Resources
Straight answers on small business funding
Plain-English guides on costs, terms, and qualifying, written to be useful whether or not you ever apply. FundVella is not a lender; we connect owners with working-capital specialists.
Guides
Small-Business Working Capital: The Plain-English Guide
Working capital is the cash you have to run the business today. Here is what it is, why the gap happens, and how owners cover it.
Read the guide →MCA BasicsMerchant Cash Advance, Explained Without the Hype
What a merchant cash advance is, how repayment really works, what it costs, and the kind of business it actually fits.
Read the guide →By IndustryBusiness Funding by Industry
Every trade gets paid differently. Find the funding page built for how your business actually moves money.
Read the guide →Credit & QualifyingGetting Funded With Bad Credit: A Revenue-First Guide
Bad credit does not end the conversation. Here is how a revenue-first review works and what you can do to strengthen your file.
Read the guide →Costs & Terms
Factor Rates vs APR: What an MCA Actually Costs
A factor rate is not an APR. Here is the worked math on what an advance actually costs, with a clear example.
Read →6 min readMerchant Cash Advance vs Business Loan: An Honest Comparison
Advance or loan? An honest side-by-side on cost, repayment, speed, and qualifying, and how to tell which fits your situation.
Read →Qualifying
What Lenders Actually Read in Your Bank Statements
Underwriting reads your last few months of bank statements line by line. Here is what they are actually looking at, and why a clean file moves faster.
Read →6 min readMinimum Revenue to Qualify: How Your Deposits Are Weighed
There is no single magic number, but there are general thresholds. Here is how time in business and monthly deposits are actually weighed.
Read →5 min readDocuments You Need to Get Funded (and Why Each One)
A short, well-prepared file moves faster. Here is the standard document list, what each item proves, and what underwriting sometimes asks for next.
Read →By Industry
How Contractors Fund Materials and Payroll Before the Draw
Materials and payroll are due now; the draw is weeks out. Here is how contractors bridge that gap and what underwriting looks at for draw-based work.
Read →5 min readHow Restaurants Cover a Slow Season Without a Bank Loan
January is slow, but payroll, rent, and COD produce are not. Here is how restaurants bridge a predictable slow season using their card-batch deposits.
Read →5 min readHow E-commerce Sellers Fund Inventory Before Q4
The supplier wants 50% down on an eight-week lead time while your cash is tied up in ad spend. Here is how sellers fund the Q4 buy before the sales catch up.
Read →5 min readHow Owner-Operators Cover Fuel and Repairs Between Settlements
Factoring took its cut, the broker pays net-45, and the truck is down for a turbo. Here is how owner-operators cover fuel and repairs between settlements.
Read →The Small-Business Funding Glossary
Funding has its own vocabulary. Here is a plain-English glossary of the terms you will hear, from factor rate and holdback to UCC filings and stacking.
You are not the only one
The cash-flow gap is normal. It is not a verdict on your business.
The squeeze between money out and money in is one of the most common pressures in small business, and research from the Federal Reserve and the JPMorgan Chase Institute shows how widespread it is.
- 27 days
- Median cash buffer the typical small business keeps in reserve, the cushion a slow stretch can swallow fast.Source: JPMorgan Chase Institute
- 1 in 4
- Small businesses hold fewer than 13 days of cash on hand.Source: JPMorgan Chase Institute
- 56%
- Of firms that sought financing needed it just to cover operating expenses, not to expand.Source: Federal Reserve, 2024 Small Business Credit Survey
- Only 41%
- Of businesses that applied for financing received the full amount they asked for.Source: Federal Reserve, 2024 Small Business Credit Survey
Prefer to skip ahead? See what you may qualify for in about 2 minutes, an estimate, not an offer.
See what you may qualify for