OneAM Heard from the Road: What Business Owners are Telling Us about Financing in Today’s Market

By: Charlotte Ng, Chief Product Officer
Published March 26, 2026 | Estimated read time: 3 min

Last October, we published a blog titled, “Control, Independence, and Resilience are More Important Than Ever for Business Owners”. Since then, we’ve been on the road, hosting meetings and events in Houston, Midland, Denver, Orlando, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York (with Atlanta and DC coming up next!).  We’ve met with business owners across a variety of industries – manufacturing, creative, media, energy, technology – just about everywhere that small businesses face lengthy payment terms imposed by enterprise customers.  What we’ve found is that amid a backdrop of rising oil prices, geopolitical uncertainty, and technological disruptions, control, independence, and resilience have become ever more important.  And receivables financing, a proven alternative to traditional business loans, remains underutilized by the businesses that could benefit from it the most. 

Control over what matters most 

Business owners don’t just value customer relationships; they depend on them. For many, a single enterprise customer represents a meaningful share of revenue. In creative and service businesses, those relationships are often personal, built over years, and closely tied to the owner’s brand. That’s why traditional factoring can feel risky. Anything that disrupts or puts those relationships at risk, such as a third-party factor collecting directly from a customer, can harm both the brand and the business. 

At the same time, when negotiating with customers, businesses want the flexibility to extend payment terms for strategically important relationships. This highlights a clear need for financing solutions that “hum in the background,” enabling businesses to offer more competitive terms to win and retain key accounts while keeping the control of the relationship firmly in their own hands. 

Maintaining independence 

One of the most striking refrains we hear from business owners is how much they value independence. For many, the desire for strategic or creative freedom, to call their own shots, was the original motivation for starting a business.  

The irony is that most conventional financing available to small businesses runs counter to this goal. Bank debt such as SBA loans comes with restrictive covenants, blanket liens, and personal guarantees. As a result, a seemingly low-cost solution can become very costly precisely at the moment when a business needs stability – during a downturn. On the other hand, equity capital brings external pressures and intrusion into a business’ strategy, governance, and exit. In both cases, autonomy is diminished. 

The businesses best positioned to maintain independence are those that can grow revenue efficiently while keeping a light capital base. Rather than carry expensive, undeployed capital with strings attached, having financing that scales alongside revenue at a reasonable cost can help a business keep its balance sheet light and provide the cash flow for growth. This is what non-dilutive funding looks like in practice: working capital that grows in lockstep with revenue. 

Building resilience in volatility 

Whether it’s an energy service provider being pressured by large operators to extend credit, a fashion brand navigating global supply chain challenges, or a design agency facing a slowdown due to AI disruptions, we hear across verticals that having contingency cash is critical in these volatile times.  Businesses are best served by maintaining diversified sources of capital that complement one another, each suited to different needs.  

OneAM Early Pay: Designed for small to midsize businesses 

At OneAM, we strive to understand what business owners have to navigate. Our team of deep experts in finance and technology have designed OneAM Early Pay specifically for growing businesses that sell to large enterprise customers. From an easy onboarding to a business-friendly structure, OneAM Early Pay gives business owners the control and independence over things that matter most: customer relationships and cash flow. By converting one asset – Accounts Receivable – to a better asset – Cash, for a reasonable discount, businesses can finance their growth while keeping their capital base light and building a buffer against disruptions to maintain control.