HKD 100M Revenue, Bank Said No: How a Dried Seafood Wholesaler Survived a Cash Flow Crisis in 30 Days

Alan runs a dried seafood wholesale business. 15 years. 200+ retail clients. HKD 100M+ annual revenue. 35% gross margins.

One day he called me. Voice shaking. “Eason, I can’t make payroll.”

His bank account had less than HKD 400K. Suppliers demanded payment within 30 days. Retail clients took 90 days to pay. Money was everywhere — just not in his bank account.

He walked into 4 banks. All 4 rejected him. What he didn’t know: every application triggered a credit check. Four checks in quick succession flagged him as high-risk. A death spiral.

Our 3-stage strategy:

Stage 1 — Stop the bleeding: We matched him with two licensed financial institutions. Same-day funding. Interest was higher than bank rates, but he made payroll. The immediate crisis was contained.

Stage 2 — Transfuse: Simultaneously, we went to our exclusive PE fund network — 5 funds that no other platform in Hong Kong can access. They don’t care about credit scores or company age. They look at asset value and receivables quality. Approved: HKD 7M.

Stage 3 — Rebuild: With HKD 7M in hand, we cleared the high-interest loans, helped him stock up at year-end clearance prices, and parked HKD 2M in the bank as cash proof. Then — and only then — we applied for a low-interest bank SME loan. Same bank. Same owner. Same business. This time: approved at P-2.25%.

From “I can’t make payroll” to “the bank asked if we want a bigger limit.” Under 30 days.

Key lesson: Financing isn’t a single transaction. It’s a journey. The solution you need today isn’t the solution you need in 3 months. We follow the whole journey.

This is a summary of our detailed Chinese case study. Read the full story in Chinese →