Tasty startup keeps operations cooking with SPS

The challenge

Washington, DC-area Maspanadas began 7 years ago as a local catering company run out of an incubator kitchen in the capital, but after gaining in popularity with a frozen empanada product, they found their business pivoting from cooking and delivery to packing and shipping. And with big new partners like Whole Foods and Costco knocking at the door, Maspanadas had to adapt rapidly to more staff, more machinery and more infrastructure that threatened to drain their cash reserves.

To make the most of the opportunity, Maspanadas had to:

• • Secure flexible cashflow for high-growth expenses
  • Ensure new funding works well with their current financial structure
  • Choose a solution that gave them control over the financial health of the business
  • Continue to have easily accessible funds on hand for more growth

The solution

Maspanadas’ incredible growth marked a high point for brand popularity—and a low point for cash flow. But with the majority of Maspanada’s employees consisting of at-risk women, leaders knew they couldn’t jeopardize their workers’ livelihoods by missing payroll or other large expenses.

Beyond personnel concerns, Maspanadas had a complex series of loans and financing that restricted growth. Any new financing options would have to fit alongside the less flexible financial instruments the business used to kickstart its growth, but waiting for new loans meant losing out on opportunities for workers, equipment and space.

As their EDI supplier, SPS came to Maspanadas with an offering that could ease these growing pains by giving them a way to skip the waiting time on outstanding invoices: Invoice Financing.

Invoice Financing proved flexible enough to work well alongside existing loans while giving founders the access to cash they needed to make critical payments while continuing to grow their business. Plus, with Maspanadas already set up with SPS EDI, securing the new financing was easier than expected.

“So I have several hundred thousand in receivables, and I’m out of cash right now. Well, I can take a couple of invoices and in a couple of days the money’s there, and I don’t have to suffer and get an ulcer trying to again line up cents. And all it took really was minutes, because we had already everything on the platform…so it was very easy to do, and very easy to get started.”

– Margarita Womack, Founder, Maspanadas

The results

With enough cash on hand to make the most of key opportunities, Maspanadas has expanded from a two-bay dock to a 12,000 sq ft facility while increasing their staff to 70 and expanding partnerships with grocers all over the US. As the business grows, SPS has continued to offer full-service support in the form of EDI and Invoice Financing solutions that allow Maspanadas to stay competitive and resilient in a complex consumer packaged goods industry.

As Maspanadas eyes even greater heights, leaders say they’ll continue to rely on solutions from SPS for their efficiency, flexibility and powerful capabilities.