Upjit Kansal fuels her motivation by meeting people and hearing their stories.

The business development officer at JD Factors in Mississauga, Ont., feels very happy when clients call to say thank you after receiving money they requested.

Her factoring company provides cash to clients for their businesses when it may not be available through banks and other financial institutions.

“Every story is unique. The details from the stories keep me going,” she says. “If you are a person that is driven by meeting people, if are not a 9-to-5, sit-in-the-office type of person, this is the job for you.”

What is freight factoring? It is a process where the company or fleet that delivers a load, sells their invoice to a factoring company that pays them immediately rather than they having to wait a month or longer for payment. The factoring company charges a fee for this service.

Kansal, a married, mother of two daughters, never thought she would end up in business development. After arriving in Canada 21 years ago, she graduated in business administration and accounting from George Brown College. The co-op program gave her an opportunity to work at Parks and Recreation Ontario, and with an accountant.

She worked at a telecom company for a while in business development. “I found that when I was doing sales, I was always very excited. I kept on with it,” Kansal says.

She joined JD Factors in 2019 and her job is to bring in clients from all over Canada. Her work has not gone unnoticed, and she received Secured Finance Network’s 2021 40 under 40 award for Business Development.

Kansal says JD Factors specializes in non-recourse factoring. “If a customer is paying you in 30 or 60 or 90 days, we pay you the day you deliver your product or service,” she says.

Non-recourse has an added benefit. If the customer does not pay, clients are not asked to pay the money back. “We will collect, we will take the loss of non-payment for any credit reason – that could be bankruptcy, insolvency,” Kansal says.

Trucking comprises about 70 to 80% of the company’s portfolio. For trucking, fees range from 1.75% to 5% to factor an invoice. JD Factors also funds staffing companies, manufacturing, distribution, and IT agencies.

Kansal sometimes works in the evening or on weekends and holidays. But there is a work-life balance. “I am available when a client needs me, and they understand that the weekends are for family time,” she says.

Kansal lives with her in-laws and says her mother-in-law encourages her to succeed. “She says, ‘If it is work, do it first, everything else can wait. We are sitting in a warm home with food in the fridge because you are working.’”

Kansal says maintaining a schedule is important; and discipline, consistency, and persistence are pathways to success.

She comes from a background where she was taught that women must work harder than men. “Over the years I don’t see that anymore. I just work harder; I don’t do it consciously. Have I been successful by doing that? Yes,” she says.

Kansal has some advice to offer. Take the best traits of the positive people; and from the negative ones learn what not to do in life.

“When someone pulls you down, they are showing you what kind of strength you have to move ahead.”

What does Kansal see on the horizon? Before the pandemic, her answer would have been different. “Now my answer has changed. I see myself somewhere peaceful with my family.”

She does not see herself opening a business. She looks forward to mentoring more people.

“I don’t like too much on my plate. I have been there done that; it was good when it was there but things in life have changed me.”

But she’s not too comfortable. “I am ready for the hustle when I need to be. But I am ready to say no when I need to.”

By Leo Barros