From cash flow struggles to sustainable growth

Before Affiniti

Rapid revenue growth without financial stability

Scaling from $750,000 to $2,700,000 in revenue is a dream for most entrepreneurs. For Justin Lange, that dream became reality fast. After achieving early success, he was eager to keep driving growth as quickly as possible.

Running two companies out of the same Paducah office made it harder, not easier. One Hour serves homeowners across Western Kentucky on a residential service cycle. Summit Mechanical, which Justin founded in 2019, handles commercial HVAC, refrigeration, and mechanical work for restaurants, schools, churches, military installations, and even maritime barges. Different vendors, different payment terms, different rhythms. One owner watching two bank accounts and two stacks of supplier invoices.

But Justin quickly realized that higher revenue didn’t automatically equal financial success. His rapid growth masked serious cash flow challenges. Money was going out faster than it was coming in, straining operations and creating constant pressure. Despite quadrupling revenue, Justin found himself in negative cash flow, a sobering reminder that growth without strong financial management can be risky.

The switch

A partner that understood the business

Determined to fix his cash flow, Justin began exploring financing solutions. Previously, he paid vendors directly through ACH and wire transfers, which drained large sums from his bank account each month and left him strapped for liquidity. He needed a tool that could extend payment terms, free up working capital, and support sustainable growth.

“Honestly, most traditional banks don’t understand the HVACR industry. I’m running a multi-million-dollar business, but they couldn’t give me a credit limit that matched my growth,” said Justin. “Their team actually gets the HVAC space. It’s rare to find a financial platform that understands your business and actually delivers.”

Affiniti underwrote both companies together and extended a line that matched the size of the operation. That line has since grown to $127,000 as the businesses have. Just as important, both companies came onto the platform under one login, so Justin could see One Hour and Summit Mechanical side by side for the first time instead of toggling between accounts.

Running two businesses on Affiniti

Cash flow that works with the business, not against it

Within months of moving to Affiniti, Justin had turned his cash flow positive. His suppliers work on net-30 terms. By paying them on the Affiniti card instead of by wire or ACH, the cash stays in his account until the card statement is due, effectively turning net-30 into net-60 across both companies and giving him time to collect from customers before vendor payments come out.

That gap is the difference between negative and positive cash flow for a contractor whose revenue quadrupled. Materials for a commercial refrigeration job and a residential furnace install now sit on the same cycle, and Justin decides when cash leaves instead of the vendor’s invoice date deciding for him. In the last 90 days alone, more than $400,000 of supplier spend has run through the platform on those terms.

Spend controls across every card and every job

Eleven employee cards now cover both businesses, each with its own limit. Every transaction triggers a text alert on Justin’s phone, showing exactly where money is going the moment it goes, whether a One Hour technician is buying a capacitor or a Summit crew is picking up refrigerant for a walk-in cooler.

The limits are only the start. Every card on Affiniti carries its own spend policy, set as tight or as loose as the job calls for. A service tech gets a daily cap. A project lead gets a monthly one. Cards can be restricted to weekdays or business hours, locked to specific vendors so a supply-house card only works at the supply house, and set to shut off automatically on the day a job wraps. A new hire gets guardrails on day one. A crew finishing a commercial install gets a card that closes itself out when the work does.

For an owner who used to find out where $20,000 went weeks after the wire cleared, that combination of policy and real-time visibility is the control he was missing. One dashboard shows both companies, every cardholder, every rule, and every purchase as it happens.

Bill pay in one place for both companies

The next piece to move was payables. Vendor bills from both One Hour and Summit Mechanical now come into Affiniti’s bill pay as they arrive. Nearly 150 bills have been brought onto the platform so far, so Justin sees what each business owes, to whom, and when, in one view, before a dollar goes out.

That means no more invoices sitting in two inboxes and two bookkeeping folders. Every bill is captured once, tied to the company it belongs to, and ready to be paid on whichever rail makes sense, from the same place he already manages his cards and his cash.

The results

Two HVAC companies, one platform, cash flow that finally kept up

Justin came to Affiniti for a credit line that matched his growth. What he ended up with was the financial layer for both of his businesses.

What that looks like in practice:

• Cash flow turned positive within months. Paying suppliers on the Affiniti card moved every bill from net-30 to effectively net-60, and cash flow stayed positive while revenue grew.
• Revenue grew 3.6x with the same team. From $750,000 to $2.7 million across two companies, with vendor bills, employee spend, and credit all managed from one login.
• More than $2.2 million in supplier spend has run through the platform, over $400,000 of it in the last 90 days, every dollar visible the moment it moves.
• Eleven cards across two companies, every purchase visible. Per-employee limits and real-time alerts replaced after-the-fact surprises.
• Nearly 150 vendor bills captured in one place, across both businesses, instead of two inboxes and two folders.
• A credit line that grew with him, from the initial approval to $127,000 today, underwritten by a team that understood a two-business HVAC operation.

Today, when a supplier invoice lands for either company, it goes into Affiniti. When a technician buys parts, the charge, the alert, and the card policy that allowed it all live in Affiniti. When Justin wants to know how much cash both businesses have committed this month and when it actually leaves, he opens one dashboard. A credit line started the relationship. Two years in, Affiniti is where the financial side of both companies lives in its entirety.

Justin’s advice to other HVACR owners

Ask Justin what made the biggest difference for his businesses, and he doesn’t point to a piece of equipment or a marketing tactic. He points to the people around him.

“Honestly, the most valuable things I’ve done for my business weren’t tied directly to our services,” he said. “It’s been reading the right books, learning from other entrepreneurs, and building a strong network of bankers, accountants, mentors, and advisors.”

His advice to other HVACR owners is to treat the financial side the same way: find partners who understand what a contractor’s cash flow actually looks like, and build on them rather than on whichever bank happens to be closest.

“That’s why partnering with Affiniti has been such a massive game-changer for me,” Justin said. “When you work with people who actually understand your business and care about success, it amplifies everything you’re building.”

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