Startup Business Loans With No Revenue: What a Pre-Revenue Business Can and Cannot Reach

Start by accepting that most products are closed to you. Most providers in our network ask for 12 months and $15,000 a month. Some providers consider applications at these minimums. Meeting a minimum does not guarantee an offer. The realistic routes are equipment financing secured by the asset, a route underwritten on the owner's personal credit, an SBA microloan through a participating lender, and money that is not financing at all.

With neither revenue nor credit, honestly, very little. Revenue and the owner's personal credit are the two things a provider can read on a new business, and a thin file on both leaves almost nothing to underwrite. Equipment financing is the likeliest survivor, because the asset carries part of the risk. Fixing the credit first widens the list more than reapplying does.

An EIN identifies a business for tax purposes; it is not an underwriting file. Providers verify the owner, review personal credit and read the business bank account, so an EIN with no deposits behind it does not open a product. Anyone advertising funding with no credit check is not describing it accurately: a credit review happens on every product here.

Commonly, yes, and on a pre-revenue file it is close to universal, because the owner is effectively the credit. Signing one makes you personally responsible for the balance if the business cannot pay it. Some products from some providers are offered without one; most require it. What applies to your file is stated in the agreement you sign.

Less than you think, and tied to one thing. A first ask that matches a specific purchase — a van, a tool set, the opening inventory run — is something a provider can assess. A round number attached to the word growth is not, and an amount far above what the business can show is a common reason a request is re-sized or declined.

Largely, yes. A new business has almost no business credit file, so the owner's score, card utilization and payment history do the work the bank statements cannot. Some providers in our network consider credit from 525, depending on the funding provider. Some providers consider applications at these minimums. Meeting a minimum does not guarantee an offer. Checking your options with Capital Gurus uses a soft credit pull only.

Almost everything. Once deposits are landing in a business account, a provider has something to read, and revenue-based structures become possible for the first time. At 12 months in business and $15,000 a month, the main product ladder opens. Some providers consider applications at these minimums. Meeting a minimum does not guarantee an offer. Amounts get larger and the choice of structure gets wider.

Apply now only if the money buys something that produces revenue and the timing is forced. Otherwise waiting is usually cheaper: a few months of real deposits in a business account changes which providers will look at the file and what they will consider. Repeated applications in the meantime leave a record of applications that makes the next one harder.