Working capital for businesses already running, or close to it
Five ways to fund a business.
Only one or two will actually fit yours.
Busy Bee Services places business financing with lenders who look at how the company runs day to day, not only at a credit score. This page walks through each program on its own terms: what it is, what it costs you in speed or in price, and how to tell early which one fits before you spend time applying to the wrong one.
The actual tradeoff
Fast money costs more. Slow money costs less.
Every program below trades one of those for the other. Knowing which side of that trade you are on before you apply saves you from paying for speed you did not need, or waiting on a decision you could not afford to wait for.
A merchant cash advance can land in your account in 24 hours or less with no minimum credit score. That speed is the entire product. The tradeoff is price: it is built for urgency, not for lowering what a business pays every month. A small business loan or a line of credit can move almost as fast and cost less, but the file behind it usually needs to look a little more established first.
On the other end, a startup or personal loan takes longer to structure because there is no business history yet to underwrite against, so the file leans on your personal credit instead. None of these five programs is better than another in the abstract. Each is built for a different problem, and the honest first step is figuring out which problem you actually have.
Programs
Five programs, five different jobs
Every figure below is a program range placed through lenders we work with, not an offer. What you actually get depends on the file.
Funding in 24 hours or less
Merchant cash advance
- Credit minimumNone
- PaymentsDaily or weekly
- IndustriesAll eligible
The fastest program here and the priciest per dollar. It earns its cost when speed is the actual point: a machine breaks down, a bulk order needs cash today. It is the wrong tool for a gap that reopens every month.
Merchant cash advance →$5,000 to $55,000
Business line of credit
- Approval24 hours
- FundingSame day
- InterestOnly on what you draw
A revolving line costs nothing while it sits untouched. Draw against it when you need to, repay it, draw again. For a business with any seasonal rhythm, this is usually the least expensive program on this page.
Line of credit →$20,000 to $5,000,000
Small business loans
- CollateralNot required
- OfferWithin 24 hours
- UseAny business purpose
A fixed payment instead of a revolving balance, with an offer inside a day. This sits between the speed of an advance and the paperwork of a bank loan, for a business with some track record already.
Small business loans →$20,000 to $500,000
Startup and personal loans
- Credit needed680 or above
- Terms1 to 5 years
- PrequalifySoft credit pull
There is no deposit history to underwrite yet, so this file leans on your personal credit instead. If that credit clears the bar, this is often the only way to fund a business before it has revenue.
Startup loans →Terms up to 5 years
Equipment financing & leasing
- Time in business1 year
- StructuresFinance, lease, leaseback
- CollateralThe equipment
The machine secures its own loan, which is why the bar sits lower than an unsecured product. A leaseback runs the same idea in reverse: equipment you already own, turned back into cash.
Equipment financing →What lenders actually check
For most of these, your deposits matter more than your credit score.
A merchant cash advance, a small business loan, a line of credit, and equipment financing are underwritten mostly on how the business runs day to day. Only one program on this page starts with your personal credit.
Lenders behind a cash advance or a small business loan want to see monthly deposits and how long the doors have been open, because that tells them more about whether a payment gets made than a three digit score does. Equipment financing asks for a year in business, on the idea that a year is usually enough to show the business sticks around. None of these three programs sets a specific credit score minimum.
Startup and personal loans work the other way. There is no deposit history yet to read, so the file is underwritten against you: a credit score of 680 or above, checked first with a soft pull that does not affect your score. If your personal credit does not clear that line, this specific program will not, no matter how strong the business plan is.
How to choose
Match the program to the situation you are actually in.
- Money needed today, credit history not clean: a merchant cash advance.
- A recurring need for cash you do not want to pay for while it sits idle: a business line of credit.
- An established business with a specific project or expansion in mind: a small business loan.
- A machine or vehicle the business cannot run without: equipment financing, sized to the equipment itself.
- Not enough business history yet, but strong personal credit: a startup or personal loan.
If you are not sure which line you fall on, that is normal, and it is what the application is for. One intake tells us where your file actually lands instead of you guessing from a program page.
Figures shown for these programs are third party lender program ranges. They are not an offer or a commitment to lend, and every file is subject to that lender's underwriting and approval.
Ready to see which of these actually fits?
One application covers all five programs. No hard credit pull to prequalify, no fee to find out where your file lands.