The main alternatives to a bank business loan are revenue-based funding, a business line of credit, equipment financing and invoice factoring. All four are underwritten on your business bank deposits rather than the collateral-and-tax-returns file a bank wants, which is why they answer in days instead of months.
Why banks say no in the first place
Banks decline most small-business applications for reasons that have little to do with whether the business is good: under two years of history, revenue below their internal floor, an industry on their restricted list, or simply a loan size too small to be worth their underwriting cost. A decline from a bank is a statement about the bank's box, not about your business.
The alternative market exists precisely for the businesses outside that box — and it reads different evidence: deposits, consistency, and account conduct across four months of statements.
The four alternatives, and what each is for
Revenue-based working capital — a lump sum repaid daily or weekly from sales. The fastest of the four; fits a specific one-off cost.
A business line of credit — draw, repay, draw again, paying only on what is drawn. Fits a shortfall that recurs rather than a single event.
Equipment financing — secured by the asset itself, so it prices lower and runs longer. Fits any purchase where the equipment is the point.
Invoice factoring — advances against unpaid invoices, priced on your customer's credit rather than yours. Fits B2B businesses waiting 30 to 90 days to be paid.
How the cost compares to a bank
Honestly: higher. A bank loan is the cheapest money in the market when you can get it, and nothing here pretends otherwise. What the alternatives sell is availability and speed — an answer in hours against a process measured in months, and approval logic built for businesses banks decline.
The right comparison is rarely alternative-versus-bank. It is alternative-versus-waiting: what the delay costs in missed stock, a stalled job, or payroll stress against what the funding costs. Sometimes waiting wins. Often it does not, and that is a calculation only the owner can make.
How to choose between them
Start from the problem, not the product. A broken oven is equipment financing. A recurring January dip is a line. A bulk-buy discount that expires Friday is an advance. Slow-paying commercial customers are factoring.
One application here covers all four — we match the product to the problem rather than pushing whichever one pays best, because none of them carries a broker fee at all.
Read next: Working capital · Business line of credit · What funding costs
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