Barry Kornfeld is based in Palm Beach, Florida, where he is a Principal and Business Debt Consultant at Value Capital Funding, a niche firm in the financial services industry that specializes in debt restructuring. Barry has over 30 years of comprehensive experience and thorough knowledge of finance and various commercial finance transactions.
Both Barry Kornfeld and his wife, Ferne Kornfeld, have spent many years in the financial services industry. With their financial skills and expertise, Barry, Ferne, and his brother, realized that there was a large and unfortunate gap within the commercial finance marketplace. They knew there were countless companies and businesses seeking solutions to their debt, but the only solutions around seemed to be using more and more debt. Many such businesses were left back at square one because their loan applications were often declined due to the amount of money they had already borrowed. In other words, they were already over-leveraged.
With his partners by his side, Barry Kornfeld realized that what these businesses and companies were actually looking for was a way to restructure their debt—not accrue more. This was the jumping off point at which they began reaching out to specialized restructuring partners and lenders, working towards the ability to specialize in debt restructuring since the market so desperately needed it. Barry is able to apply his analytical skills to help consult with businesses plagued with too much debt thanks to his extensive background in finance. Instead of working with individuals, he works exclusively with businesses to first help them secure affordable financing, but if they are not qualified, then to help them by showing the benefits of restructuring their unsupportable business debt.
While there may be a few competitors in the financial services industry, few are able to offer what Value Capital Funding provides. Too many firms offer debt solutions in the form of loans or advances but, according to Barry Kornfeld, there are very few who specialize in the unique combination of affordable financing and debt restructuring. While there are obvious benefits to the niche they occupy, the marketplace of small business owners typically doesn’t know the difference between the specialty they provide, and traditional debt settlement. Their biggest challenge is communicating with their desired audience in a market that is overcrowded, and where most business owners feel that you have one hand inside their wallet.
Like other businesses, promotion and marketing can be challenging at times, but Barry Kornfeld always remains grateful for the opportunities to help and to assist small business owners, and family-owned and operated businesses nationwide. More often than not, Barry Kornfeld and Value Capital Funding are the only two things standing between a business owner and bankruptcy. Barry is grateful to provide these owners the opportunity to rehabilitate their company’s balance sheets and continue giving back because he understands the great value small businesses hold within their communities.
Our Interview With Barry Kornfeld
Question: What’s the most important thing we should know about you?
Barry Kornfeld: That I am a client-oriented Business Debt Consultant committed to helping business owners secure affordable financing, and/or help them restructure their unsupportable, existing business debt. I am very client-oriented: very client-centric.
Question: Name the most impactful lesson you learned from failure.
Barry Kornfeld: That no matter how many times we fall down in life, the most important thing is that we keep getting back up each and every time, and try, try again.
Question: What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Barry Kornfeld: That we’ve been able to start 3 successful financial services firms from scratch, and grew each to be a force within their respective niche’s.
Question: What did you waste the most time on when you were first starting your career?
Barry Kornfeld: Simple – trying to please everyone (customers) vs. specializing in a particular niche’. Like in the medical profession, generalists do OK from a career metric perspective, but specialists? That’s where the public gets the most satisfaction and value, and they typically do the best, again when looking at financial metrics.
Question: Name a tool you use for work that you can’t live without.
Barry Kornfeld: My laptop. It is my gateway into my business and the business world. Without it, I’d be in dark ages.
Question: What is your favorite hobby and why?
Barry Kornfeld: I like listening to music because it relaxes me, and I enjoy it.
Question: What excited you the most about your industry right now?
Barry Kornfeld: That due to the COVID pandemic, so many small-mid sized businesses are hurting that a much wider swath of that population needs our Debt Restructuring Services. In other words, we’re not looking to profit on anyone’s woes during CV-19, however it has certainly put the wind at our back even more so with regards to new business opportunities.
Question: What concerns you most about your industry right now?
Barry Kornfeld: The lack of quality consulting going on in the debt consultation niche’ is a big concern of ours. There are so many who offer business loan products, however so many have low regard for the clientele, and much more regard for their own sales volumes & tallies. From our experience, there are very few who are as client-centric as they should be, or frankly, that we are. That lack of integrity in so many providers in our industry is not good for anyone, but especially the public.
Question: What’s the greatest risk you’ve ever taken?
Barry Kornfeld: Starting a business from scratch is a very big risk that I’ve taken. I’ve done this on 3 separate instances.
Question: Name one small habit that positively impacts your productivity.
Barry Kornfeld: One small habit, with BIG ramifications: Don’t major in minor things. When you own your own business, it is hard to delegate, and challenging to decide what is delegate-able, versus what is super important and needs to be by me. I’ve learned over time that many things that I thought were so important, turned out to be minor issues, given the benefit of hindsight. I wish I knew this fact earlier on in my life/career. However, this is also why they say: we get wisdom as we age and get experience.
Question: What tips do you have for getting a seat at the table?
Barry Kornfeld: Have a super clear vision of where you are today, where you want to go in the future, and what path is the best to travel for you to accomplish your goals. Then, after all that is done, you likely find that you are already sitting at THE TABLE, that you already set!
Question: What book has made the biggest impact on your life?
Barry Kornfeld: The Book of Excellence, by Byrd Baggett. Like the Nike saying goes, “Just Do It”.
