How repayment works
With revenue-based financing, you repay a portion of the revenue you collect rather than a fixed amount on a fixed date. Strong periods repay faster, slow periods ask for less. The structure is different from a term loan and from a daily-withdrawal advance, and the cost depends on the offer. We do not publish rates or terms on this page; compare offers in writing.
The industries behind the pattern
Wikipedia describes Los Angeles as having a diverse economy across a broad range of industries and notes it remains one of the largest hubs of film and television production, though production has declined. Many businesses around that economy are paid on booking or project rather than on a steady cycle: production vendors, caterers, event companies, photographers, stylists, costume and prop houses, and the tradespeople who build sets and spaces. Others are tied to the seasons: tourism, retail around the holidays, outdoor dining.
These businesses can be profitable and still run into trouble. A season of twelve bookings followed by a month of two bookings means the fixed bills do not match the money that arrived.
A booking-driven year, for illustration
| Quarter | Revenue | Fixed $3,000 payment | 10% of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | $60,000 | 5.0% of revenue | $6,000 |
| Q2 | $18,000 | 16.7% of revenue | $1,800 |
| Q3 | $45,000 | 6.7% of revenue | $4,500 |
| Q4 | $12,000 | 25% of revenue | $1,200 |
The revenue-linked column goes up in the busy quarters and falls in the slow ones. The trade-off is that a good quarter repays more, so cash is less available then. Example numbers, not our terms.
Questions to settle with yourself first
Sort the last six months of deposits by week and circle the lowest four. Do they cover rent and payroll? If they do, repayment tied to revenue has room to work. If they do not, no financing structure will fix it, and the first step is looking at pricing or costs. Also ask what share of revenue you can afford to give up in a good month: if you plan to reinvest your best months into hiring or stock, a higher repayment in those months will compete with that plan.
When it works and when it does not
- Works: healthy margins, uneven revenue, a need for room in slow periods.
- Does not: thin margins, where a share of every dollar leaves too little to run on.
- Compare: a term loan if revenue is predictable; a line of credit if you want to draw as needed.
What to bring
About three months of business bank statements, with the busy and slow weeks visible, and a 5-minute application. We consider FICO 500 and above, do not require tax returns and use a soft credit pull. Requests run from $25,000 to $5,000,000; funding can arrive in as little as 24 hours after approval. Sole proprietors can apply. See also entertainment funding. Apply here.