U.S. business funding, explained

Know what your business can borrow before you apply.

Plain-English guides to every U.S. business loan what it really costs, how fast the money lands, and which one fits your revenue. Then check your options in two minutes.

4.8 out of 5 from 2,140 owners who used our guides
24 hrs Average time to funding
No hard pull To check your options
$0B Funded through our partners
0+ U.S. businesses funded
0hr Median time to decision
0% Approval rate at 6+ months trading
Checking options never touches your personal credit Funds in as little as 24 hours Bank-level 256-bit encryption $10,000 to $5,000,000 Every state, every industry Real funding advisors, not a chatbot We never sell your data
Every way to fund a business

Sixteen kinds of business capital

Each one prices risk differently. Find the shape of money that matches how your revenue actually behaves.

Small business loans

Fixed payments, fixed term, the lowest cost of capital most owners can get.

Read the guide

Working capital

Bridges the gap between paying suppliers and getting paid.

Read the guide

Merchant cash advance

You repay from a slice of daily card sales. Fast, and expensive.

Read the guide

Startup loans

Under two years of trading? These are the doors still open.

Read the guide

Equipment financing

The machine secures the loan, so the rate drops.

Read the guide

Invoice financing

Turn a 60-day invoice into cash this week.

Read the guide

Business line of credit

Draw what you need, pay interest only on what you use.

Read the guide

Commercial loans

Larger raises for property, acquisition and expansion.

Read the guide

Restaurant financing

Built around thin margins and brutal seasonality.

Read the guide

Medical practice loans

Long terms priced off insurance receivables.

Read the guide

Retail business loans

Inventory now, repay it when the season turns.

Read the guide

Construction financing

Draw schedules that follow the build, not the calendar.

Read the guide

Franchise loans

Underwritten against the brand's numbers, not just yours.

Read the guide

Business credit

Build a credit file that stops relying on your personal score.

Read the guide

SBA financing

The cheapest money in the market, if you can wait for it.

Read the guide

Emergency business loans

When payroll is Friday and the money is not there.

Read the guide

Decisions in 24 hours

Bank underwriting takes weeks. Our partners underwrite off live bank data and answer inside a day.

The real cost, in dollars

Factor rates hide the price. Every guide converts the quote into what it actually costs you to borrow.

Matched to your revenue

Seasonal business, thin margins, unpaid invoices the right product depends on how money moves through you.

No hit to personal credit

Checking your options runs a soft pull. Nothing changes on your personal file until you accept an offer.

People, not a form

A funding advisor reads your file before it goes to a lender, so you are not shopped to twenty desks at once.

The state of small business credit

Why owners stopped waiting on banks

Traditional bank approval rates for small business applications have not recovered since 2008. Alternative lenders now write the majority of loans under $250,000.
0%
Big-bank approval rate
Share of small business applications approved by large national banks.
0hrs
Alternative lender decision
Median time from application to a funded offer with an online lender.
$0B
Outstanding SMB credit
Total small business loans and lines outstanding across U.S. institutions.
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Cite cash flow as the constraint
Owners naming cash flow, not demand, as the limit on growth this year.
Side by side

What each type of funding actually costs

The same $100,000 costs wildly different amounts depending on the product. Here is the honest comparison, including the ones we would not recommend.

SBA 7(a)

The cheapest capital available to a small business.

Amount $50k – $5M
Term 10 – 25 years
Cost 10.5% – 14% APR
Speed 30 – 90 days

Best for Owners who can wait a quarter and want the lowest possible cost of capital.

Check eligibility

Line of credit

Draw it, repay it, draw it again.

Amount $10k – $250k
Term Revolving
Cost 8% – 60% APR
Speed 1 – 3 days

Best for Lumpy cash flow, where you cannot predict the week you will need it.

Check eligibility

Merchant cash advance

Repaid from a slice of daily card sales.

Amount $5k – $500k
Term 3 – 18 months
Cost 1.15 – 1.50 factor
Speed 24 hours

Best for Card-heavy businesses that need money now and have exhausted cheaper options.

Check eligibility

Figures are illustrative ranges based on offers seen across our lending partners. Your actual amount, term and cost depend on time in business, monthly revenue and credit profile.

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By industry

Money behaves differently in every trade

A restaurant and a trucking company have nothing in common except that both run out of cash in the same month. The funding that fixes it is not the same.
Restaurants

Funding built for a 4% margin

Food costs move weekly and payroll does not wait. Most restaurant owners need capital that flexes with covers, not a fixed payment that lands on the slowest Tuesday in February.
Typical amount $25k – $250k
Common product Revenue-based advance
Time to funding 24 – 48 hours
See restaurant funding
Trucking

Fuel now, get paid in 60 days

Brokers pay on net-30 or net-60 while diesel, insurance and repairs are due immediately. Factoring the invoice is almost always cheaper than borrowing against it.
Typical amount $10k – $500k
Common product Invoice factoring
Time to funding Same day
See trucking funding
Retail

Buy the season before it arrives

You commit to inventory in July and sell it in November. A line of credit lets you carry that gap without handing away margin to a factor.
Typical amount $15k – $300k
Common product Line of credit
Time to funding 1 – 3 days
See retail funding
Healthcare

Underwritten on receivables, not risk

Insurance receivables are among the most predictable cash flows in the economy, and lenders price them accordingly. Practice owners consistently get the longest terms in the market.
Typical amount $50k – $2M
Common product Practice term loan
Time to funding 3 – 7 days
See practice funding
Construction

Capital that follows the draw schedule

You front labour and materials, then wait on a progress payment that lands whenever the GC feels like it. Financing has to match the build, not the calendar.
Typical amount $50k – $1M
Common product Working capital line
Time to funding 2 – 5 days
See construction funding
E-commerce

Inventory in, ads out, cash last

Your money is locked in stock and ad spend while the payout sits in a processor for a fortnight. Lenders who read Shopify and Amazon data underwrite this in hours.
Typical amount $10k – $500k
Common product Revenue-based financing
Time to funding 24 hours
See e-commerce funding
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Estimate first, apply second

What would it actually cost you?

Short-term business funding is quoted as a factor rate, not an APR which is why a 1.25 quote is not 25% interest. Move the sliders and see the real number.

  • Checking your options runs a soft pull only
  • One application, matched across multiple lenders
  • Funds can land in your account within 24 hours
$100,000
$10k $500k
12 mo
3 months 36 months
Estimated payment
$9,833/mo
Total payback $118,000
Cost of capital $18,000
Get a real offer

An estimate, not an offer. Real terms depend on time in business, monthly revenue, industry and credit profile, and are set by the lender.

Beyond the loan

Business growth resources

Borrowing is one lever. These are the others owners pull before, and after, the money lands.
Build business credit in 12 months
Guide

Build business credit in 12 months

The exact sequence EIN, DUNS, net-30 vendors, first tradeline that gets you borrowing on the business, not your personal score.

The 9 documents every lender asks for
Checklist

The 9 documents every lender asks for

Have these ready and underwriting takes a day. Hunt for them after you apply and it takes three weeks.

What your factor rate really costs
Calculator

What your factor rate really costs

A 1.30 factor over 9 months is not 30% interest. Convert any quote into a true annualised cost before you sign it.

Before you sign anything

Six things underwriters wish you knew

None of this is complicated. All of it changes the offer you get.

Never let your balance hit zero

Underwriters pull 90 days of bank statements and count negative days. Three overdrafts can cost you more than a 60-point credit drop.

Convert the factor rate

A 1.30 factor repaid over 6 months is roughly a 100% APR. Do the conversion before you compare it to anything.

Have the documents ready

Six months of statements, YTD P&L, a signed application and your EIN letter. Assemble them first and you shave a week off funding.

Apply before you are desperate

The cheapest capital goes to businesses that do not visibly need it. Waiting until payroll is at risk changes which lenders will even look.

Read the confession of judgment

Some short-term contracts still contain one. It lets the lender take a judgment against you without a hearing. Do not sign it.

Stack is a four-letter word

Taking a second advance on top of the first is the fastest route to a default spiral. If you are considering it, refinance instead.

Owners, in their own words

What the money actually did

Three businesses, three problems, three very different products. Every number below is the real deal they closed.
Our walk-in died on a Thursday in July. The bank wanted three weeks and a personal guarantee on the house. We had the replacement installed by Monday.
Funded $48,000
Product Equipment financing
Time to funding 2 days
RM Rosa Marín Marín Bakery Austin, TX
I was factoring invoices at a rate I did not understand. The comparison guide showed me what I was really paying, and I moved to a line of credit at less than half the cost.
Funded $150,000
Product Line of credit
Time to funding 3 days
DK Darius Kemp Kemp Logistics Columbus, OH
Two operatories sat empty for eight months because I could not fund the build-out. The SBA route took a quarter to close, but the rate made the wait worth it.
Funded $420,000
Product SBA 7(a)
Time to funding 68 days
AL Amara Lewis Northside Dental Charlotte, NC

No. Checking what you qualify for runs a soft inquiry, which is not visible to other lenders and does not affect your score. A hard inquiry only happens if you accept an offer and move to final underwriting.

For a merchant cash advance or short-term loan, same day to 48 hours is normal once your documents are in. A term loan is typically 2 to 5 business days. SBA financing is a different animal — budget 30 to 90 days, and expect to be asked for more paperwork than you think is reasonable.

There is no single cutoff. Most alternative lenders will look at 550 and above, though below 600 you should expect a factor rate rather than an APR. Revenue and time in business often matter more than the score itself: a business doing $40,000 a month for two years will beat a 720 score with four months of history.

A factor rate is a multiplier, not an interest rate. Borrow $100,000 at a 1.25 factor and you repay $125,000 — regardless of how quickly you repay it. Because there is no benefit to paying early, a 1.25 factor repaid over six months works out to roughly a 90% annualised cost. Always convert it before you compare.

Almost always, yes. Nearly all small business lenders require a personal guarantee, which means you are on the hook if the business cannot pay. What you can negotiate is whether it is secured against a specific asset such as your home. Read that clause before you sign it, and get a lawyer to look at anything containing a confession of judgment.

No. We publish independent research and comparisons, and we connect owners with funding partners who do the lending. We may be compensated when you complete an application. That compensation does not change how we rate products, and we say plainly in the guides when a product is expensive.

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See what your business can borrow today

Answer six questions about your business and see real offers from lenders who already fund companies like yours.

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Head office

Find us on McGill College

Six hundred is on the sixth floor, above the concourse. Come up and talk to a funding advisor in person no appointment, no pitch.

Meridian Capital2000 McGill College Ave, Suite 600
Montréal, QC H3A 3H3
Canada
Floor Suite 600, 6th floor
Hours Mon – Fri, 9:00 – 18:00
Phone +1-800-4​03-3297
Nearest metro McGill — 2 min walk
Meridian Capital2000 McGill College Ave, Suite 600
Montréal, QC H3A 3H3
Canada