FINANCING

OPE +: Where are we today with access to financing? Compared to a year or 18 months ago. Andy Hopkins: I would say it is getting a little bit tighter. The economy has put pressure on lenders for performance. You can see it, with people talking about credit card defaults or auto loan defaults, this industry follows it too. What people don’ t know is that most of that publicity is around the Tier 1 lenders and what they’ re doing. [ Note: Tier 1 denotes borrowers with the best credit, those who are the lowest risk to a lender, and it drops from there.] Are those lenders moving into a more aggressive stance where they’ re trying to get a bigger customer share? Or are they moving more conservatively for performance?

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other lenders that provide services. And there are probably a few dozen that focus very heavily on the OPE space, and they provide solutions when those top tier lenders are not the right fit. Startup businesses, people with FICO scores that don’ t meet the criteria, people who don’ t have the income requirements, and some other hurdles. The interesting part about this business is there is usually a solution.

Some of it gets bad name because people say,‘ Oh, that rate is so expensive. I can’ t believe they’ re charging that much.’ But credit is a reflection of the payment habits of the applicant. The lenders are taking a risk and they’ re trying to balance that risk.

OPE +: For smaller or new businesses looking at financing for the first time, where do they start? Hopkins: Part of it is education, right? Finding articles like this. Read everything and think critically about why the information exists.

Second, find companies like ours where there is no cost and no obligation to go through the process. We use a soft credit check so there’ s no hit to their credit and they can see where they are. I don’ t mind people trying before they buy with us. I know that if we can provide a great experience, they’ ll come back.

Another thing I tell people, like any industry, you feel like the landscaper down the street is your competitor. In reality, as a landscape business owner with my brother where I ran more the office side, we were friends with just about every business that we also competed with. It was very common that we’ d have coffee or lunch or run into each other at the supply stores. And we would chat about challenges and problems.

You’ d be shocked how many people who’ ve done the hard work of getting their business up and running are willing to share tips and tricks with people who want to enter the industry. And in this landscape industry, if you put in the effort, there are plenty of customers, right? You know, the population is not headed toward,‘ Hey, I really love doing lawn work.’ So learn from others in the industry.

OPE +: For established landscape businesses, what is changing today with equipment financing? Hopkins: There are so many more providers for businesses than there are for consumers. You might have a great relationship on one exchange and you think that’ s where you should go back to. The problem is that every need is unique.

If you want to buy one of your competitors, you can use SBA loans, or you can use acquisition financing.

If you want to get all your equipment, there’ s equipment financing and we specialize in that. If you want to manage your supplies, there’ s financing that specializes in managing supplies and consumables that go through the season. They all have different costs of capital and different complexities.

You’ d be shocked how many people who’ ve done the hard work of getting their business up and running are willing to share tips and tricks with people who want to enter the industry.

18 OPE + May 2025 www. OPE-Plus. com