What's going on with your business funding?
Pick the situation closest to yours. You'll get a calm explanation of where you stand, what to do first, and every option laid out honestly — including the ones that don't involve us.
Nothing here is a sales pitch. No account, no credit pull, no phone call unless you ask for one.
You were declined. Here is what that does and doesn't mean.
A decline is a data point, not a verdict on your business. Most declines come down to one of five things, and each one has a fix or a workaround.
First, in order
- Ask for the reason in writing — Funders and banks usually say which rule you missed: time in business, deposits, NSF days, an open position or credit. The fix depends on which.
- Pull your last three months of bank statements and count NSF and negative-balance days — That is what an underwriter counted. More than three or four in a month is the most common hidden reason.
- Do not reapply everywhere at once — A dozen applications in a week looks like distress to the next underwriter and can trigger hard credit pulls you did not need.
The guides for this situation are being reviewed. The first steps above apply meanwhile.
You're behind on your daily or weekly payments. Here is what to do before the next draft.
Missing remittances on an advance is serious and it is also negotiable. What you do in the next few business days matters more than what already happened.
First, in order
- Read the default and reconciliation sections of your agreement today — You need to know whether a confession of judgment exists, which state's law applies, and whether revenue-based reconciliation is written in.
- Call the funder before the third missed draft, not after — Most funders would rather adjust the daily amount than start collections. The call is harder to have after a notice goes out.
- Work out the real number: all remittances per day as a share of average daily deposits — Above roughly 15–20% most businesses cannot sustain the load. That number decides whether a restructure is enough or a bigger change is needed.
The guides for this situation are being reviewed. The first steps above apply meanwhile.
You have more than one advance open. Here is how to see the whole picture and what reduces it.
Two positions can be fine. Three or more, each taken to carry the last, is how a profitable business runs out of cash. The way out starts with one honest table.
First, in order
- List every position: funder, date, amount received, total purchased amount, daily or weekly draft, balance left — Owners almost never have this in one place. Until it exists, nobody — you, a partner, an attorney — can tell you what the real options are.
- Add up the daily load and divide by average daily deposits — That share is the whole story. Under 10% is manageable, 10–20% is tight, above 20% needs a change now.
- Check each agreement for a no-stacking clause — Taking a new advance may already be a breach of an older one. That changes what you can safely do next.
The guides for this situation are being reviewed. The first steps above apply meanwhile.
You want out of your advance. Here is every exit, with what each one actually costs.
There are five ways out of a merchant cash advance: pay it down, pay it off early, refinance it, settle it or let it run. Each has a price, and some of the prices are not in dollars.
First, in order
- Find the remaining purchased amount and any early-payoff discount in your agreement — A factor rate is fixed: paying early saves nothing unless a discount is written in. Many agreements have one; most owners never ask.
- Ask the funder for a payoff letter — It states the exact number and the date it is good through. Everything else is a guess.
- Compare the payoff cost against the cost of what would replace it — A refinance that costs more over its life than the remaining advance is not an exit; it is a longer stay.
The guides for this situation are being reviewed. The first steps above apply meanwhile.
Honest, in order, and no shame.
You are not the first
Every situation on this site is common. Owners get declined, fall behind and stack advances for ordinary reasons: a slow quarter, a late customer, a tax bill. The way out is also ordinary.
First steps before options
Each situation starts with what to do in the next few business days — most of it free — before any product is mentioned.
Every option, including the ones that aren't us
A bank, an SBA lender, your existing funder, an attorney or doing nothing yet sit in the same table as anything from our network, with the real cost beside each.
Cost in dollars, not just a rate
A factor rate always appears next to its APR-equivalent and its total payback, because a 1.3 over six months is not 30%.
Plain answers before you talk to anyone.
Is this a lender?
No. Fairhaven Business Partners is a guide. When a request for funding options makes sense for your situation, we place it with a funding partner from our network and we are paid by that partner if a deal funds. We tell you that plainly, and we also tell you when a bank, an attorney or your existing funder is the better call.
Will reading this or starting a request affect my credit?
Reading costs nothing and asks nothing. Starting a request does not pull credit. If you later move forward with a specific offer, the funding partner may run a soft or hard inquiry and you are told which before it happens.
I'm behind on payments right now. What should I do today?
Read the default and reconciliation sections of your agreement, call the funder before the third missed draft, and do not take a new advance to cover the old one. The behind-on-payments situation walks through each step.
Is consolidation a good idea?
Sometimes. A true consolidation can halve the daily load for a business with healthy deposits and two or more positions. It can also just be a bigger advance with a longer term. Compare total payback before and after, with the factor rate's APR-equivalent beside it, and decide with the whole number in front of you.
What if the honest answer is that I shouldn't borrow?
Then that is the answer you get. Several options on this site are not funding at all: waiting a quarter, letting positions run off, negotiating with your funder, or talking to an attorney or a nonprofit business counselor.
Can I just ask a question?
Yes. Email us or send a note and a person at the desk replies within one business day. You do not need to start a request to ask.
The products and the math, plainly.
The products and the math, explained plainly: what a factor rate costs in dollars, how consolidation really works, what a reconciliation clause does, and when a bank is the better answer.
Not sure which situation is yours?
Write a few lines about what is going on. A person replies within one business day with a straight answer.