Money for the move you've been putting off.
The second location, the walk-in freezer, the slow season bridge. Below is what working capital actually is, how the four kinds trade off, and who we place it with.
What working capital actually is
Working capital is money the business borrows to run and grow: cash in hand now, repaid out of what the business earns later. It is not an investment and nobody takes a piece of your company for it. You are the borrower, and the business is what the funder is underwriting.
Owners use it for the things that pay for themselves and cannot wait for the savings account to catch up. Opening a second location. Replacing equipment that died in the middle of a Saturday. Buying inventory ahead of a busy season at a real discount. Covering payroll across a slow stretch that you can see coming.
Funding offers find every business owner eventually, usually as a too-good email promising money by Friday. Some products are genuinely useful. Some cost far more than their marketing admits. The difference is in the structure, and structure is exactly what a broker reads for a living. We'll run the real total cost of any offer, including ones you bring us from elsewhere, before you sign anything.
The four kinds, and how they trade off
Cost, speed and what the funder wants from you move together. Nothing here is cheap and fast and easy to qualify for at the same time, and any page telling you otherwise is selling something.
Fixed-term loans
You borrow a set amount and repay it on a set schedule. The payment is the same in a slow month as a busy one, which is the whole appeal and also the whole risk.
- Cost
- The lowest cost of the options that fund quickly
- Speed
- About a week from a complete application
- What it asks for
- Time in business and a credit history worth reading
Revenue-based advances
Not a loan. A funder buys a slice of your future sales and collects a small percentage of each day's take. Busy week, you pay more. Dead week, you pay less.
- Cost
- The most expensive here, written as a factor rate rather than an interest rate
- Speed
- Days
- What it asks for
- A few months of sales history. Credit matters far less
Equipment and larger facilities
The oven, the van, the hood system, the second location. The asset itself secures the deal, so the money is cheaper than borrowing the same amount unsecured.
- Cost
- Lower than unsecured money of the same size
- Speed
- Days for equipment, weeks for a large facility
- What it asks for
- The asset as collateral, plus real quotes or a project scope
Nonprofit microloans
Mission lenders that exist to get capital into businesses the commercial market prices out. Cheapest money available, smallest amounts, and a real application behind it.
- Cost
- The lowest available
- Speed
- Weeks, not days
- What it asks for
- A full application package and the patience to wait on a human review
The business is always the borrower
Every program on this page lends to your business and gets repaid by your business. Letting a customer split their purchase into payments is a different product entirely, with a different borrower and a different set of rules. That one lives on the consumer financing page.
Who we place working capital with
The companies that provide working capital in partnership with Northwest Payment Brokers. We don't have a favorite here. The recommendation comes off your numbers, and we'll show you the total cost of each in dollars before you pick.
ARF Financial
Fixed-term business loans from $5,000 to $750,000 on 12 to 36 month terms, plus BANKROLL, a revolving line with unlimited draws and partial paydowns from $5,000.
- $5,000 to $750,000 over 12 to 36 months
- Fixed weekly payments that do not move
- BANKROLL revolving line, unsecured to $1,000,000, no prepayment penalty
- No tax returns or financial statements required
Best for: Owners with steady months who want a payment they can budget around.
Talk through ARF Financial →Cash Buoy
Advances from $2,500 to $250,000, repaid as a share of your daily sales instead of a fixed bill on a calendar date.
- $2,500 to $250,000, funded in days
- Repaid as a share of daily sales, so a slow week costs less
- No credit score minimum and no industry exclusions
- Qualifying floor: three months operating and roughly $5,000 a month in revenue
Best for: Businesses with real daily sales that need speed more than the lowest price.
Talk through Cash Buoy →SURV Financial
Equipment financing and larger business facilities from $10,000 to $5,000,000, shopped across a network of direct lenders so they bid against each other.
- $10,000 to $5,000,000
- Direct lenders plus banks, alternative lenders and commercial finance companies
- ACH funding in 24 to 48 hours
- Medical, dental, franchises, automotive, farming and technology
Best for: Equipment purchases and growth projects that outgrow an advance.
Talk through SURV Financial →Nonprofit microloans are the one program type above without a partner listed here. If your timeline can absorb a few weeks, ask us and we'll walk you through what nonprofit lending in your county looks like before you take costlier money.
Fast money has a price tag. Our job is making sure you read it before you take it.
Revenue-based advances quote a factor rate instead of an interest rate, and the difference hides real cost. Sometimes the speed is worth it; a missed busy season costs more than financing. But that's a calculation, not a feeling, and we'll run it with you in plain numbers.
Fair questions
How fast can funding land?
Revenue-based advances can fund in days. Fixed-term loans typically take about a week. Nonprofit microloans take weeks. Speed and cost trade against each other almost perfectly.
What's a factor rate?
Advance pricing written as a multiplier, like 1.3x, meaning you repay $1.30 per dollar advanced. Translated to an annual rate it's usually higher than it sounds, which is exactly why we translate it for you first.
Which kind of funding is cheapest?
Nonprofit microloans, if your timeline can absorb a few weeks of review. Fixed-term loans next. Revenue-based advances cost the most and fund the fastest. The cheapest option you actually qualify for on your timeline is the right answer, and finding it is the job.
How do you decide which one to recommend?
Off your numbers, not off a favorite. Time in business, how steady your months are, what the money is for and how fast you need it narrow four options down to one or two fast. Then we show you the total cost of each in dollars and you pick.
Will shopping for funding hurt my credit?
Initial reviews typically run on soft pulls. We'll flag exactly when a hard inquiry would happen before it does.
Do I need to take card payments through you to get funding?
No. Funding stands alone, though card sales history is often what qualifies you, and clients we already work with have it documented automatically.
Can you review an offer I got somewhere else?
Yes, and you should take us up on it. Ten minutes of reading fine print has saved clients from genuinely bad paper.
Is this the same as financing for my customers?
No, and the difference matters. Everything on this page is money your business borrows. Letting a customer pay for their purchase over time is consumer financing, a separate product on its own page.