A city that planned its business parks
Lancaster was incorporated in 1977 and has 173,516 residents across about 94.52 square miles. The Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance describes business and industrial areas within the city: the Fox Field Industrial Corridor along Avenue G, North Valley Industrial Center, Lancaster Business Park, Enterprise Business Park, Centerpoint Business Park and the Southern Amargosa Industrial Area.
The former Lancaster Redevelopment Agency is credited with attracting major business operations such as SYGMA, Rite Aid, Michaels and Bank of America. California abolished all local redevelopment agencies in 2012, and the city economic development department is now responsible for recruiting large employers and attracting retail and dining to Lancaster Town Center, Front Row Center and other retail centers. Revitalizing Downtown Lancaster was another focus.
What a business-park economy means for small operators
Industrial parks create steady demand for support services: freight and delivery, forklift and equipment repair, security, janitorial, uniforms, landscaping, staffing and food service. Those vendors are small, they sell to larger operators, and they handle the common pressures:
- Receivables lag costs. Fuel, wages and parts are bought first.
- Equipment is critical. If a truck, forklift or press goes down, the revenue stops.
- Distance adds cost. Antelope Valley businesses often serve customers across the Los Angeles basin, so vehicle and fuel costs are a larger share of the budget.
- Contracts can be lumpy. A single customer may represent a big share of revenue.
For illustration only: a delivery contractor with six drivers buys two used vans for $38,000 and waits 30 days for its largest customer to pay a $50,000 invoice. Payroll, fuel and insurance continue meanwhile.
Retail and downtown
The retail side of Lancaster, around Lancaster Town Center, Front Row Center and the revitalized downtown, has its own pattern. Restaurants, salons, gyms and small stores buy opening inventory and make build-out improvements before they have a customer base. They also tend to be more sensitive to a slow month, because the fixed rent is the same.
Where the product pages fit
| Need | Page |
|---|---|
| Cover payroll or supplies | Working capital |
| Flexible access to cash | Business line of credit |
| Trucks, vans, tools | Equipment financing |
| Newer business | Startup business loans |
| Card-sales based advances | Merchant cash advance |
| Revenue-linked payments | Revenue-based financing |
| Fixed-term funding | Term loans |
| Heavy existing advances | MCA relief |
| Credit challenges | Bad-credit funding |
Funding runs $25,000 to $5,000,000 and can arrive in as little as 24 hours. We consider FICO 500+, ask for about three months of business bank statements, and need no tax returns. The application takes about five minutes with a soft credit pull, and sole proprietors can apply. See the Los Angeles County page and the Mojave & High Desert overview. Apply now.