Burns Funding Is Becoming the Leading Aggregator of Non-Traditional Tools for Securing Growth Capital

Connecting people has always been a strong suit of serial startup entrepreneur Peter J. Burns, III. After decades of using that skill to start hundreds of his own businesses, Burns recently began applying that ability to create a menu of tools designed to help fellow entrepreneurs raise growth capital, with superlative results already.

In six short months, Burns has called upon his vast network of financiers and specialists, and has helped dozens of existing and would-be entrepreneurs raise capital, when many of them had nowhere else to go.

“Traditional banks are failing us when it comes to nurturing small businesses, and funding new startups,” said Burns. “This is especially true in the technology sector, where a modest amount of capital can be the difference between success and failure.”

One of the more effective elements of Burn$ Funding’s (burnsfunding.com) approach is leveraging one’s own personal credit to raise the capital they are seeking.
One way he has done this is by institutionalizing the bridge funding process, to reduce credit card debt and gain a higher credit score. This allows his customers to secure more capital at very competitive interest rates, in some cases as low as zero percent interest.

For decades, the bridge funding process has been an act relegated to the back alley, where shadowy figures charging exorbitant rates attached themselves to unsecured credit lenders, looking to make a fast buck off the backs of consumers,” said Burns. “Not anymore.”

Several factors have enabled the Harvard Business School-educated Burns (PeterJBurns3) to institutionalize the bridge funding process. First, he partnered with three of the premier credit repair companies, including Midas Financial, the largest credit repair business in Arizona. This gives the institutions tremendous confidence that the loan will be repaid.

The second factor is customer service. The credit repair industry is extremely fragmented, in which the best, most savvy companies are consistently overwhelmed with business. “The fact that these companies don’t have to build out the relationships with their clients is attractive to them,” said Burns. “Plus, we can loan far more money to our shared customer, which means that they can dramatically lower the all-important credit utilization ratio, which consequently improves their credit score. And as a result, that customer gains access to even cheaper money. And the third factor is that customers have the opportunity to secure more funds through the increasingly popular phenomenon called credit card stacking.”

Burns’ programs don’t end there, either.

Leveraging Shelf Corporations
Burns also offers a market in shelf corporations, which are business entities that are no longer being used because their assets have been sold, typically because they were acquired. However, most of these corporations are still viable because they have exemplary credit records. While the cost of a shelf corporation typically ranges in cost from $5,000 to $10,000, their clean record can help the entrepreneur secure lines of credit for growth.

“The main objective is to improve the entrepreneur’s chances of gaining access to cost-effective growth capital,” said Burns, who besides being an entrepreneur has also been an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University, and was the founder of Grand Canyon University’s College of Entrepreneurship.

One of Burns’ successful funding efforts was on behalf of Richard Otto, the President of Metrol Carbon Ventures, LLC, a green energy technology company based in Phoenix. “Burn$ Funding enabled us to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding, which was enough to begin the manufacturing process on our flagship product,” said Otto. “Before Burn$ Funding came along, we were relegated to approaching traditional banks, which had no interest in loaning us money.”

Cost Segregation Studies
Yet another of Burn$ Funding’s tools is the use of cost segregation studies to generate capital. A cost segregation study identifies aspects of a property that can be placed on accelerated depreciation life cycles, potentially resulting in huge tax savings for eligible property owners.
“One of the first questions that comes to mind when I tell a small-business owner about it is, ‘Is it legal?’,” said Burns. “Yes, cost segregation is perfectly legal, and IRS-compliant. The IRS has even published guidelines for a proper cost segregation study on its website. Even better, it is a simple process for the property owner, who gets the help of an experienced professional to complete and submit the study.”

While the modern application of cost segregation can be traced most directly to two landmark 1997 court cases, Burns was the first to tie cost segregation studies to other business ventures back in 2005. Today, he is partnered with several industry leading professionals in the field.
Providing Options for Investors
Burn$ Funding has also stepped up to help its own customers explore entrepreneurial opportunities.

Take Cliff Janke M.D., for example. Dr Janke is a real estate investor whose day job is that of Emergency Room Physician. Burns helped Dr. Janke secure capital, and then invest the dollars in a Burn$ Funding division involving the Group Home/Assisted Living industry (luxury group homes). “Initially, I came to Burn$ Funding as a way to secure funding for an freestanding Emergency Room in Houston,” said Dr. Janke. “Burn$ Funding came through for me when literally no one else would.

“Since then, Burns has brilliantly connected the dots between myself and his network of contacts, and has come up with an exciting new business venture in the group home space that I am honored to be a part of. Burns has endless energy, creativity and a tremendous grasp of the business world from decades of entrepreneurial adventures. He has the ability to connect many seemingly unrelated parties and ideas together, and to create new and lucrative business adventures.”

In the weeks since, Dr. Janke has introduced dozens of other members of the medical community to Burn$ Funding. “Whether they went on to invest in the group homes business or some other venture, the bottom line is that Burn$ Funding has helped them to secure the capital necessary to create financial security,” said Dr. Janke. “I have yet to encounter anything else like Burn$ Funding, and I don’t think I ever will.”

Burns Funding Founder and CEO, Peter J. Burns III