Online national lender Dealstruck, based in New York, announced today its new and innovative way of providing financing. Offshore lending. With its rapid growth in the past six months, and the resulting need to expand to a bigger office space, Dealstruck’s CEO saw the opportunity to purchase a reconditioned shipping vessel as a golden opportunity. It was the logical next step as Dealstruck has always been creative when it comes to providing financing, and now that we have a satellite office somewhere on the east coast, they can serve a larger variety of clients.
The ship, a mighty freighter that was once used to deliver goods from overseas, was recently refitted with several dozen cubicles to house the lending staff and underwriting team. “Sure the initial move wasn’t the smoothest transition, but once we got over the collective seasickness, bought everyone their own trash can, and bolted down the chairs and desks, things have been going fairly smoothly. Except for me, I haven’t quite gotten my sea legs yet,” reported a pale-faced and sweaty Ryan Campbell, Dealstruck’s VP of Sales.
The move meant a lot for the employees of Dealstruck who decided to transition to this floating office space. Volunteers stay on the ship for month-long “Lending Cruises” while the vessel remains anchored off the coast of New York.
The employees seem to be enjoying the new venue, according to Jessica Brown, a Lending Specialist for Dealstruck, “Sure I could do without the hour of barnacle scraping that starts my day, but there’s just something about reviewing tax returns and bank statements at sea that really brings me inner peace. Oh? Is it already 3 PM? Time to swab the deck!”
The company’s engineers had the arduous task of building an entire IT network that would be able to operate miles from the nearest wifi hotspot. “It wasn’t easy, but in the end they settled on 13 miles of waterproof extension cords and CAT 5 cable. The only issues occur when the lines get unplugged from the shore, that’s when their engineering team gets into a rowboat to troubleshoot. At this point, things are running smoothly though and the only remaining concern for the team’s proprietary software systems comes in the form of piracy.
Borrowers haven’t really noticed a difference in the products or service from Dealstruck, despite the move. One small note came from a client named James Clancy, “I personally think the move was a smart one for the company; the only issue I had was when I spoke to a Lending Specialist. He kept answering questions with ‘aye, aye’ and tried to work in ‘port and starboard’ whenever he could.”
Dealstruck is able to pass the savings on rent and air conditioning costs right on to the borrower. All things being equal, it makes us a much stronger company.
This article was published on April 1st, 2016, otherwise known as April Fool’s Day! Dealstruck is not really operating at sea on a retrofitted shipping vessel, although the part about them being a leader in the small business lending market is no joke! Find out more about Dealstruck at www.dealstruck.com or speak to one of our representatives now at 1-855-610-LOAN.