“Cash flow stopped keeping me up at night.”

Priya runs a small creative agency in Sydney — a tight team doing brand and campaign work for clients much bigger than themselves. The work was good and the pipeline was full. The problem was the gap between doing the work and getting paid for it.

Big clients pay on their own terms, often 60 days out, sometimes longer. Meanwhile payroll comes round every fortnight like clockwork. Priya found herself doing mental arithmetic at 2am, juggling which invoice might land before which wage run. The business was profitable on paper and stressful in real life.

The turning point

A fellow founder mentioned Zupo. Priya was wary — services businesses with no equipment and no property to point at often get a cool reception from lenders. But the application was quick, checking didn't ding her credit score, and Zupo focused on what she did have: signed clients, recurring retainers, a clear book of receivables.

Rather than a rigid loan, Zupo set up a line of credit she could lean on to cover the gap between invoicing and getting paid, then clear down as clients settled up.

They saw a real business with real clients, not just a balance sheet with no assets on it.

The outcome

The 2am maths stopped. Payroll became a non-event. Priya could say yes to a bigger project without first working out whether she could float three months of costs, because the facility was there to bridge it. She even started paying suppliers early to lock in better rates.

Where they are now

Priya's team has grown by three and she's chasing the kind of clients she once turned down on timing alone. If long payment terms are running your week, a line of credit might give you the breathing room — see your options.