Billd Teams Up with American Express to Help Suppliers Extend Flexible Finance Terms Across U.S. Construction Industry
StruktureOne Group faced substantial lead times that required them to float the cost of materials long before a project started. They also dealt with inflexible supplier terms and credit limits, as well as volatile material prices. This made it difficult to manage and project cash flow. Billd worked with StruktureOne to create a custom financing solution that provided longer payment terms, made project lead times easier to manage, and allowed them to take on bigger projects with their best customers.
"Having Billd in our corner made us more bullish on chasing projects."
StruktureOne Group is an Austin-based steel subcontractor founded in 2016. Focused on metal building structures and design-build projects, StruktureOne began working with Billd in 2022. We spoke with Michael Herndon and Jarred Craddock, the two founders of StruktureOne Group, to get their perspective on how working with Billd has changed their business.
With projects across Texas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama, StruktureOne worked with a slew of suppliers with different prices and terms, some of whom could offer no terms at all. Normal material lead times spanned 12 to 16 weeks. As a result, they found themselves constantly fronting the costs of materials that wouldn’t be delivered to a job site for weeks at a time. Meanwhile, material invoices came due after 30 days.
Lead times weren’t the only timing problems they encountered. Their DSO was substantial, with GCs typically taking 45 to 60 days to pay after work was completed, and payment delays sometimes stretching past 90 days. These problems compounded across all their projects at any given time, and having their cash tied up in materials payments made them hesitant to take on large projects.
“As you’re growing, you’re constantly behind the ball. It feels like you’re always pushing cash around,” they said.
StruktureOne also struggled with pricing challenges; they could only price their materials based on current market prices, which would sometimes change between when they did their estimates and when they were ready to purchase. The inability to accurately price materials made it difficult to accurately predict available capital.
StruktureOne needed to find new ways to manage their long payment and lead times. An industry peer put them in touch with Billd, where they learned about material financing. Billd created a custom financing solution for StruktureOne, which gave the company financial flexibility that supplier terms couldn’t. They had more time to pay for the materials on a project, reducing the pressure caused by their long DSO.
“It made our lives a lot easier as far as being able to better manage cash flow on certain jobs,” they said.
Material financing also let StruktureOne start to work with suppliers they were unable to use previously due to insufficient terms. Billd made it so that the supplier’s terms limitations didn’t matter. The ability to work with a wider array of suppliers bailed them out of schedule pinches and helped them deliver on time, every time for their customers.
Working with the right suppliers has had a long-term impact on their ability to retain their best customers. They no longer have to compete for work with certain GCs because they already had a reputation for taking care of them, thanks in part to Billd. Additionally, they have the financial security to continue to bid on more numerous and larger projects, helping them build new and stronger GC relationships.
Their simple advice to subs who are considering Billd: “Just do it,” they said. The financial backing of Billd is a game changer in an industry where banks are reluctant to lend or extend lines of credit. Having someone like Billd in your corner just makes sense; they said it lets you chase projects you may not normally feel comfortable chasing. According to the StruktureOne team, Billd understands the importance of financial flexibility in this industry, helping subcontractors deliver on projects and win the work they want.
