How One Lucky Connection Led to $150,000 in Financing

Vamsi Yaramaka, who owns Pitt Unit LLC - a group of gas stations in Pennsylvania - has been in business for seven years helping people get where they need to be. For years now, Vamsi has spent his time remodeling the properties he's bought to turn his business into the prime gas station operator on one of the most prominent highways in Pennsylvania.

Luckily, Vamsi knew who to call when it came down to needing financing to grow his business. He was introduced to Biz2Credit Case Manager, Revathi, three years ago through another Biz2Credit customer and needed funding fast.

"I wanted to grow the business and make sure my investments on the property weren't going to waste," said Yaramaka. With three locations already in operation, Vamsi's business sells about 40,000 gallons of gas per month. With gas prices on the rise, and consumers looking for more amenities during their gas station visits, Pitt Unit needs constant working capital on hand to cover restocking and renovations. Proper funding is a necessity for this family-owned business to thrive."

Working with Revathi at Biz2Credit, Vamsi was able to secure a full $150,000 of funding to power his various projects. With that much extra capital on hand, he's free to invest in growing the business on his terms.

Using his financing from Biz2Credit, Vamsi plans to renovate his existing property and add new pumps and tanks. Other ventures that he'll now be able to launch include adding more of the convenience amenities that he knows customers want. At one of his stations, he's planning to add a bar to go alongside the restaurant that's already attached.

But the biggest project of all will be the new grocery store that will be built at his newest gas station location. This one's a special project for Vamsi. One of his customers actually gave him the idea!

"My gas stations are prime truck rest stops and the majority of the drivers are Indian and Somali," said Yaramaka. "One of them pitched the idea to sell Indian food and I thought it was a great idea."

It's that careful attention to the customer's needs that has made Vamsi the successful business owner that he is today. But as he will gladly tell you, it hasn't always been that easy. Some of his earlier ventures didn't have sufficient financing.

Vamsi learned a lot from this experience. Back then he spent a majority of his money on his first gas station and then didn't have the money to run the rest of the business. "I had to sell a couple of my other properties to focus on the three that I currently have open," says Yaramaka.

His advice to other business owners is to follow two simple steps. Don't expand your business until you know you can grow your revenue for each location you open, and use financing to grow faster once you know you're ready. If he could go back in time, he says his focus would be on his revenue and how much he was bringing in before expanding and getting financing.

Are you an owner of a gas station looking for additional financing? Check out this helpful guide from Biz2Credit that explains the different types of gas stations loans.