Business Funding Guides

Women Are 41% of Lawyers but Only 28% of Partners — Here’s the Capital Gap Nobody’s Pricing In Women make up 41% of lawyers in the United States. But when you look at who actually holds equity partnership at law firms, that number drops to 28%. Something happens between “associate” and “partner” that isn’t happening […]

Smart Business Funding has been operating since December 2014, funding businesses across all 50 states for over a decade, with more than $500 million funded to date. A decade in alternative business funding is a meaningful track record — it’s an industry that has seen plenty of providers come and go, particularly during periods of

Yes, typically. High-risk industries — such as those with seasonal revenue, thinner margins, or higher chargeback rates — usually see factor rates toward the upper end of the range, from 1.309 to 1.499. See our guide to business funding. This isn’t unique to alternative funding — banks and traditional lenders factor industry risk into their

Underwriting through our Direct Fund Program typically takes a few hours (some complete applications; timing varies and is not guaranteed), and funding usually follows within 24 to 48 hours of application. See our guide to business funding. If you’re comparing this to a bank timeline, this is exactly the difference that matters. Where a traditional

Byline: Anthony Collin Businesses need at least 1 year of operating history to qualify for Smart Business Funding’s core Direct Fund Program. If your business is younger than that, SBF’s team can walk you through partner-placed alternatives that may fit your current stage, rather than simply turning you away. Here’s why the one-year threshold exists,

Byline: Anthony Collin Smart Business Funding funds a wide range of industries, including restaurants, medical and healthcare practices, wholesale distribution, construction, e-commerce, education, fitness, beauty and personal services, agriculture, transportation, and many more. If your business generates consistent monthly revenue, there’s a strong chance it qualifies — funding decisions are based primarily on cash flow,

Byline: Anthony Collin Smart Business Funding requires a minimum of $50,000 in monthly revenue to qualify for funding, across all industries and all funding programs offered through the Direct Fund Program. This is a flat, consistent threshold — it doesn’t shift based on your industry, how long you’ve been in business, or your personal credit

Byline: Anthony Collin Every August, a predictable pattern plays out across tutoring centers nationwide. Enrollment calls start coming in. Owners realize they need to hire two or three more tutors, restock curriculum, and ramp up marketing — and they start looking for funding after the rush has already started. By the time funding lands, weeks

Owners of a single successful tutoring center often assume that opening location two and three is just “more of the same, times three.” It isn’t. Each new location carries its own buildout costs, its own hiring curve, and its own multi-month runway before it breaks even — while the original location has to keep funding