Business Funding: A Record Year, the Worst December in Five Years and What One Owner Did

By Anthony Collin, CEO, Smart Business Funding. $500M+ funded since 2014. Published October 15, 2026.

A real story, with the source linked. Detail Auto & Window Tinting (Ceramic Pro Elite Dealer Kansas City) is not a Smart Business Funding customer, and we have no business relationship with it. The facts below come from GoDaddy Resources, “Ceramic Pro Elite Dealer Kansas City’s growth story with GoDaddy Capital” (a customer spotlight published by GoDaddy, which sells the product featured in the story). Where we add our own arithmetic or commentary, we say so. Where the source does not give a number, we do not make one up.

A Record Year. The Worst December in Five Years.

“We actually had a record year last year, but we had the worst December we’d had in months or in years.” That is how Ted, the owner of Detail Auto & Window Tinting, described the moment his business ran into trouble. Then he said something more blunt: “This is a perfect storm for insolvency at this point.”

Read that again. This was not a failing business. The shop had grown 30% year over year and ranked #5 in the entire Ceramic Pro network, according to the case study. It had steady month to month revenue from a mix of window tinting, ceramic coating and detailing. And still, one soft month, plus back-to-back customer refunds, including a significant loss on a job that could not be completed, put the whole thing at risk.

That is the lesson at the center of business funding. It is not only for businesses in trouble. It is for healthy businesses that meet a bad month. This post uses Ted’s real story to show what funding was used for, what it replaced, and how to think about the decision.

What Happened, Step by Step

Step	What the source reports
The business	Detail Auto & Window Tinting, a Ceramic Pro Elite Dealer in Kansas City, launched on GoDaddy Payments in March 2024
The growth	30% year over year growth and a #5 rank in the Ceramic Pro network after a little over two years
The problem	A record year followed by the worst December in months or years, plus refunds owed to customers
The decision	Ted used a GoDaddy Capital advance rather than an SBA loan, a personal loan or another credit card
How he used it	As a cushion through December and to honor refunds, and to stock up on discounted window tint during Black Friday
The result	The advance was repaid in full, and the business later opened a third location

One honest gap: the article does not state how much Ted received, what it cost or how long repayment took, so we are not going to guess. If you read stories online that give you a single happy number with no price attached, treat them with the same caution.

The Emotional Side: Trading One Stressor for Another

Ted said it better than any consultant could. “Any time you take out a loan or capital, that’s a stressor. I absolutely think we kind of exchanged one greater stressor for a lesser stressor.” He also said, about the experience: “It was just there. Boom, they approved it. The money was in our bank account.”

Three psychological forces show up in that story, and you can use them on purpose:

• Threat narrowing. When survival feels at stake, people focus on the next 30 days and stop seeing the next 12 months. Ted’s funding helped him do both: ride out December and prepare for the busy season.
• Loss aversion. Refunds and a failed job hurt more than equal gains feel good. Naming the loss in dollars, instead of carrying it as dread, shrinks it.
• Relief as a reward. The biggest benefit Ted described was removing a stressor at a moment when he needed to stay focused on customers. Peace of mind does not appear on a balance sheet, but it changes how owners treat staff and customers.

Ted used the capital “not for expansion, but more for a cushion.” That framing matters. Funding used as a bridge is a different decision from funding used as a bet, and you should know which one you are making.

The Smart Part: Using Part of It on Something That Pays

Ted also used the capital on a time-limited opportunity. Ceramic Pro gives elite dealers heavily discounted product during Black Friday, so he stocked up on window tint and other supplies, which he said improved profitability. That is a useful template. The cushion protected the business. The inventory purchase gave the funding a way to earn its keep.

Use this simple test before you accept any funding: what does each dollar do? Protect something, or produce something. The best uses do both.

Do Your Own Math: A Worksheet

Because the source does not publish Ted’s numbers, here is the framework to run with your own. Fill in your own figures.

Question	How to calculate it
How big is the gap?	Fixed costs and refunds due, minus expected deposits, over the next 60 days
What does the funding cost in dollars?	Total payback minus the net amount you receive
What does the opportunity earn?	Extra margin on the discounted inventory or job, minus its cost
Can the payment fit?	Fixed daily or weekly payment against your slowest week of sales
What is the cheaper alternative, and when does it arrive?	Bank, SBA or credit line cost, and the weeks it would take

The Federal Reserve Banks’ Small Business Credit Survey found that 59% of employer firms sought financing in the prior year, and 56% of those sought it for operating expenses. Only 41% received all they asked for, 36% received some and 24% received none. The full numbers are in the 2025 Report on Employer Firms.

Ted’s choice to avoid an SBA loan, a personal loan and another credit card reflects a real tradeoff the survey picks up on: financing choices often come down to speed, certainty and cost, and the cheapest option is not always available in time.

What Our Own Customers Say

We are careful not to claim Ted’s story as ours. Here is a real review from a Smart Business Funding customer on Trustpilot, posted September 15, 2026 and marked as an unprompted review:

“Abie at Smart Business Funding was straightforward to work with. He laid out the funding options clearly, no pressure, and moved fast when I needed capital. Solid experience, would recommend.” Hyman Uzan, on Trustpilot.

How Smart Business Funding Approaches It

Our direct program funds $10,000 to $5,000,000 for businesses with at least one year in business. We use a soft credit pull only, with a minimum score of 500. Offers usually come within 1 to 5 hours on a complete file, and funding is usually 24 to 48 hours for the whole process. Payments are a fixed daily or weekly amount. Our team will tell you if a merchant cash advance does not look like the right fit. Compare programs on our business funding page.

A Business Funding Decision Checklist

1. Name what the money does. Cushion, opportunity or both.
2. Size the gap. Use the next 60 days, not a guess.
3. Get total cost in dollars and the net amount you receive.
4. Check the payment against your slowest week. Seasonal businesses should check the slow season, not the average.
5. Line up the opportunity. A real discount or contract beats a vague plan.
6. Ask about a UCC filing and a personal guarantee.
7. Plan the payoff. Ted repaid in full. Know how you will.
8. Compare at least one alternative.

Frequently Asked Questions About Business Funding

Can a healthy business need funding? Yes. Ted’s shop was growing 30% a year and still hit a cash squeeze from seasonality and refunds.

What is business funding used for most? In the Federal Reserve survey, operating expenses were the most common reason, with expansion or a new opportunity next.

How fast can funding happen? With us, offers usually come within 1 to 5 hours on a complete file, and funding is usually 24 to 48 hours for the whole process.

Will checking hurt my credit? We use a soft pull only.

Is it a loan? A merchant cash advance is a purchase of future receipts, not a loan. We also work with partners on other options.

See What Your Own Numbers Look Like

Run your own numbers in our funding calculator, read how we price on our Transparent Terms page, or compare every option on our business funding and business financing pages. Call 1-866-737-6278 (866-Re-Smart). Our call center answers 24 hours a day.

All funding is subject to underwriting, approval and applicable terms. Funding amounts, fees and timing vary by applicant and transaction. The story above is reported by the linked third party and is not a Smart Business Funding customer result. A merchant cash advance is not a loan.