What You’ll Learn:

• How Parker helped finance a $75K monthly Google Ads budget

• The benefits of consolidating ad spend onto a single credit platform

• Why flexible financing delivers peace of mind to agile ecommerce brands

Founding Story

Bala Bangles was born out of an idea sparked during a meditative yoga class in Indonesia. Co-founders Max Kislevitz and Natalie Halloway were midway through an 8-month backpacking adventure across Asia after quitting their advertising jobs.

Craving more of a workout than the meditative class offered, they started to notice an opportunity to innovate in the fitness accessories market at a time when the intersection of wellness and style was becoming more important to consumer than ever

• Wrist and ankle weights, once popular in the 80s, had disappeared

• Fitness gear overall lacked the design and style of modern athleisure

Max and Natalie believed upgrading materials and style could make wrist and ankle weights fashionable again. With backgrounds in marketing, they embraced an iterative approach to creating their hero product. As Max puts it, “You might not know how to build a car, but you know how to clean your car, take photos of it to post online, and then promote the listing. Before you know it, you’ve sold the car.” Deconstructing steps that first seemed insurmountable into manageable baby steps is how Bala came to life.

Bala launched on Kickstarter to fund an initial 3,000 units. Max and Natalie personally hauled 6,000 pounds of product (turns out weights are pretty heavy) to the post office to fulfill orders. This was only the start of their dedication to the brand.

Growth Journey

Early on, Bala's growth was slow and steady. But landing a spot on Shark Tank in February 2020 changed everything. Their episode aired just two weeks before the COVID pandemic hit the US. As the world shifted to at-home fitness, demand for Bala's weights spiked. Revenue grew 8X year-over-year.

But the incredible rise introduced growing pains. Supply constraints became the main barrier as Max and Natalie struggled to finance increasing inventory costs before revenue caught up. Growth was exciting but brought immense financial stress.

The Problem

Bala relied heavily on credit providers to fund operations, especially the costly process of manufacturing and shipping thousands of units to meet demand. But the experience was frustrating.

The “unlimited” corporate cards they were issued would unpredictably shut off at around six figures in spend. As Max explains, “In the context of our paid digital efforts, it was not that much.” That invisible threshold regularly disrupted their marketing campaigns until the credit limits could be increased again.

Meanwhile, cash flow was hard to come by.

• Investor funding had dried up.

• VCs pulled back on investing as the e-commerce market tanked.

• And public market mania faded up as quickly as it appeared.

With few sources left to turn to for financing, Bala scrambled to support its surging growth.

The Solution

Bala eventually discovered Parker, a revenue-based card built for ecommerce. Parker offered attractive benefits tailored for ecom brands including:

• Higher limits: Performance-based underwriting that gives you access to credit limits up to 10-20x higher than traditional business cards.

• Flexible repayment: A true credit period on every swipe, with terms up to 90 days. Plus, daily statements to keep repayment manageable.

• Streamlined ops: Integrated banking services and a comprehensive dashboard for real-time P&L insights.

Bala quickly consolidated its financial stack onto Parker. Now 3 parker cards power all digital advertising and operations:

• Google Ads ($50-75K/month)

• Shopify and other subscription software tools

• Miscellaneous operational expenses

This improved credit availability allows Bala to allocate revenue more strategically. Inventory no longer has to be funded through credit or other short-term financing vehicles.

According to Max, “[Parker] has allowed us to reallocate costs so that we have the cash necessary to purchase inventory rather than doing so on credit.”

Freeing up working capital to be allocated more efficiently has been pivotal as the company continues marching towards its goal of modernizing the entire fitness accessories market.

The Impact

While the vast majority of the credit for this growth goes to Bala’s incredible team, Parker has provided immense value as both a financial tool and source of confidence.

1. Flexible financing. By financing a significant portion of their digital advertising spend, Parker gives Bala the fuel they need to keep growing. It also simplified financial operations. Instead of splitting expenses across multiple credit providers, the cards consolidate their entire ad budget onto a single platform.

2. Peace of mind and confidence. Even more importantly, Parker delivers much-needed peace of mind during turbulent economic times. Bootstrapping a business requires nimbleness and the ability to roll with punches. Parker’s flexible terms and generous limits provide a financial safety net if plans suddenly shift.

3. Reallocated cash flow. Knowing additional working capital can be accessed in a pinch allows Max and Natalie to play offense instead of defense. And confidence provides mental and emotional bandwidth to stay focused on their customers during challenging moments.

The Road Ahead

As Bala scales, Parker helps lighten the load as a modern financial partner. It gives the brand confidence to continue paving an innovative path in the world of fitness.