An independent capital advisory firm led by a former banker. We work directly with business owners and operators around the country on their most important borrowing, refinancing, and acquisition financing decisions.
We are, first and last, the client's advocate. The lender is the counterparty; we sit on your side of the table, and our job is to win you the strongest outcome the credit will support. Our relationships with lenders matter, but what really sets us apart is how much of the underwriting work we do ourselves, on every deal.
Our founder spent nearly fifteen years inside banks, working first as a credit analyst, then an underwriter, and then a business development officer. He brings that same experience to clients now, along with the relationships to work the full lending market on their behalf.
That background shows up in the actual work. We build the model, structure the transaction, and write the credit narrative to the standard a committee will hold it to. When there's a weakness underwriting is going to catch, we find it early and have an answer ready before anyone asks.
Most deals hit a complication somewhere in the middle, and when this one does, we are usually already working on the fix. We know how different committees think, which lenders are comfortable with which kinds of borrowers, and how to frame a credit so it keeps moving instead of stalling for six weeks.
A lot of brokers are finished once they have made the introduction. We stay involved through structuring, underwriting, negotiation, documentation, and funding. For us, the introduction is closer to the start of the work than the end of it.
We build the model and stress-test the credit the way a committee would, so the numbers hold up well before a lender ever sees them.
We prepare an executive deal summary built for the specific lender who will underwrite it, since a generic package rarely makes it through committee.
How a deal is structured and presented often decides whether it gets approved or stalls, and we know what different committees want to see.
We know these lenders personally, and we know how each one behaves: who closes fast and who runs slow, who prices high and who prices low, who runs aggressive credit and who stays conservative, which deal types each one favors, and who is running rate specials right now. That lets us bring a deal to the right bank at the moment it is actually looking for it.
Underwriting will find every weak spot in a file. We work through those ahead of time and have documented answers ready for the questions a committee tends to ask.
We stay involved through the term sheet, conditions, documentation, and funding, holding every party accountable to keep working toward the close. A signed term sheet is only the midpoint, and plenty can still go sideways before the money lands.
A selection of recent engagements across debt structuring, capital advisory, and acquisition financing.
Transaction details are representative and may be anonymized for client confidentiality.
A focused practice in debt and capital. From a first term loan through a CRE financing, a complex refinance, or an acquisition financing, we bring senior-level judgment to each decision. On every engagement, we put a plan in place to work toward the lowest cost of capital the situation can support.
Senior debt, SBA-backed financing, working capital, commercial real estate, and asset-based structures. We build each transaction around the borrower's real situation, take it directly to the lenders best suited to underwrite it, and handle the negotiation ourselves through closing.
Refinancing strategy, debt restructuring, and capital stack repositioning for businesses carrying debt that no longer fits where they are. We look hard at the current structure, model the alternatives, and carry out the change with the lender best suited to it.
Acquisition financing for buyers growing through M&A. We build the debt structure to fit the deal, take it to lenders who can actually underwrite it, and run the credit process alongside your deal counsel. We also bring a banker's read to the negotiation, helping buyers work through deal terms and financing structure so the numbers still hold up once the deal is signed.
Especially in SBA lending, every bank runs on its own business model, and that shapes how it underwrites, what it is willing to approve, and what it charges.
Money-center banks, community banks, aggressive credit shops, conservative institutions; they all have a place, and each one comes with its own considerations. The lender with the best rate is rarely the one that also moves fastest or shows the most credit appetite, and in SBA lending those differences only widen. Knowing where each bank actually lands, and why, is what separates a loan that genuinely fits the borrower from one that merely closes.
A lot of brokers like to advertise how many banks they are connected to, but on its own that number does not mean much. What actually moves a deal is understanding how each bank works: its business model, what it is trying to grow, how its committee thinks, and whether that lines up with what the client cares about. We know these lenders personally and stay current on who has real appetite for a given borrower, so we can take the deal where it has the best shot at a yes, on terms that hold.
Low-rate lenders are typically portfolio lenders who hold the loan and price off their own cost of funds, rather than selling it on the secondary market, so they tend to be more conservative. At any given time, some lenders are running rate specials, and others sit in the middle, balancing a competitive rate against speed and credit appetite. Pricing can also change depending on how much real estate collateral backs the deal.
Speed usually comes from the smaller, more transaction-focused shops, the ones with real flexibility and streamlined processes, rather than a large, bloated institution. Flatter organizations, the right incentives for their deal teams, and genuine accountability are what move a file toward a close instead of letting it sit.
Appetite splits along portfolio versus secondary-market lenders: portfolio lenders tend to be conservative, while secondary-market lenders are generally more accommodating. In SBA lending, the SOP is the rule book everyone has to follow, but any bank is free to layer its own more conservative policies on top. Strict SOP-minimum lenders hold to that baseline, and can pass along every perk the SBA allows.
Some lenders work only CRE-related deals or hold a hard line on collateral, while others will do entirely unsecured financing, the so-called airball deals. Some offer only SBA 7(a); others add 504, and a few are particularly adept at M&A. We know who focuses on what, and match your deal to the right fit.
Some engagements need more than capital advice on its own. They call for transactional counsel, tax help, real estate insight, or sector expertise. For those, we work with a trusted group of advisors who step in on a transaction when it needs them.
We choose each of these partners the same way our clients choose us, looking for real experience, steady judgment under pressure, and the discretion that sensitive financial work calls for.
Transactional attorneys for sale, purchase, and entity structuring across the deal cycle.
Tax planning, financial modeling, and quality-of-earnings work for diligence-intensive engagements.
Brokers, valuation experts, and CRE financing specialists for owner-occupied and investment property.
Operational, growth, and turnaround expertise for businesses preparing to transact or recapitalize.
Trust, estate, and ownership transition planning for closely held businesses and family enterprises.
Sector-specific experts brought in when a deal demands deeper context than generalist advisors provide.
Every engagement follows the same three steps, adjusted to the particular decision in front of you.
We start by listening rather than pitching. The first conversation covers the business, the balance sheet, the people involved, and what you are actually trying to accomplish, with no deck and no sales pitch.
From there we turn what we have learned into a set of options, each with its trade-offs spelled out, covering financing structures, possible transaction paths, and timing. You see the choices on a single page, with the implications of each laid out plainly.
Once you have chosen a path, we carry it out, handling lender outreach, structuring, negotiation, diligence, and documentation. All of it stays quiet, and you control every disclosure.
Inflection Strategy Group is an independent capital advisory firm. We work with owners, operators, and institutions across the country on the financings and transactions that come at the turning points in a business. The idea behind the firm is straightforward: capital decisions deserve a banker's discipline, working on the client's side of the desk.
Most of our work sits around a few high-stakes moments, like the financing that funds a next chapter, an acquisition that takes the business to a new scale, or a refinancing that frees up the balance sheet. These are not deals to rush, and they tend to reward being thought through carefully.
Every engagement is led personally and kept private. We stay small on purpose, because this kind of work does not get better by adding headcount. It gets better with experience and judgment.
Will Stranch has spent nearly fifteen years in commercial banking, almost all of it inside the credit function. He started as a credit analyst, moved into underwriting, and then into business development, and that path matters. Every transaction he structures today carries the discipline of the analyst who first sized the risk and the underwriter who had to defend it to a committee.
His experience runs the breadth of commercial credit: traditional C&I, commercial and investment real estate, nonprofits, government finance, renewable energy, project finance, and structured finance, alongside deep work in USDA and SBA lending. He began at BB&T, then joined Live Oak Bank, where he led the development of the renewable energy underwriting vertical at the nation's leading USDA lender. He moved into SBA lending at Blue Ridge Bank before serving as a business development officer at U.S. Bank, where he grew a new market substantially.
That combination is rare. Few people who broker financing have worked the credit side at all, and fewer still have done both credit and business development. Will tends to know what underwriting is looking for before it asks, how to present a deal so the path to a yes is clear, and how to answer the hard questions in the way a committee needs to hear them. He knows where the process tends to stall, and he moves each client through it with as little friction as the credit allows.
Outside of client engagements, Will is active across the business and finance community. He leads a highly popular networking event for business and finance professionals, and is developing new initiatives to serve owners, advisors, and lenders. He speaks and teaches regularly, and advocates for sounder, more transparent lending practices across the industry.
He founded Inflection Strategy Group to do that same work from the client's side of the desk. The thinking is simple: a borrower deserves a banker's judgment working for them, not across the table from them. Every engagement is led personally and run quietly, and it comes down to one thing, whether the client reached the right decision on terms that hold, with someone in their corner who has sat in every seat the credit will pass through.
We talk about fees early, so nothing about how we are paid comes as a surprise later. The two ways that usually works are below.
For SBA and USDA-guaranteed loans above approximately $150,000, we are typically compensated by the lender rather than the borrower. The full engagement (financial modeling, credit memorandum, structuring, institutional relationships, negotiation, and closing) is delivered at no cost to you. Any borrower-side fees would be disclosed in writing before the engagement begins.
For more sophisticated engagements that demand significant ongoing analysis, structuring, and execution, we work on a retainer basis. The fee is scoped to the work, agreed in writing, and clear before the engagement begins. The complexity of the situation shapes the engagement, not an undisclosed percentage assessed at the back end.
We would rather spend the first call understanding your situation. The pricing follows from the work once we know what it involves.
For SBA and USDA-guaranteed loans above roughly $150,000, we are typically compensated by the lender, so in most cases the borrower pays nothing. Advisory and consulting engagements are retainer-based, scoped in writing, and agreed before the work begins.
Most engagements fall between $500K and $50M, from a first term loan through complex refinances and acquisition financings. If you are not sure where your situation fits, the first call sorts that out quickly.
Nationwide. Lender relationships, diligence, and closings are handled remotely and by appointment, wherever the business and the deal are located.
With a confidential introductory call, scheduled within two business days of your inquiry. No deck, no pitch — we listen first, then lay out your options with the trade-offs spelled out.
Every engagement begins with a confidential introductory call. Here is what to expect, and how to put your inquiry in front of us.
Tell us the basics: what you are working on and the rough size. It stays confidential, with no obligation.
Within two business days, we will schedule a 30-minute conversation to understand the situation in your own words.
If we move forward, we gather the financials, model the credit, and take it to the lenders best positioned to underwrite it.
We stay personally involved through the term sheet, conditions, diligence, documentation, and funding. You stay in control of every decision along the way.
Not everything has to start with a form. If you would rather just email, or you have a referral, an introduction, or a question, we are glad to hear from you.
