BlueTarp Financial: An Innovative Way to Think About Trade Credit

“These days, you cannot turn around in the building supply industry without hearing the words, ‘Growth is back,'” says Scott Simpson, president and CEO of BlueTarp Financial (BlueTarp). “And BlueTarp is no stranger to growth or to our industry.”

Founded in Portland, Maine, in 1998, BlueTarp provides trade credit and marketing services to thousands of building supply merchants across the country. By relying on the BlueTarp team’s customized programs, merchants obtain predictable cash flow, increased sales and reduced risk.

“As the economy starts to grow, letting a trusted partner from the industry manage a customized trade credit program versus doing it yourself is a smart way to accelerate ahead and sleep well at night,” Simpson says.

With over 75 employees, BlueTarp is growing rapidly. “Our business is concentrated in the Southeast and Northeast, but we have merchants all across the United States,” says Simpson proudly.

How BlueTarp Works

When a building supply merchant engages in partnership with BlueTarp, the team at BlueTarp handles the credit, funding, billing, collection and customer service functions that are traditionally managed in-house. Merchants are able to remain actively involved throughout the process or, if preferred, can lean on BlueTarp to handle the full scope of services.

“The sophisticated merchants in our industry understand that they can get predictable cash flow from us that allow them to invest in inventory, new sales reps or in new services,” Simpson explains. “If you don’t know when you’re getting paid, you can’t plan as easily to manage your business. By freeing up cash and managing the trade credit function on their behalf, we help merchants stay focused on the other 50 decisions they need to make each day.”

Growing the Market

Over the years BlueTarp has developed a significant niche in the recovering market due to the firm’s extensive history of lending to contractors. “We are experts at credit lending in the building supply space,” says Simpson. “We pay attention to the right risk factors. Merchants often don’t recognize that the risk of their contractors is constantly evolving, some are getting better and others are getting worse. Contrary to what many think, you won’t be able to tell without checking under the hood or using a service like ours that a contractor is about to tip over. We protect our merchants by taking on the risk ourselves.”

The team at BlueTarp also offers email marketing services to merchants as a way to drive contractors to spend additional money. “BlueTarp introduced eMarketing after recognizing that merchants desire to better market to their contractors but often lack the know-how or the resources,” Simpson details. “We’re about helping our merchants grow. We know that if we help them grow their sales, we’ll grow with them, as well.”

Across the country, thousands of dealers and tens of thousands of contractors take advantage of BlueTarp’s services to grow and maintain business. The company is celebrating 15 years of success in 2013, and Simpson notes that his team is not slowing down anytime soon. “We are growth-driven,” he explains. “We’re looking to expand. Our customizable program is better than an in-house trade credit plan; many merchants just haven’t considered letting a partner manage it before.” BlueTarp Financial will continue to seek out new territory, while offering service and support not found elsewhere in financing.

For more information about BlueTarp Financial, please visit: www.bluetarp.com.