The alternative finance market was hit hard when most of the country when into lockdown around mid March; some companies were well on their way to record numbers before everything came to a screeching halt; Everett Business Funding CEO Scott Crocket explained to deBanked, “we had a record 2019, we’re off to a great start with January, February, even the beginning of March … and we really saw it come on in the third week of March, the week that started with Monday the 16th. It started as a kind of a trickle in, but by the end of the week it was more of a tidal wave.”; most alternative lenders either paused new loans or scaled back significantly; lenders are starting to see the shift back to a semblance of normalcy with unemployment numbers getting better and companies going back to work; there is also some optimism about the future with Q3 and Q4 looking like quarters where growth could come back; lenders need to learn the lessons of the past few months, especially when it comes to the ability to collect on money lent out; Shawn Smith of Minneapolis’ Dedicated Commercial Recovery tells deBanked, “Anyone can lend out a lot of money or put out a lot of money on the street, but your ability to get it back is going to be very important, and you want the fire extinguisher in place before the house is on fire.” deBanked
