Learn how Obvi, a rapidly scaling supplement brand for women, uses Parker to improve cash flow cycling and scale omnichannel growth on their own financial terms.

“Time and runway for your business create much more opportunity and freedom. These are fundamentally the biggest blessings you can give to any brand — and also to your own mental health as a founder. Parker enables exactly that.” - Ron Shah, Co-Founder & CEO of Obvi

About

Obvi launched in 2019 after its co-founders asked a simple question, “Why do the wellness products meant to help us look and feel young seem so old, cold, and clinical?” Today, the brand has scaled up to the tune of $20 million ARR after bootstrapping its launch with $10,000.

Challenge

Obvi has grown roughly 300% YOY since going live. As the brand grew, the team realized that even though they were profitable, if they couldn’t shorten their cash conversion cycle, the costs of scaling would soon catch up. In Q3 of 2021, when they moved to order inventory for Black Friday, they didn’t have enough capital readily available to budget for both product and ads.

To solve this problem, Obvi tried standard credit cards like Amex, Chase Ink, and Brex, but found they offered unsatisfying solutions (minimal cashback and rewards points) or simply didn’t deliver what they promised, like when a net 60 card becomes net 30 after reading the fine print. Ultimately, none of these legacy credit products could truly help solve their cash flow concerns.

“When you look at incentives for other credit cards, like 2% cashback or points for free flights, none of it helps your business improve cash flow cycling. If I can’t grow sustainably, I have no business flying anywhere anyway. That’s what I had in mind when Parker came around.”

Solution

After cycling through ineffective credit products, Obvi discovered Parker and was immediately interested for two reasons. First, in the words of Ron Shah, Co-Founder & CEO of Obvi, “Parker is the only card that has true net 60-day terms.” We deliver on our terms — and nothing less. Net 60 terms in turn would help unlock Obvi’s next growth phase and bridge cash flow bottlenecks.

Second, Obvi loved that Parker was built by founders, for founders. Ron points out that Parker’s team provides the security and careful policies of a legacy vendor on top of hands-on support from a team that understands the growing pains associated with scaling merchants.

Strategy

As Ron reminds us, 90% of new brands rely on credit to scale. It’s pivotal to your company’s health to find the right credit partner early on, yet most cards can’t promise you more than 1–2% cashback and points for flights or hotel stays that ultimately don’t impact your business health.

Parker gives your business what it needs – time and runway

With Parker’s physical and virtual cards, the Obvi team finally graduated from lackluster rewards to doubling their time for credit repayment, which increased tangible runway for their company.

After onboarding with Parker, Obvi quickly took advantage of what Ron calls our “true” net 60 card. In his words, many credit vendors promise the same flexibility but ultimately underdeliver. Critically, Parker cards provide a limit up to $5 million with payback periods up to 60 days.

Scale ad spend and inventory on Parker – with true net 60 terms

“Whenever a charge comes in, I know I have 60 days,” Ron explains, “so I can easily make my business work on that schedule.” Obvi can easily scale their ad spend without the risk of not having the requisite capital. Using this extended runway, Obvi was able to expand its retail growth efforts, since their retail accounts send checks anywhere between net 30 to 60 days.

Today, Obvi can handle a net 60 account of a few hundred thousand dollars in inventory, run their Parker card to pay for ads and drum up online sales, and then offset those repayments through retail revenue. Most importantly, this doesn’t require Obvi to close on additional high-cost lines of credit or dilute via an equity raise to continue their rapid growth trajectory.

“The fact that Parker provides net 60 terms with no cycle or statement attached is our biggest growth secret right now. That was incredible for us. Anytime we need 60 days, I can just charge our Parker card – which no other card can do right now.”

Results

Since switching to Parker, the most notable benefit for Obvi has been the time saved. According to Ron, the brand can refocus on growth efforts because they have a defined yet flexible window (60 days) for repayment. Gone are the days of wondering how they’ll afford to expand inventory, invest in advertising spend, or debate whether to fundraise for the upcoming quarter.

The same goes for saved costs. “Parker has saved me a ton of time. And, evidently, it’s saving me money, too,” Ron tells us. Beyond this, Obvi is expecting to work with Parker for the long haul.

“Parker is building the financial tools to help brands grow faster. Even with a killer feature like net 60, they’re constantly figuring out how to make the product better.”