In the kitchen business, getting hold of stock is a major headache. Using Unlock, Adelaide Marble Specialists can manage a complex and unpredictable cash flow environment.
Adelaide Marble Specialists produce natural stone, porcelain sheets, panels and tiles for 150 kitchens every week. With a market covering the retail, trade and commercial sectors, the company handles jobs ranging from single kitchens to fit-outs of multi-story buildings for tier-1 construction companies.
The issue – cash flow
For owner John Miteloudis, having enough stock to meet ever-changing demand is a major issue.
“Our supply chain is highly unpredictable, so we need a lot of trade finance,” says John. “Stock is easy to sell but hard to get, and we’ve had to pull out of contracts in the past because we didn’t have the funding.”
Adelaide Marble doesn’t get a deposit from the client, so they have to buy all the materials upfront, then wait up to a year to get paid.
“If we get paid in five months, that’s a quick turnaround,” says John, “so we’re taking on all the risk, but without the stock, we can’t complete an order. If we don’t have the finance when we need it, we simply can’t do the job.”
The solution – UnLock. Buy Now Pay Later designed for Business.
After trying several banks, John discovered UnLock.
“The banks don’t seem to like our industry,” says John wryly, “but with UnLock, we have a $1m limit that’s higher interest than a bank, but it means we can increase our stock turnover by 50%, and that’s crucial.”
Extended payment terms
Adelaide Marble uses UnLock to effectively get 120-day payment terms with a range of suppliers.
“Being able to extend a 30-day invoice by an extra 90 days really helps smooth out our cash flow,” says John, “it also means we can handle big orders over the typical supplier limits of say $50,000, without emptying the bank account.”
New horizons
UnLock has also opened up opportunities that would otherwise have been impossible to fulfil.
“UnLock changes the types of work we can bid for and our chances of winning it,” says John. “Without UnLock, we simply wouldn’t be able to win the work. The more funding we have, the more sales we can make.”
Simplified accounts
The company also uses the Unlock Mastercard to simplify their day-to-day accounts.
“We closed our credit cards and moved to the Unlock Mastercard,” says John, “we use two of them to pay all the bills that fall outside our monthly payment run, and anything that has to be paid for that day. Now we’ve got all our expenses in one account, it’s just so much easier.”
