, flood
the product or are scared off by bad actors in the space. This can be daunting. A 2018 survey by Visa revealed the Among affected businesses, 45 percent suffered asset losses
Arkansas, Texas and California. The report revealed that
small businesses in these states were hardest hit: 40 percent
suffers. But some suffer more than others.
recouping lost revenues.
W Business owners, in addition to dealing with
natural disasters. Disasters struck small enterprises across
the age and income spectrum, but Hispanic-owned busi-
the consequences for their homes and families, face the
nesses and those in the retail, leisure and hospitality sec-
tors were hardest hit financially, the Fed reported.
unenviable task of getting their shops back on line and
We're doubling down on transparency and working on losses are too substantial to overcome. more than $25,000.
up to $25,000, and 19 percent lost more than $25,000, accord-
cost of rebuilding a small business following a natural di-

ing to the Fed. But foregone revenues, not assets, were the
saster can exceed $859,000. The Federal Emergency Man-
agement Administration estimates that 40 percent of small
largest source of losses for small business. Sixty-one per-
educating clients and partners about the pros and cons of In 2017 the United States experienced 16 natural disasters Brandes Elitch ........................................................................................20
businesses never reopen after a disaster, and 25 percent of
cent had revenue losses of up to $25,000 and 35 percent lost
those that do reopen fail within a year, because revenue
Contributed articles inside by:
cash advances (and other alternative financing options). https://www.facebook.com/TheGreenSheetInc
– hurricanes in the East, massive flooding in the Midwest

TOC on page 3
Dee and Emily Karawadra .................................................................32
Adam Atlas ..............................................................................................36
Jeff Fortney .............................................................................................38
We believe every small business owner should have the https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-green-sheet
Continued on page 30
information necessary to inform and empower his or her https://twitter.com/The_Green_Sheet
financial decision-making. That includes understanding
when a Merchant Cash Advance makes sense, and when
it's not the best option.
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