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The team at Capital Hands shine at equipment financing because they understand business financing, their clients, and particularly, how best to put their clients at ease when discussing this enduringly challenging topic of money.
That is how Megan McMulkin, Managing Partner of Business Development at Capital Hands, explains their success. Capital Hands is a Mississauga-based business and consumer financing company specializing in equipment financing for small- and medium-size enterprises.
Another key to their growth is that the team are not simply financing experts, but have been in the shoes of their clients, with the bulk of them hailing from the transportation industry — where the brokerage’s founder Vishaw Chahal had his start when he moved to Canada.
An enterprising lawyer from India, Chahal reinvented himself in his new home as a truck driver, eventually moving into transportation equipment sourcing, sales, and eventually specializing in equipment financing with his latest venture in 2016: Capital Hands Ltd. As a result of Chahal’s transportation background and strong ties to the industry, the majority of their clients are based in the capital-intensive transportation and construction sectors. McMulkin joined the team last summer to help diversify their client base and grow their lending pool by tapping into her contacts in the field.
1. One-Stop-Shop
When asked why borrowers should opt for Capital Hands’ brokerage model and bypass traditional or other alternative lenders, she was quick to answer, “Coming to us is a one-stop shop. We have access to over 40 lenders and that’s across all levels: from the top banks to private lenders. So, with us it’s one application, one set of documents, working with one person. We do the analysis, the complete review of everything [a client] provides. We build the case for them to get the money.”
2. Support Through the Process
She continued, “We hold our client’s hand through all the steps. If you try to do all that legwork yourself, it’s a time-consuming process. And every time you supply your documents to an individual lender, they’re going to pull your credit information, which takes a toll on your credit rating. Whereas with us, we pull that information once.”
3. Staff Expertise
Another key advantage is Capital Hands’ staff expertise in business financing, which means they are strategically placed to match borrowers with the right lender. “We know our lenders and what they’re going to buy. Instead of spraying a deal — sending it out to a multitude of lenders at one time — we make strategic connections because we know what lenders are looking for.”
4. Ability to Construct Larger Transactions
They are also well-suited to construct larger transactions that require multiple lenders for one client, packaging a multi-part loan in one succinct package for the client instead of them having to piecemeal it together themselves.
Capital Hands analysts help with “all aspects of business financing,” McMulkin said, with consulting services being a “by-product” of their offerings.
Business owners (as well as private consumers interested in mortgages, funding medical procedures, or personal equipment financing — from boats and snowmobiles to mobility devices) can apply online or submit a physical application, an option relied on many of their trucking clients who are on the road. A copy of a driver’s license and three-months’ banking information is “enough to get everything started,” according to McMulkin.
Their rates start as low as 3.5%, and range based on the:
To date, Capital Hands have helped thousands of customers access more than $100 million in funding and counting.
McMulkin is optimistic about 2021, despite the long road ahead with pandemic-related stay-at-home orders. “People are finding alternatives to the traditional ways they had delivered the good or service pre-pandemic. We’ve had so many restaurants calling and asking about food trucks for this summer so they can be mobile, instead of relying on dining-in options. From hard times spring creativity, as they say.”
Investing in home improvements is an area that has exponentially grown in the COVID-19 era, McMulkin noted, and she expects it will continually to be a hot market with many Canadians foregoing travel to take up projects around the house, or build home offices, or buy cottages.
