Building a foundation on logistics and loyalty
Kincade Delivery Solutions in St. Louis, Missouri, operates as an Amazon Delivery Service Partner (DSP).
Armand built Kincade Delivery Services out of his experience leading transportation logistics in the Army. After the military, Armand continued to work in logistics, learning all that he could from driving box trucks, which led to his partnership with Amazon. After a personal encounter with job instability, he committed to building a business where he and his employees could feel secure.
In three years, owner Armand has grown his operation to a fleet of 20 to 30 cargo vans. The fuel behind Armand’s success was not only his extensive experience in the transportation industry, but also his desire to build up the local economy and give back to the community by providing second-chance employment opportunities to his local community.
“When I give jobs, I’m a real firm believer in second chances…I don’t let one action define whether or not they’re going to be a good employee for the next 10 or 20 years… the biggest thing is giving opportunity to those who either messed up their first opportunity or they’re just looking for that chance.”
Preparing to grow through business financing
As the business took off, Armand started to look to grow his volume. Expanding a fleet requires significant upfront capital, and he needed funds to acquire more trucks, hire employees, and cover additional operational costs.
Preparation was everything in this process. “Before you figure out what money there is out there for you, you need to figure out ‘if I took this much money from anybody, regardless of what the interest rate was, does it make sense in the long run? What is going to be the ROI?’”
By carefully evaluating ROI before securing financing, Armand ensured that his working capital loan would directly support sustainable growth. Once he had his goals and numbers defined, Armand started his search for the right financing partner. He started, as many do, with a Google search. He compared his options from different financing providers and decided to follow up on his top offers.
When he connected with Credibly, he found that they took the time to understand the unique needs of a transportation business and find him the right amount of capital at the right cost.
“They were able to work with me…They understood me. I don’t want the max. I know what I can get, but I don’t necessarily need all that. I need only ‘this much’ because it’s going to net me ‘this’.”
From financing to a partnership for success
“With the first [financing], I was able to expand my operation by about 10%, which ended up netting me more volume, which ended up allowing me to increase my revenue percentage by at least 8% for the year.”
This growth is vital in the high-volume package delivery industry, and it helped Armand have extra “operating space” to provide bonuses to staff and maintain the fleet. But he didn’t stop there. As he hit his projections, Armand continued to find additional opportunities to build on his success.
Though it had only been a couple of months since his first financing, he connected with Credibly’s Bridge financing team to get additional capital, and repeated this as he needed it.
“It was more so about the partnership afterwards that we started because initially, I don’t know [Credibly], right? So, it really was after we started this partnership, what does it look like moving forward?… What is my next rate going to be?… [The representatives] made it understandable…ultimately, it allowed me to stay with you guys.”
Impact at a glance:
Credibly’s working capital loan and bridge financing allowed this transportation and logistics business to:
- Expand operations by 10%
- Increase annual revenue by 8%
Delivering a legacy
As he looks to the future, Armand hopes to continue to scale up his business and fulfill his mission of providing job opportunities– and second chances– to the community in St. Louis.
His advice to fellow entrepreneurs is simple: “Know your numbers… have a purpose for what you’re doing”.
Ready to grow your business like Kincade Delivery Solutions? Contact Credibly today to explore your financing options.