Credit
Business Funding With Bad Credit: What Is Actually Available
A weak personal credit score narrows the menu but does not close the kitchen. Revenue-based underwriting weighs your bank activity far more heavily than your FICO, which is why businesses declined by banks are routinely funded elsewhere.
What is available at lower credit
- Revenue-based advances underwritten primarily on deposits
- Equipment financing secured by the asset itself
- Invoice factoring, which relies on your customers' credit rather than yours
- Purchase order financing against confirmed orders
- Merchant advances based on card processing volume
What underwriters weigh instead
Consistency is the theme. Deposit frequency, absence of negative days, stable or growing revenue, time in business and the number of existing positions all outweigh the score itself in this segment.
A clean three months can materially change your offer, which is why timing an application after a strong quarter is worth the wait when the need is not urgent.
Expect these trade-offs
Lower credit generally means higher cost, shorter terms, smaller amounts and more frequent payments. That is the price of access, and it should be treated as temporary rather than permanent.
Improving the next round
- Complete the current facility without a single missed payment
- Keep the operating account positive every single day
- Avoid taking additional positions in the interim
- Build reporting tradelines with vendors and a business card
- Come back with three to six months of stronger statements
Frequently asked questions
- What is the minimum credit score?
- FinFunders generally works with a 525 FICO and above alongside at least $15,000 in monthly revenue and 6+ months in business.
- Will I be turned down for a past bankruptcy?
- Not necessarily. Discharged bankruptcies more than a year old with clean subsequent banking are frequently workable.
- Does applying lower my score?
- Initial reviews are typically soft pulls with no score impact.