Facebook announced it is buying $100 million of unpaid invoices from 30,000 women and minority-owned businesses. The goal is to buy these outstanding invoices through the Facebook Invoice Fast Track program so these owners can have cash on hand to keep their operations going.
Facebook Buying $100 Million Worth of Invoices
According to Facebook, the $100 million is going to go to diverse-owned small businesses in the U.S. For the eligible businesses of this segment, the program will pay their outstanding invoices quickly. This would eliminate the 60-to-120-day period that generally takes to get invoices paid.
Facebook says it is going to make this possible for a low, fixed fee of 1%. And according to Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer, Facebook, “We will be funding $100 million in invoices on an ongoing basis.”
If you are a small business, you can submit a minimum of $1,000 in outstanding invoices. If Facebook accepts your submission, it will buy the invoice and pay you. This will take place in a matter of days. The customer will then pay Facebook the outstanding invoice to the terms they agreed with you. The registration for the program will open on October 1, 2021.
If you are a woman or minority U.S. business as well as a member of supplier organizations serving underrepresented groups, you are eligible to apply. This includes the National Minority Supplier Development Council, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the National Veterans Business Development Council, Disability: IN, and the U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce.
The Program
The Facebook Invoice Fast Track program started out with a smaller version to help Facebook’s own struggling suppliers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The expansion to 30,000 small businesses and $100 million will help many companies that find themselves in the same predicament.
Sandberg goes on to say Facebook is also introducing a new small business funding resource on the platform. It will connect small business owners with purpose-driven grant and loan opportunities, business resources, and small business networking groups. Additionally, Facebook is also going to take part in the National Small Business Week to further help small businesses.
National Small Business Week
This effort by Facebook is also going to be part of the National Small Business Week in the U.S. The company is announcing new programs, tools, and resources to help small businesses. Business leaders from Facebook, American Express, HubSpot, Indeed, UPS, Vimeo, and others will hear from small business owners on the biggest challenges they face.
Members of these companies will then take part in a Hackathon to develop solutions to provide solutions for these businesses. The best ideas from the Hackathon will be announced in early 2022.
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This article, “Facebook Buying $100 Million Worth of Unpaid Invoices from 30K Small Businesses” was first published on Small Business Trends
