Esquire Financing creating successful partnerships

MANILA, Philippines - With the recent promotion to an investment-grade credit rating, entrepreneurship in the Philippines just became more exciting. Navin Uttamchandani chief operating officer of Esquire Financing Inc. (EFI), said the upgrade entails a host of benefits for small-market entrepreneurs (SMEs), particularly in the growth stage of their businesses.

“What we’re seeing now, thanks to the credit rating upgrade, is a huge amount of capital inflow, which is translated into liquidity,” he explained.

According to Navin, this presents an encouraging opportunity for SMEs. “The government is expected to begin spending more and promoting SME businesses more. That’s the way they can flow into the liquidity in a more intelligent way – by investing in infrastructure, in creating more jobs and more businesses. SMEs will eventually get more access to finance and capital than before.”

Based on estimates, stimulating the growth of SMEs is critical for the country’s economy. SMEs currently contribute about 30 percent of the nation’s GDP, putting them on par with larger enterprises.

Because the Philippines’ credit rating upgrade was foreseen by most experts, much of the groundwork for managing an investment-grade country is already in place—all that’s left now is to help SMEs grow into their potentials. It also means that SMEs will see the benefits of the upgrade much more quickly than usual, making this a particularly thrilling time for smaller to medium-scale businesses.

The challenge for SMEs at this point, however, is securing capital. This creates a unique issue for SMEs to address: in light of the credit rating upgrade, the market has become increasingly competitive with inadequate access to capital.

Rajan, president and CEO of EFI, believes this is where his company can help SMEs achieve their desired success. “EFI provides a means to an end,” he shares. “It offers easy access to financing for smaller to medium enterprises. We serve as a conduit, connecting investors or partners like banks to SMEs.”

While larger finance institutions and banks simply aren’t built to engage with the SME market, microfinance enterprises generally stick to a one-size-fits-all model due to a smaller amount of capital: fixed amounts at fixed interest rates over fixed periods of time. According to a report by the Asian Development Bank, however, the most effective means of financially supporting an SME is by providing custom solutions that address the specific needs of each business—a service EFI specializes in.

“Our vision is for EFI to become the leader in growth stage financing. In order to achieve this, we create relationships and partnerships with each of our clients,” Rajan elaborates. “Our clients aren’t account numbers; they’re people. They’re personalities. They’re businesses. We know who they are, their clients, how they work, and what their visions are. We develop our relationships in a mutually beneficial way—when our clients are successful, we’re successful.”

“We don’t respond to our clients’ needs through fixed product or solutions,” adds Navin. “We respond through our core values of efficiency, flexibility, and integrity. SMEs need someone who can turn around approvals very quickly, who’s dynamic enough to understand their needs and customize solutions to match them, and—most importantly—someone they can trust to stick with them. It’s not a one-shot deal; we help them grow, and by doing so, we grow with them.”

Many of EFI’s clients, including Raj Sadwhani of Draft and The Distillery Group and Enrique Gonzales of IPVI, can attest to this. Their respective businesses—Draft Gastropub in Sadwhani’s case and numerous ventures in Gonzales’—secured assistance from EFI during their growth stages, bringing them to their current levels of success.

“Our values are at the heart of what we do,” Navin continues. “In fact, if you look at our marketing collateral, you’ll notice that we talk about our core values more than the product itself.”

“For us, it’s not just about providing loans or funding. It’s about being able to achieve success for our clients,” says Rajan. “That’s why we tell our clients ‘our partnership is a sure success.”