Small Business, National Customers: How Non-Notification Factoring Helped a California Network Contractor Grow

Running a business with three employees while delivering services to one of America’s largest wireless network operators takes some doing.

For Michael Bennett, founder of California-based WestBridge Network Services, the challenge wasn’t finding work. His company provided network integration services to major telecommunications operators, supported by a team of independent 1099 contractors.

The business was small. Its customers were anything but; and that created a familiar problem.

When growth depends on the founder’s own cash

WestBridge’s customers typically paid on net-60 terms, a familiar working-capital challenge for telecommunications contractors. Meanwhile, Michael needed to pay his field technicians and contractors long before those invoices were settled.

For years, he had bridged that gap using his own money.

It worked while the company operated at a modest scale. But as opportunities increased, so did the amount of cash tied up in receivables.

Michael had the opportunity to take on additional work from another national carrier. The problem was finding the working capital to support it.

There was one other complication.

Major telecommunications operators have established procurement and payment procedures. WestBridge’s customers were unwilling to accommodate factoring arrangements that required third-party notification or changes to their payment processes.

Conventional notification factoring was therefore impractical.

A $300,000 non-notification facility

TowerCap established a $300,000 non-notification factoring facility, allowing WestBridge to access advances of up to 80% against approved invoices.

Crucially, the arrangement used non-notification factoring, meaning WestBridge’s customers did not need to be informed of TowerCap’s involvement.

The carriers could continue dealing with WestBridge through their existing commercial and payment arrangements, while Michael accessed the working capital needed to pay his contractors.

Rather than waiting 60 days for customer payments, the company could release cash from eligible receivables and put it back to work.

From financing invoices to financing growth

With the facility in place, WestBridge was able to accept additional assignments, including work from another national telecommunications carrier.

Those new invoices could also be factored, creating a funding arrangement that could support the company’s expansion.

For Michael, the difference was substantial.

“For years, I was using my own money to pay our technicians while we waited for customers to settle their invoices. There was only so much work we could afford to take on. TowerCap changed that. We can now accept more projects, pay our contractors and use our own money to grow the business. And our customers haven’t had to change a thing.”

The result

The $300,000 facility allowed WestBridge to:

• Pay its 1099 contractors without waiting for 60-day customer payments.
• Accept additional work from another national network operator.
• Reduce its dependence on the founder’s personal funds.
• Preserve established customer relationships through non-notification factoring.
• Redirect previously committed capital towards expansion.

For a company with just three permanent employees, the impact extended well beyond the value of the facility.

WestBridge already had the technical capability, contractor relationships and customer confidence to grow. What it lacked was a financing arrangement suited to the realities of serving much larger businesses.

Sometimes the most valuable funding arrangement isn’t the largest. It’s the one that allows a small business to accept its next opportunity.

TowerCap provides non-notification factoring for qualifying businesses, helping them release working capital from receivables without disrupting their customer relationships.

This case reflects a real client engagement. Names and certain identifying details have been changed to protect confidentiality. The founder’s quotation is illustrative and subject to confirmation.