Business Financing Guides by Topic

This library holds 395 guides across 13 financing topics. It is organised by product, but most people arrive with a situation rather than a product in mind — a machine to buy, a payroll gap, a deal with a deadline. The sections below route from the situation to the guide that answers it, so you do not have to know what the product is called first.

Start with your situation

You need to buy a machine, truck or piece of equipment. Start with equipment financing requirements for what lenders actually check, then leasing versus a loan if you are weighing ownership against payment size. For trucks specifically, semi truck down payments covers the cash you need up front.

Cash is tight this month and the gap will recur. A line of credit fits a repeating gap better than a term loan. How fast approval runs sets expectations, and typical rates by lender shows what the flexibility costs.

You are buying property, or a partner out. Down payment requirements on commercial property is the most-read guide here. For a partner buyout, using an SBA loan explains the rules, and SBA approval timelines tells you whether the calendar allows it.

Credit is the obstacle. Options at 500–600 FICO covers what remains available, and credit score tiers for equipment financing shows why asset-backed money is the usual answer.

You already have financing and it is not working. Red flags in MCA agreements and revenue-based financing versus an MCA are the two most useful starting points.

The business is new and has no trading history. Most lenders price on time in business, so the startup hub is the place to start — startup financing guides cover what is available before two years of returns exist, and lines of credit under two years covers the one product that sometimes bends.

You are flipping a property. Down payments on a fix and flip explains why the ARV cap matters more than the purchase price, and bridge loan guides cover the case where the exit is a sale rather than a refinance. If the deal has a closing date, send it over now — bridge timelines are measured in weeks.

If none of those describe it, tell us the situation in your own words and we will point you at the right reading — or skip the reading and go straight to what you qualify for.

The guides people actually land on

These get the most search traffic of anything here, which usually means they answer a question the rest of the internet answers badly:

• CareCredit vs PatientFi vs Cherry — which patient financing to offer in a practice
• Scan tool financing — diagnostic equipment for auto shops
• Commercial property down payments — what lenders require by property type
• TRAC leases explained — terminal rental adjustment clauses in plain terms
• Vending machine financing — funding route for a low-ticket asset

What is in the library

Every topic below is a hub of its own, and each guide inside covers one question rather than the whole product. Counts are current:

The guides are written to be read on their own, so there is no order to follow. If you would rather not read at all, send us the deal and we will tell you what it clears.