Wheatmead Funding, a small-business funding broker in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, arranges inventory financing through lending partners. It funds a stock purchase ahead of sales, usually secured by the goods themselves and paid down as they sell. Partners review sales history, inventory records, supplier terms and existing liens.
| What it is | Money for stock, with that stock as security |
|---|---|
| Repayment | Installments or as goods sell |
| Security | UCC filing on the inventory |
| Eau Claire County, WI retail | 382 employer establishments (CBP 2023) |
| Watch for | Blanket liens and aging-stock terms |
How inventory financing works
A partner advances part of the cost of a stock purchase and takes the inventory as collateral. You repay in installments or as goods sell, depending on the structure. Because the stock secures the funding, partners care about how quickly it sells and what it would be worth if they had to recover it.
Partners typically file a UCC financing statement with the state to record their claim on the inventory. If an earlier lender already holds a blanket lien on all business assets, that filing may block a new inventory facility until the two lenders agree on priority.
An inventory financing example
Picture, as a hypothetical, an Eau Claire gift and home goods shop offered a discount for ordering a larger quantity before a product launch. Its cash covers a normal order but not the bigger one. An inventory facility pays the supplier, the shop sells through the order over the following months, and each sale pays the balance down.
- How quickly does this stock normally sell?
- Does the supplier discount outweigh the financing cost over that period?
- Can the shop carry the payments if sales are slower than planned?
If all three answers hold up, the order can pay for itself. If any one fails, a smaller order may be the wiser choice.
Floor plan financing requirements
Floor plan financing is inventory financing for high-value, serial-numbered items, where each unit is financed individually and paid off when it sells. Partners usually require regular stock audits, a dealer or reseller agreement with the manufacturer, and prompt payoff of each unit when sold. It suits fewer, more expensive items rather than a shop full of small goods.
Inventory financing versus factoring
Inventory financing is secured by goods you have not sold yet. Factoring is a sale of invoices for goods already delivered, where a factor pays you part of the invoice value now and collects from your customer. A wholesaler that sells on 30- or 60-day terms might use both: inventory financing to buy stock, factoring to bridge the wait after delivery. Wheatmead Funding does not arrange factoring.
For recurring purchases of varying size, a business line of credit may be more flexible than a dedicated inventory facility.
Stock-heavy businesses in Eau Claire County, WI
Retail trade had 382 employer establishments in Eau Claire County in 2023, with 7,483 paid employees, and wholesale trade had 106 establishments (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023). Another 760 retail businesses and 126 wholesalers in the county reported no paid employees in 2024 (U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024); many of them still buy stock before they sell it.
Retailers are one of the two sectors with their own page here; see funding by sector for the full picture, the county business figures for local context, and all six structures if stock is only part of the need.
Inventory loans for a small business: what partners review
- Sales history, ideally by product category.
- A current inventory list with cost, quantity and age.
- The supplier invoice or purchase order.
- Existing liens on business assets.
- Bank statements that match reported sales.
Each stage, from the first call to an offer, is laid out on how a request moves.
By Wheatmead Funding · Updated