HLP CAPITAL ADVISORY · CASE STUDY 01

From stalled loan to $2.5M SBA close.

A DFW manufacturing owner had been pushing a capital raise for 14 months. Two banks passed. Their CPA, attorney, and financial advisor all worked in silos. HLP entered as the coordination layer — and 8 months later, the SBA closed at 8.5% with pre-funded trust protection against personal-guarantor exposure.

CLIENT
C. Traylor
MANUFACTURING · $12.4M REV
ENGAGEMENT
22 months
FEB 2025 – DEC 2026
DIAGNOSTICS RUN
3 Reports
ICR · EXR · TSR
OUTCOME
$2.5M closed
8.5% SBA · TRUST PROTECTED
◉ THE SITUATION

Fourteen months of stalled.

C. Traylor is a second-generation owner of a DFW-based manufacturing firm — $12.4M in revenue, $1.8M EBITDA, 34 employees. In late 2023, the business needed a $2.5M capital raise to fund a new production line: equipment, working capital, and a small facility expansion.

Traylor's CPA had prepared clean financials. His attorney had structured the operating entity. His financial advisor had been coordinating personal wealth for years. On paper, everything looked ready.

Two conventional lenders passed. One SBA lender came back with 12.75% and a full personal guarantee — significantly worse than expected. His advisors all had opinions, but none owned the coordination.

"I had three of the best professionals in DFW on my team. Every one of them was doing their job. But no one was quarterbacking the whole thing. And the deal kept stalling."
C. TRAYLOR · FOUNDER / CEO

By early 2025 — 14 months into the raise — Traylor was ready to walk away from the expansion. That's when a chamber-member CPA recommended HLP Capital Advisory.

◉ THE DIAGNOSTIC

Twenty dimensions. Three surprises.

Chekelah's team ran an Institutional Capital Readiness™ diagnostic in the first week. The 20-dimension scoring surfaced three specific issues no single advisor had flagged:

  • Personal-guarantor exposure was blocking his highest-rate options. His personal wealth was uncoordinated with the business raise — meaning lenders were pricing worst-case PG risk into every quote.
  • Customer concentration was flagged in the caution zone (28%). Not deal-blocking — but it was pushing lenders toward covenant-heavy structures.
  • Books were clean but not deal-ready. Reviewed statements, no QoE, no formal add-back workbook. Salvageable — but nobody had told him to invest in either.

The ICR™ Report classified his file as Tier III · Conventional & SBA Ready — meaning good structural bones, but requiring 60-90 days of coordinated pre-work to unlock the best pricing.

◉ THE COORDINATION

Six advisors. One quarterback.

Chekelah pulled the full bench into coordination:

FEB · 2025
CPA + Attorney all-hands
Sandoval CPA (Fort Worth) and Kirkland Law (Dallas) briefed on the ICR™ Report. Coordination protocol established. Working-capital normalization workbook commissioned.
MAR · 2025
Customer diversification sprint
Sales lead prioritized 5 mid-tier customer wins to reduce top-customer concentration from 28% to 19%. Sequence took 90 days.
MAY · 2025
Trust funding for PG protection
Kirkland structured a revocable trust amendment isolating personal residence and non-business assets. Reduced worst-case PG exposure by 40%.
JUN · 2025
QoE report + add-back workbook
Sandoval commissioned buy-side QoE from a mid-market firm. Documented $185K in legitimate owner add-backs, lifting adjusted EBITDA to $1.98M.
AUG · 2025
Lender re-approach
Chekelah introduced Traylor to Frost Bank SBA team. Package submitted with QoE, trust structure, and diversified customer roster.
NOV · 2025
$2.5M SBA closed at 8.5%
Approved on first pass. 425 basis points lower than the 12.75% offer from the previous year. Equipment installed by Q1 2026.
◉ THE OUTCOME

The numbers.

$2.5M
SBA CAPITAL CLOSED
8.5%
FINAL RATE · WAS 12.75%
$425K
LIFETIME INTEREST SAVED
40%
PG EXPOSURE REDUCED
"HLP didn't replace my CPA or attorney. They made both of them ten times more effective — by owning the quarterback role none of us had time for."
C. TRAYLOR · POST-CLOSE · JAN 2026
◉ WHAT'S NEXT

The pathway continues.

With Stage 07 (Capital) closed, Traylor's engagement rolled forward into Stage 09 (Tax) — where Sandoval CPA is now modeling a defined-benefit pension plan that could shelter an additional $180K annually in tax-deferred contributions.

Traylor's Exit Readiness Report™ is also active — targeting a 5-year window for a potential strategic sale. Chekelah's team is coordinating with Brooks & Chen (M&A attorney) on standby, and pre-market discussions with two DFW investment bankers are already scheduled.

The coordination continues quarterly. HLP owns the sequencing. Sandoval, Kirkland, Brooks, Chen, and Frost each own their disciplines.

Anonymization notice. This case study is representative of HLP Capital Advisory client engagements. Client name, business specifics, timing, and financial details have been anonymized. Individual client outcomes vary based on business fundamentals, market conditions, and specialist execution. HLP does not guarantee capital-raise approvals, tax outcomes, or transaction results — those depend on licensed specialists.