At a Glance

• Your competitor for this account isn’t another lender—it’s the customer’s own checkbook and credit line. You don’t beat a checkbook with a rate.
• Self-funders are usually your strongest credits: real liquidity, low leverage. That’s exactly why converting one is worth more than closing three transactional deals.
• The revolver is the sharpest wedge. Funding five- to seven-year assets with demand-natured, borrowing-base capital spends the liquidity they’ll need in the next downturn or acquisition.
• Reframe equipment as a lifecycle to manage—uptime, refresh, obsolescence, disposal—not an asset to own. For hard-used equipment, owning it outright is the worst structure available.

You’re Competing With Their Checkbook, Not Another Lender