Jacob and Bri D’Angelo were determined that Rolling J’s Mobile Bistro was going to be a hit in Chattanooga when they opened the business in 2013. The couple had a passion for food, an entrepreneurial spirit and an $85,000 rolling restaurant.
The business built slowly as contacts were made and customers got a taste of the menu that featured a touch of Cajun since D’Angelo’s love of food has a Louisiana heritage. Employees of U.S. Xpress, Amazon and Shaw Industries became regular customers, and the reviews were good. The Chattanooga Market became a regular stop for the “weekend warriors,” as Jacob describes the couple.
Then the truck broke down.
“We were losing revenue every day we weren’t on the street,” D’Angelo recalls, “and I was determined to get back on the street.”
The answer was Kabbage, an online lending service for small businesses that struggle to get timely loans from the traditional banking industry. Kabbage, based in Atlanta with four additional offices around the country, has loaned more than $6.5 billion to 175,000 customers since its founding in 2008, $2 billion of that total just last year. The company is currently loaning $10 million a day to 1,400 small businesses, according to Laura Goldberg, the company’s chief revenue officer.