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Interview With Stan Prokop

Guest post by: Evan Carmichael

Article Overview: Stan Prokop is the founder of 7 Park Avenue Financial. The firm specializes in business financing for Canadian companies in the areas of working capital, asset based lending, SR & ED tax credit financing, equipment financing, and banking. Stan has been a top author for my site and I decided to ask him a few questions to learn more about him and how he helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

Interview With Stan Prokop

Stan Prokop is the founder of 7 Park Avenue Financial. The firm specializes in business financing for Canadian companies in the areas of working capital, asset based lending, SR & ED tax credit financing, equipment financing, and banking. Stan has been a top author for my site and I decided to ask him a few questions to learn more about him and how he helps entrepreneurs grow their businesses.

Why did you start your business?

I started my company in 2004, having spent 30 years working for several international and well known corporations – Heweltt Packard, Digital Equipment, and Ashland Oil.

How did you find your first customer?

When I started I had no customers, called several clients who I had worked with on various financing projects during my tenure in corporate life. We’ve completed over 50 million dollars in financing origination for our clients, but I wont forget that first fee on that first client – it was approx $ 500.00.

What was the hardest challenge you had to overcome with your business?

New business development and having a lack of company infrastructure were, and to some extent, still are large challenges. What is the best financial advice you can give to an entrepreneur? Know your alternatives when it comes to business financing – the old ways don’t work and seek a trusted, experienced and credible advisor.

What would you say is the toughest financial challenge an entrepreneur can go through?

I would say it’s the emotional rollercoaster of great times offset by great challenges and disappointment on occasion. What is the most important thing an entrepreneur needs to know about his/her finances? Entrepreneurs need to be on top of their financial scorecard – they should know their current financial position, what the sales backlog is, and why revenue does not equal cash flow.

While you were starting you business, what was your motivational drive that made you work hard?

My wife prohibits me to work for free, so the necessity to earn a living, while at the same time helping Canadian business achieve their financing needs are two motivational drivers! We work on many transactions that are several million dollars in size, but I frankly enjoy the satisfaction of helping the little guy. We have helped over 350 different businesses achieve the financing they need – and in the 2008 global meltdown companies of all sizes needed our help and assistance.

If you were to open up a new business in a different category what would it be and why?

I suppose it would be consulting, although that’s somewhat related to what we do now in an advisory capacity on customer financings. I have found that I enjoy sharing my business and financing experience with others, and a great deal of satisfaction is derived from knowing we helped out.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

Like many I certainly was unsure of the power of the internet when it first came out. The internet landed on my desk in approximately 1994, at a time when I worked for the largest computer company in the world in corporate finance. Today it is a huge driver of our business development lead generation, and allows us to publish significant content for our customer base and blog readership. Sites like Evan Carmichael.com have allowed me to reach clients all over North America. Everything takes time, but my investment in internet marketing has been a huge success driver for our firm.

You can check out Stan's articles here.

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