Small Business Loans

What is a small business loan?

A small business loan is financing a business borrows and repays over a set term. Spartan Capital Group funds $5,000 to $500,000 across term loans, lines of credit, revenue-based financing, invoice factoring, and equipment financing. Approval decisions come back in as little as one hour.

The distinction that matters is what gets underwritten. A bank weighs the owner's personal credit file, tax returns, and often a business plan. Spartan Capital focuses primarily on business revenue — monthly deposits, their consistency, and how long the business has been operating. That is why a profitable business with a thin or damaged personal credit profile can still qualify here and be declined by a bank. Pre-qualification uses a soft credit pull, so seeing your options never puts a hard inquiry on your report. No Spartan Capital product carries a prepayment penalty, so clearing a balance early reduces what you pay rather than triggering a fee.

How do small business loans work?

You apply in about five minutes with basic business details, then submit recent bank statements. An underwriter reviews revenue and deposit history and returns a decision in as little as one hour. You review an offer stating amount, term, payment, and total cost, then accept and receive funds.

What happens after you accept depends on the product. A business term loan repays in fixed monthly payments, so the amount and payoff date are fixed before you sign. Revenue-based financing repays as a percentage of sales, drawn daily or monthly, so payments rise in strong months and fall in slow ones. A line of credit repays based on what you actually draw, with no draw fee on undrawn funds. Invoice factoring is not a loan at all — it advances against an unpaid invoice and settles when your customer pays. All costs are shown upfront before you sign.

What types of small business loans are available?

Spartan Capital offers five products: term loans from $10,000 to $500,000, lines of credit from $10,000 to $250,000, revenue-based financing from $5,000 to $500,000, invoice factoring advancing up to 90% of invoice value, and equipment financing covering up to 100% of equipment cost.

A business term loan suits a planned investment where predictability matters — a fixed monthly payment over 3 to 36 months, which places it in the short term business loans category rather than the multi-year bank range. A line of credit is revolving: draw, repay, draw again, paying only on what you use. Revenue-based financing, sometimes sold elsewhere as a merchant cash advance, exchanges a lump sum for a percentage of future receivables and is priced with a factor rate instead of an interest rate. Invoice factoring converts B2B receivables to cash without adding debt. Equipment financing funds up to 100% of equipment cost and up to $500,000, and the equipment itself serves as the collateral. Spartan Capital does not originate SBA loans.

• Business term loans
• Business line of credit
• Revenue-based financing
• Invoice factoring
• Equipment financing

How much can you borrow?

Spartan Capital funds $5,000 to $500,000. The offer is driven primarily by monthly revenue and deposit consistency, with credit profile, time in business, and product type adjusting it. Term loans and revenue-based financing reach $500,000; lines of credit reach $250,000; equipment financing covers up to 100% of cost.

Because revenue is the primary input, the fastest way to improve an offer is to show consistent deposits across recent statements. Seasonal businesses are read across a full annual cycle rather than judged on a single slow month, which is the reason revenue-based financing is often the better structure for them. If a single product does not reach the amount you need, structures can be layered — an equipment purchase financed against the equipment, with working capital handled separately. Invoice factoring is sized differently: it is capped by the face value of the invoices you factor, with an advance of up to 90% and a $5,000 minimum invoice value, rather than by a fixed credit limit.

• Estimate your funding amount

What are typical small business loan rates?

Cost depends on the product. Revenue-based financing and merchant cash advances use a factor rate, typically 1.1 to 1.5 — a 1.25 factor on $100,000 means repaying $125,000. Term loans are priced with an APR. No Spartan Capital product carries a prepayment penalty.

A factor rate is a multiplier, not an interest rate, and it does not compound over time: the total is fixed the moment you sign. APR annualizes the cost of a term loan and is the easier figure to compare across lenders — as an illustration, 24% APR on a $100,000 twelve-month loan works out to roughly $13,000 in total interest. Invoice factoring is priced as a discount on invoice face value rather than as a rate, and adds no debt to the balance sheet. A line of credit accrues cost only on the drawn balance and carries no draw fee. Because there is no prepayment penalty on any product, paying off early lowers your total cost.

How do you qualify for a small business loan?

Most products require $10,000 or more in monthly revenue, at least twelve months in business, and a credit score of 500 or above. Term loans require $15,000 monthly revenue and a 550 score. Invoice factoring has no revenue, time, or credit minimum.

These are minimums rather than hard cutoffs, and strength in one area regularly offsets weakness in another — high, steady revenue often carries a shorter operating history or a lower score. The credit floor varies by product: 500 for revenue-based financing, 525 for a line of credit, 550 for a term loan, 575 for equipment financing, and none at all for invoice factoring. Businesses under twelve months old may still qualify for some products, which is the usual route for startup business loans, though it is worth confirming with an advisor before applying. Documentation is deliberately light: basic business information plus recent bank statements, with no tax returns or business plan required.

How to get a small business loan

Apply online in about five minutes with basic business details. Submit recent bank statements. An underwriter reviews revenue and deposit history and returns a decision in as little as one hour. Review the offer, accept the terms, and funds transfer to your business account.

Step 1 — Apply. About five minutes of basic business and owner information. This stage uses a soft credit pull only and has no effect on your personal credit score. Step 2 — Send documents. Recent business bank statements are the core requirement. Incomplete statements are the most common cause of delay, so gathering them before you start is worth the few minutes. Step 3 — Underwriting. Revenue, deposit consistency, and time in business are reviewed; a decision can return in as little as one hour during business hours. Step 4 — Review the offer. Amount, term, payment, repayment structure, and total cost are all disclosed before you sign, with no obligation to accept. Step 5 — Funding. Funds transfer to your business account, in as little as two hours on revenue-based financing.

How fast can you get funded?

Approval decisions return in as little as one hour. Revenue-based financing can fund the same day, in as little as two hours after approval. Term loans average 24 hours with transfer in under three days. Invoice factoring averages 24 hours; equipment financing funds in under three days.

Speed is mostly a documentation problem rather than a lender problem. Applications submitted with complete, recent bank statements move through underwriting fastest; missing months are the usual reason a file stalls. Lines of credit take roughly 24 hours to set up, after which draws are available without re-applying — which makes a line the fastest option for a business that expects recurring needs rather than one lump sum. For comparison, a bank or SBA-backed loan commonly runs 30 to 90 days, and typically requires tax returns, a business plan, and collateral verification that Spartan Capital does not ask for.

Can you get a small business loan with bad credit?

Often, yes. Revenue-based financing starts at a 500 credit score, and invoice factoring has no credit requirement, because both underwrite business revenue rather than the owner's credit file. Checking your options uses a soft credit pull, so applying never affects your personal credit score.

For small business loans for bad credit, the deciding factor is usually deposit behaviour rather than the score itself: consistent monthly revenue, few negative days, and a stable balance carry more weight than a number on a credit report. Spartan Capital never performs a hard credit pull during pre-qualification, so there is no cost to finding out where you stand. If a score sits below the 500 threshold, invoice factoring remains available to B2B businesses because it is priced against your customer's ability to pay the invoice, not yours. Stronger revenue and credit history lead to better rates and larger offers, so a decline today does not close the door permanently.

Are small business loans secured or unsecured?

It varies by product. Revenue-based financing, lines of credit, and invoice factoring require no collateral. Term loans are evaluated case by case. Equipment financing is secured by the equipment itself, which serves as the collateral and is owned outright at the end of the term.

Collateral is not required on most Spartan Capital programs, but the term loan is assessed case by case, and larger requests are the ones most likely to require it. Equipment financing is secured by definition: the equipment is the collateral, which is precisely why it prices lower than unsecured options — the asset is concrete and easily valued. If a business defaults, the lender's recourse is the equipment. Invoice factoring sits outside the secured-versus-unsecured question altogether, because it is a sale of receivables rather than a loan and adds no debt to the balance sheet.

Are small business loans fixed or variable rate?

Term loans carry fixed monthly payments, so the amount and payoff date are known before signing. Revenue-based financing is not rate-based at all — it uses a factor rate, with payments that flex as a percentage of sales. Lines of credit accrue cost only on the drawn balance.

This is also the difference between installment and revolving financing. A term loan is installment: a set amount, a fixed monthly payment, and a defined end date across 3 to 36 months. A line of credit is revolving: draw, repay, and draw again against the same limit, with no draw fee and cost only on what is outstanding. Revenue-based financing is neither — the total is fixed by the factor rate at signing, while the timing flexes with sales, so a strong month repays faster and a slow month repays less. Because no product carries a prepayment penalty, an early payoff is always available on a fixed-payment structure.

What can you use a small business loan for?

Common uses include payroll, inventory, equipment, expansion, marketing, debt consolidation, and bridging slow months or delayed customer payments. Equipment financing must fund equipment, and invoice factoring converts unpaid B2B invoices to cash. The other products carry no restriction on how the capital is deployed.

In practice the use of funds drives the product choice more than the reverse. A contractor fronting materials on a signed contract needs working capital now and a fixed payoff date, which points to a term loan. A restaurant with a strong December and a weak July needs payments that move with revenue, which points to revenue-based financing. A B2B supplier waiting 30 to 90 days on receivables does not need to borrow at all — factoring releases cash already earned. A shop replacing a lift or diagnostic rig should finance against the equipment, since the asset secures the deal and lowers the cost. Consolidating higher-cost debt into one predictable monthly payment is a common term loan use as well.