From application to funding
Funding is usually sold as a black box, which makes the price harder to question. Here is the whole process, including the parts that are inconvenient to us.
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You tell us what the money is for
Use of funds decides the instrument, so the application asks about it before anything else. Stocking inventory ahead of a season and covering a payroll gap next Tuesday are different problems that want different money.
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You send three to six months of business bank statements
This is the only document that matters for a first read. Funders underwrite deposit consistency far more than credit score, which is why a 580 with steady deposits often beats a 700 with erratic ones.
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We run a soft credit check
Soft means your score is unaffected and other lenders see nothing. A hard pull happens only if you choose to move forward on a specific offer, and you will know before it does.
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Your file goes to funders whose appetite matches it
Funders specialise by industry, revenue band, credit profile and state. One file sent to twenty funders produces twenty declines and a marked profile, so yours goes to the ones who buy files like it.
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You get offers with the real cost laid out
For each: amount, total repayment, remittance schedule, term and fees. We convert factor rates into annualised figures, because a 1.28 factor over four months and a 14 per cent APR over three years are not comparable until someone does that arithmetic.
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You choose, or you do not
Declining every offer costs nothing and follows you nowhere. If the honest recommendation is to wait six weeks and take an SBA loan, that is the recommendation you will get.
How we are paid
Hudson Row is a broker. We do not lend our own money and we do not make the credit decision. When a deal funds, the funder pays us a commission.
There is an obvious conflict in that arrangement, and pretending otherwise would be insulting. Faster, more expensive products generally pay a broker more than slower, cheaper ones. So the test of a broker is simple: will they tell you when the cheapest option is the one that pays them least?
Our answer sits on every product page. The SBA page recommends SBA to anyone who qualifies and can wait. The merchant cash advance page opens by calling itself the most expensive money we place. Those are the first things on those pages rather than disclaimers in a footer, because an operator who over-borrowed once does not come back.
How long each takes
| Product | Typical decision | Typical funding | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merchant cash advance | Often 24–48 hours | Same or next day after signing | Bank statements |
| Business line of credit | Often 1–5 business days | Same or next day after signing | Bank statements |
| Term loan | Often 3–10 business days | Same or next day after signing | Bank statements |
| Equipment financing | Often 2–7 business days | Same or next day after signing | Bank statements |
| Invoice factoring | Often 1–5 business days | Same or next day after signing | Bank statements |
| SBA loans | Typically 30–90 days | 30 to 90 days | Extensive |
Start with a conversation
Four minutes to apply, a soft credit check, and no obligation at any point.