# Client-Financed Acquisition (30-Day Cash Rule)

> Client-financed acquisition requires that cash collected in the first 30 days covers more than twice the acquisition plus fulfillment cost. Then every customer won finances the next one, without external capital.

- Canonical URL: https://www.convios.com/en/methods/client-financed-acquisition
- Language version: https://www.convios.com/de/methodik/client-financed-acquisition
- Status: Externally proven
- Method library: https://www.convios.com/en/methods — Markdown: https://www.convios.com/en/methods.md

## Problem

Your growth depends on external financing: every new customer ties up capital before paying anything back. That caps the pace at whatever the bank balance or investors allow. The counter-thesis: if a customer's first 30 days cover more than twice the cost of winning them, growth becomes self-financing.

## Approach

1. Calculate the cash collected in a new customer's first 30 days (not booked revenue).
2. Compare it to the threshold: more than 2 × (CAC + fulfillment cost).
3. If below, pull cash forward: setup or onboarding fee, annual prepay with a moderate discount, prepayment bonuses, a financing partner.
4. Check what share of customers accepts prepayment offers and adjust the terms.
5. Treat the threshold as a discipline check, not a substitute for the long-term unit-economics calculation.

## Example

A typical case: a service-heavy software business on monthly billing wants to grow faster without raising a round. Today CAC only flows back after many months, and every sales push drains the bank account. The company introduces an onboarding fee that honestly prices the implementation effort and offers annual prepayment with a small discount. A meaningful share of new customers chooses prepayment; acquisition now largely funds itself from ongoing business.

## Limits

The 30-day horizon comes from an SMB and service context; in B2B SaaS, paybacks of 12 to 24 months by segment are legitimate and consistent with recurring revenue. In enterprise motions with procurement processes, cash can only be pulled forward to a limited degree. Aggressive prepayment models can cost conversion and trust; terms must fit the buyer.

## Metric

Cash collected in the first 30 days per new customer relative to 2 × (CAC + fulfillment cost), plus the prepayment rate.

## Sources

- Use Customer Cash to Finance Your Start-Up, John Mullins, Harvard Business Review — Harvard Business Review, July/August 2013 · academic and scholarly literature · supports the underlying mechanism. Carries the basic principle of financing growth from customer cash received up front rather than from equity, and frames it as a business model decision. (https://hbr.org/2013/07/use-customer-cash-to-finance-your-start-up)
- How to get unlimited funding to build your business in 30 days, Alex Hormozi (Langform-Video) — YouTube, n.d. · practitioner source · describes the method. Carries the specific design of the method, namely the thirty-day window and the requirement to cover more than twice the cost of acquisition and fulfilment. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpbXWP8fLbc)
- Primary source: Use Customer Cash to Finance Your Start-Up, John Mullins, Harvard Business Review (https://hbr.org/2013/07/use-customer-cash-to-finance-your-start-up)
- Adapted from: Alex Hormozi ($100M Offers/$100M Leads, YouTube-Langform)

## Related

- Method: [Cash Flow Trough](https://www.convios.com/en/methods/cash-flow-trough)
- Method: [LTV:CAC and CAC Payback](https://www.convios.com/en/methods/ltv-cac-payback)
- Method: [Tiered LTV:CAC Targets (3/6/9/12)](https://www.convios.com/en/methods/tiered-ltv-cac)