Our Process

You call (201) 427-8807 or email [email protected]. Within 24 hours — usually same-day — you're speaking with Jean-Philippe Ouellette, our Director of Business Development, or directly with a senior member of the lending team. There's no phone tree, no intake form that disappears into the void, and no junior screener reading from a script.

We ask about your business, what you need financing for, and the timeline you're working with. We want to understand the story behind the numbers: Why now? What opportunity are you pursuing, or what challenge are you solving? This is a conversation, not an interrogation — and it typically takes 30–45 minutes.

Within 48 hours, we give you an honest initial assessment: can we likely help, what would the general parameters look like (rate range, term, structure type), and what documentation should you gather? You also receive a written timeline estimate so there are no surprises about what comes next.

If we don't think we're the right fit — whether the deal size falls outside our $100K–$5M range, or the industry carries risks we aren't equipped to assess — we'll tell you directly and refer you to a source that is. We'd rather lose an inquiry than waste your time.

Required documents for initial assessment: last 2 fiscal year-end financial statements, most recent interim financials, current AR/AP aging, corporate and personal tax returns (2 years, for guarantors if applicable), and a brief written description of the financing purpose. We provide a clear checklist — no guessing about what's needed.

We know document gathering can feel like a burden. Jean-Philippe and the team are available throughout this phase to answer questions, clarify what's needed, and help you prioritize. If your bookkeeper or accountant needs to be looped in, we'll speak with them directly. The goal is to get to a complete file as efficiently as possible — not to bury you in paperwork for the sake of it.

For viable applications, our credit team conducts a deep dive. For businesses in the Greater Montréal area, this includes an on-site visit — we've toured bakeries, logistics warehouses, design studios, physiotherapy clinics, and production lines. We find that walking the floor of a business tells us things that no financial statement ever could: how the team operates under pressure, how inventory actually moves, what the culture feels like.

Nadia Tremblay and Dr. Amina Hassani apply our proprietary 14-factor credit assessment framework, evaluating your business across qualitative and quantitative dimensions that standard credit scoring ignores. This framework — detailed further below — is what allows us to see the full picture of a business, not just the spreadsheet summary.

Behind the scenes: Amina runs stress-test scenarios — what happens to your debt service capacity if revenue drops 15%? If a major customer delays payment by 30 days? If input costs rise 10%? We model these not to find reasons to decline, but to structure facilities that can survive real-world volatility. A loan that looks great in a spreadsheet but breaks at the first headwind isn't good for anyone.

Our three-person lending committee — Dr. Martin Ellsworth, Nadia Tremblay, and Dr. Amina Hassani — reviews the complete credit file. This is not a rubber-stamp committee that meets once a month. They convene specifically for each application, with full access to every piece of context — financials, site visit notes, stress-test results, and the qualitative assessment.

Average time from complete documentation to definitive decision: 4.2 business days. Compare that to the 4–8 weeks most institutional lenders require. We can move this quickly because the same people who analyze your file are the people who make the decision — there's no chain of approvals winding through regional offices and distant credit committees.

If approved: you receive a written term sheet outlining rate, term, amortization, security requirements, covenants, and fees — plus a credit assessment summary showing exactly how we evaluated your application and what drove our pricing. No mystery. You'll understand why we offered the terms we did, and you're free to ask questions or push back on any element.

If declined: you receive a written explanation of the specific factors behind the decision, and what would need to change for us to reconsider. We believe a transparent "no" is more valuable than months of ambiguity. Many of our eventual clients first came to us with applications that weren't ready — they addressed the gaps we identified, came back 6–12 months later, and secured the facility they needed.

We don't charge application fees. If we decline, you've invested your time but not your money. That's deliberate — it keeps us honest about which conversations we pursue.

Once you accept the term sheet, we design the detailed loan structure: amortization schedule, repayment frequency (monthly, quarterly, or aligned with your cash flow cycle), covenant package, security requirements, and any performance-based pricing adjustments. Every structural choice is made with your business's operational reality in mind — not pulled from a template.

We explain every structural choice in plain language. Why this amortization period? Because your equipment's useful life is 7 years, so a 5-year amortization keeps you ahead of depreciation. Why this covenant threshold? Because your seasonal revenue dip in Q1 means we need a DSCR floor that accounts for cyclicality. Why this security package? If you don't understand a term in your loan agreement, that's our failure, not yours.

Sophie Larivière's operations team prepares all legal documentation, coordinates with your legal counsel, and manages any third-party requirements (appraisals, environmental assessments, security registrations). Sophie has closed over 200 facilities in her career — she anticipates bottlenecks before they become delays.

This phase is where deals at other lenders often stall. Legal documentation gets kicked back and forth for weeks, nobody owns the timeline, and the borrower sits in limbo. At Ellsworth Lend, Sophie's team owns the closing checklist end to end, with weekly progress updates shared with you and your counsel. If a third-party appraisal is running behind, you'll know the day we know.

Loan documents are signed. Funds are disbursed — typically via wire transfer within one business day of closing. For revolving credit facilities, your credit line is activated and available for immediate draw. Sophie's team ensures you receive your fully executed documents within 48 hours of closing — every time, no exceptions.

You'll also receive a clear summary of your ongoing obligations: reporting requirements, covenant calculation methodology, payment schedule, and the name and direct phone number of your ongoing relationship manager. No more calling a general line and hoping someone knows your file.

For existing borrower portal access, you'll receive your credentials within 24 hours of closing — giving you a secure dashboard to view payment schedules, loan documents, covenant status, and account details at any time.

Gabriel Fournier becomes your dedicated, ongoing relationship manager. He'll reach out for quarterly check-ins — not to audit you, but to understand how the business is performing and whether the facility structure is still serving you well. These aren't courtesy calls. Gabriel reviews your latest financials before each conversation so he arrives prepared with context, not questions you've already answered.

If your business outgrows the original facility, if you need to restructure covenants because of a seasonal shift, or if a new opportunity requires additional capital, Gabriel is your first call. He can fast-track a credit review because your relationship history — every quarterly report, every conversation — is already documented in our system.

This is why our 92% client retention rate isn't a marketing number — it's the natural result of treating the loan closing as the beginning of a relationship, not the end of a transaction. Many of our client success stories involve businesses that started with a single facility and expanded to two, three, or four as they grew.

If you ever have an issue — a payment timing concern, a covenant question, an unexpected business challenge — you have Gabriel's direct line. Not a call center. Not a ticket system. A person who knows your business by name.