When you are ready to apply
We ask for about three months of business bank statements. That is the dividing line between planning and applying: a business with no deposits has little for a funder to read, and a business with a few months of sales has something to show. We do not require tax returns, the credit pull is soft, FICO scores of 500 and above are considered, and sole proprietors can apply. Funding runs from $25,000 to $5,000,000 and can arrive in as little as 24 hours. We do not state a minimum time in business, because we would be inventing one.
Where Oakland startups tend to begin
- Food and drink. Wikipedia credits the city with a growing number of sophisticated restaurants and bars, as named by The New York Times in 2012. Food trucks, pop-ups and small cafes start here.
- Makers and creative studios. The article says the city claims the highest concentration of artists per capita in the United States.
- Tech and green energy. Start-up high tech and green-energy companies have found a home in downtown neighborhoods such as Uptown and Jack London Square, per the same source. See the tech page.
- Port-adjacent services. Trucking, repair and warehouse support. The port and logistics page explains the cash cycle.
The first-year cash gap
Costs come first and revenue comes later. Deposits, equipment, permits, inventory and the first hire are all paid before steady sales exist. For illustration only: a studio that spends $25,000 on equipment and rent in month one and does not reach steady revenue until month three needs about two months of carrying costs. That bridge is explainable. Money for a business with no customers is not.
Preparing the file
- Run all sales and expenses through one business account.
- Write the use of funds in a sentence, such as "espresso machine, first stock, two months of rent."
- Know your slowest week since opening.
- List your obligations, including personal credit used for the business.
A mistake worth avoiding
New owners often size the request to the whole dream, not the next ninety days. If the plan only works at the maximum amount, rework it. Funds are best aimed at what directly produces sales, such as the truck, the espresso machine or the first production run, while overhead is carried by early revenue. A smaller request with a cushion reads as more credible than a large one with no slack.
Separate business and personal accounts from day one. A statement that mixes the two is hard to read and slows any review.
Other routes
When deposits are steady, working capital, a line of credit and equipment financing come into play. Apply here.