Growing or scaling your business might have you searching for a new business checking account that pays higher interest, or an online payments solution that streamlines your accounts payable processes. You might even consider getting a business line of credit to help fund your expansion. But how can you manage all of your business finances in one place?
Here’s the story of why a small business owner decided to turn to Bluevine for business checking, accounts payable, and a line of credit—and how our all-in-one banking platform keeps things simple so he can grow his business with confidence.
Meet Cayden
Back in 2014, Cayden Young turned down a new job and opted to build his own business called Tech Leaf. At first, he started by repairing desktops locally in Utah.
“While I was out repairing computers, I noticed there were a lot of systems out there that were just collecting dust and needed a little bit of renewal,” Cayden says. “So I started buying them privately from people, then from larger companies, and eventually I struck deals with corporations—and it kind of snowballed from there.”
The term snowballed might be an understatement. Now, Tech Leaf sells refurbished computer equipment across the country. Their gross annual revenue has grown 60% this year alone, and they grew 120% in 2021. Since starting the business, Cayden says that Tech Leaf has renewed approximately 50,000 units of equipment—keeping 1.2 million pounds of electronic waste out of landfills.
They also work with global suppliers, and they have even partnered with eBay to help flagship their verified ‘eBay refurbished’ program.
“Right now, 90–95% of our customers are through eBay,” says Cayden.
Easy-to-use business checking and accounts payable solutions
When Cayden first started Tech Leaf, he was using a local credit union for his business banking. But, as his business grew, he sought out a banking solution with better annual percentage yield (APY) and a more convenient online dashboard.
“We were looking to earn interest on our checking balances, and I saw that Bluevine’s was really goodBVSUP-00005—that’s what led me to open the Bluevine Business Checking account.”
Business checking that gives you the opportunity to earn high-yield interest on operating balances.
In addition to Tech Leaf’s business checking needs, Cayden realized Bluevine could also help him save time on accounts payable.
“Adding a payee on the Bluevine platform is extremely easy. It probably takes a quarter of the time it took us to create a payee on our previous platform.” Cayden adds, “Bluevine takes another step out of the process for me by sending my payee an email confirmation when I send a wire payment—and vendors appreciate that, too.”
Tech Leaf previously used another bank account to send international payments to manufacturers, but because of Bluevine’s speed and convenience, Cayden is transitioning most of his bill payments away from his old solution.
“It’s been a flawless experience so far, and my payments have all arrived within two days.”
Since Cayden works with up to 20 domestic and international partners and vendors at a time, he needs an accounts payable solution that’s simplified and automated—so he can quickly add payees, schedule bills, or even view payment histories in just a few clicks. Recently, he needed to check how much inventory they were buying from a specific vendor.
“I was able to click the vendor’s name in my dashboard and see our payment history to them. Simple, quick, and accessible when I needed it.”
Cayden also does all the company’s bookkeeping himself because he likes to keep track of money in and out. That’s why one of his favorite features of his account is the two-way sync with QuickBooks Online.BVSUP-00056
“My Bluevine account’s sync with QuickBooks Online Advanced is always instant for me, so I don’t need to wait 20 minutes like with my previous bank account. Now, all the transactions come through right away and they’re up to date.” Cayden estimates that he saves more than eight hours per month—that’s one full working day every month, or 12 working days a year.
Business line of credit designed for growth
As Cayden has made Bluevine his company’s primary business checking account, he’s also used a Bluevine Line of Credit to expand their warehouse operations—in fact, he’s doubled their warehousing space every year from 2021 to 2023. The business line of credit has helped Tech Leaf buy forklifts and install brand new racking in the space.
“Applying for the line of credit must’ve been pretty easy because I don’t even remember doing it,” Cayden laughs.
But the easy application process wasn’t the biggest selling point for Cayden. He really valued being able to manage his line of credit from the same dashboard he manages his business checking account.
“The connectivity made it worth it—the ability to quickly draw straight to my business checking account and make repayments directly from there. It’s seamless and I can see everything.” He adds, “I liked the ability to have it all in one place.”
In terms of what the future of Tech Leaf looks like, Cayden says, “It’s all about scaling the operation because there’s a lot of operational growth required to expand from just desktop computers to laptops and phones. But that’s where I see the business going.”
See how Bluevine’s all-in-one banking platform can help power your business growth.
Cayden and the Tech Leaf team are excited to continue expanding their operations to include laptops, smartphones, and more. Customer feedback like theirs is important to us, and we’re continuously working to add more features that make the Bluevine experience seamless for small businesses.
