Chi-Enterprise Increases Liquidity, Funds Growth With C2FO

Benefiting from C2FO Early Payment, German distributor orders, receives and collects faster for goods sold through popular online retailers.

Just as Chi-Enterprise’s health care products provide healing and repair, owner Christopher Schneider has discovered a remedy to fuel his company’s growth in C2FO Early Payment. 

Located in Bavaria, Germany, Chi-Enterprise sells nearly 1,000 products — typically consumer package-sized health creams, massage devices and food supplements — imported by the case, pallet or container load. Compounded by the global pandemic and supply chain challenges, lead times including transportation from suppliers have recently extended to nine months from the traditional three to six, placing a heavy burden on cash for the family-oriented firm of 13 associates. 

Direct sales to individuals are often paid by credit card or PayPal. But volume-sale payments from sellers like Amazon that order in bulk and ship from their own inventory, about 70% of Chi-Enterprise’s revenues, are often delayed 60–90 days. Accordingly, Schneider must often juggle lengthy product acquisition times from suppliers requiring prepayment and extended-term buyer payments, something he politely calls “professional payment methods.”

Having learned of C2FO from an email and completing an easy onboarding process, Schneider quickly saw the benefits of early payment with C2FO. And he doesn’t miss the hassles of traditional financing like lending and factoring, which often involve paperwork, limits, excessive fees and sometimes even ownership by the financier. 

About working with C2FO Schneider said, “We can receive the money that we are owed earlier in exchange for interest, which enables me to improve my liquidity, which is honestly the be-all and end-all in a business like this.” He emphasised that early payments with C2FO arrive with no additional fees other than the discount rate he provides, saving him the ongoing worries of loan payment tracking or constrained credit lines from banks. 

With control over when he gets paid by his most consequential customers, Schneider uses the increased liquidity to buy smarter, shorten delivery times, impact margin compression and, ultimately, quicken his cash conversion cycle. He not only has the freedom to buy proven products in advantageous quantities but also has the funds he needs to invest in new products and growth.

A trained chemist, Schneider founded Chi-Enterprise in 2009 after being given a Chi Machine, with ‘chi’ meaning ‘life force’ in Japanese. The machine is a passive aerobic device that stimulates circulation to help relieve chronic muscle and nerve pain, like fibromyalgia, and reduce lymphatic fluid retention. Having seen how the machine benefited others, Schneider committed himself and his company to a mission of providing wellness-minded customers with personal use, health-enhancing products.

With the C2FO platform providing on-demand cash flow, Schneider is excited by the prospect of bringing even more healing to those seeking nontraditional, in-home health remedies.