Guidant Financial Partners with Russo’s Restaurants to Offer Credit Access to Franchisees

Guidant Financial Partners with Russo’s Restaurants to Offer Credit Access to Franchisees

Bellevue, Wash. – April 6, 2015 – Together with BoeFly, Guidant Financial has announced a new partnership with Russo’s Restaurants to increase credit access to restaurant franchisees, enabling more entrepreneurs to make Russo’s Restaurants franchise ownership a reality.

The new partnership between small business financing company Guidant Financial, BoeFly.com, the online marketplace for small business loans, and Russo’s is part of Guidant’s Funding Assurance™ program to help franchisors expand their brands. The partnership will offer existing and prospective Russo’s franchisees exclusive access to financing services from Guidant Financial and BoeFly, starting with a customized prequalification tool on Russo’s website called bQual™.

Russo’s franchisees will get unlimited use of the bQual™ business loan prequalification and financial education report for franchise systems and entrepreneurs. The prequalification process helps franchisees determine what financing is available for franchise projects, whether opening new units or expanding current operations. The partnership with Russo’s is another step in Guidant’s goal of establishing relationships with growing franchise systems to help streamline the financing process and help entrepreneurs gain access to the capital they need.

“This easy prequalification process will give Russo’s franchisees confidence about their ability to get financing and identify potential sources,” said David Nilssen, CEO and co-founder of Guidant Financial. “We’re thrilled to work with Chef Russo’s team to help ease the often complex financing process and enable more individuals to realize their dream of franchise ownership.”

“It’s our passion to produce authentic New York-style pizza and quality Italian dining, and this partnership furthers that mission, one new franchisee at a time,” said Chef Anthony Russo, founder and CEO of Russo’s Restaurants. “Our partnership with franchise experts Guidant Financial and BoeFly will help more entrepreneurs expand our brands and join the Russo’s Restaurants family.”

About Guidant Financial

Guidant Financial works with entrepreneurs to identify, evaluate and deploy intelligent business financing strategies. Their services include, but are not limited to, rollovers as business start-ups (ROBS), SBA loans, unsecured credit and portfolio loans. In 2015, Guidant pledged to deploy $350 million through small business and franchising. Visit Guidant on the web at guidantfinancial.com.

About Russo’s Restaurants

Russo’s Restaurants is a 42-location national and international franchisor of the fast casual and casual dining brands Russo’s New York Pizzeria and Russo’s Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen. Based in Houston, Russo’s Restaurants are composed of a mix of corporate and franchised locations across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida and Hawaii. Russo’s has entered international markets as well, with locations in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. There are an additional 20-plus units in development both in the United States and internationally. Chef Anthony Russo has created his concepts from years of applying his unique, family recipes featuring New York-style pizza along with a broad variety of handcrafted pasta creations, calzones, salads, sandwiches, soups and desserts, reflecting his commitment to his New York roots where food and family come first. To learn more about Russo’s franchise development opportunities, visit www.nypizzeria.com/franchise.

About Boefly

BoeFly makes it easier to obtain small business loans by reducing the time, cost, complexity, inefficiency and frustration associated with small business lending. Its online proprietary matching technology connects small business borrowers with multiple lenders from among its more than 3,600 participating banks, based on the lending profiles provided by the banks and the information provided in the borrower’s loan request. Before seeking a loan business, borrowers can find out their fundability and may get prequalified for a business loan through bQual™. The bQual report will deliver a business borrower’s FICO and SBSS Small Business Credit Scores, a personal consumer credit score and credit bureau report, and a detailed financing assessment of a borrower’s fundability.

BoeFly, now a strategic ally of the International Franchise Association to expand credit access within the franchise community, offers a Franchise Solution bringing these benefits to the large and growing small business franchisee community and is the choice of more than 125 brands, including Dunkin’ Donuts, Carl’s Jr., and Kiddie Academy, among many others. For more information, visit boefly.com.