The Story of NOW

NOW's STORY STARTED WITH NOURISH

It’s a story with an unexpected twist.

Before NOW Corp, Lara started Nourish.

The company sold a patented children’s product.

And, sales growth was good.

Then, she started selling to national retailers.

Every business owner dreams of these customers.

But, the growth threatened to put her out of business.

After receiving the big order, the clock started ticking.

The order had 30-day terms. So Lara negotiated 60-day terms with her suppliers.

60 days came and went, and still her customer hadn’t paid her.

Like many businesses, Nourish was growing to death.

It was a free bank for its customers.

Lara knew about loans, lines of credit, and factoring.

Raising equity was expensive and diluted her ownership.

Lara asked, “Why am I the bank?”

“Why borrow money only to lend it to my customers for free?”

After all, an invoice is a free loan, she thought.

“There has got to be a better way.”

The aha moment came while having lunch at a restaurant.

Retailers don’t wait to get paid—they take credit cards.

It doesn’t matter when the customer pays their card’s bill.

So, Lara and her business partner re-engineered the concept.

They invented a never-before-seen method of B2B payment.