How it works
What happens, in order, and what each step costs.
Three steps. The only one that can touch your credit score is the last, and only if you take an offer forward.
Step 01
Apply
About fifteen minutes online, at any hour. Questions about the business, its revenue, how long it has traded and what the money is for; recent bank statements or a P&L may be asked for. It is a soft credit inquiry and leaves no mark on the owner's score. Nothing is payable and nothing is committed.
Step 02
Compare
The application goes to 80+ lenders and a funding expert goes through what comes back with you — what each offer costs, what it asks for, and where the trade-offs are. There is no obligation to accept any of them, and an offer you decline costs nothing.
Step 03
Fund
Once an offer is accepted the money goes to the business account, usually within 24 to 48 hours of approval. A hard credit inquiry may be run by the lender at this stage; that is the first point at which anything touches the owner's score.
The anatomy of an offer
Before you see an offer, this is what one says.
Republic does not lend. It puts one application in front of 80+ lenders and brings back what they will actually do, which arrives as a set of offers rather than as a number. Six things are stated on every one. Knowing which of them move — and which do not — is most of what a funding expert is for.
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The amount
What the lender will advance. It is set by revenue and time trading more than by what you asked for, and it is the figure most likely to come back lower than the range on a programme page.
Moves with the lender
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The cost
A rate on five of the six programmes and a factor on the cash advance. These are not the same thing and cannot be compared: a rate falls as the balance falls, a factor does not.
Moves with your file
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The term
How long you have to repay. A longer term lowers the payment and raises the total cost; a shorter one does the reverse. This is the trade-off most owners have not been shown.
Often negotiable
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The repayment
Monthly, weekly, or daily by ACH. Daily repayment on a business with lumpy takings is the single most common reason a funded business struggles, and it is a structure question rather than a price one.
Often negotiable
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What secures it
Five of the six are unsecured. Equipment financing is normally secured on the equipment it buys. A personal guarantee is a separate question and is the lender's to require — no broker can promise it away.
Set by the programme
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What it costs to get
Nothing. There is no application fee, no processing fee and nothing payable to Republic at any stage. Applying is a soft credit inquiry and leaves no mark; a hard inquiry only follows if you take an offer forward.
Fixed at zero
An offer is not a quote until a lender has read the application. Everything on this site is the range a programme is written across, which is the most any marketplace can tell you before it has asked.
Straight answers
What owners ask before they apply
Will applying hurt my credit?
No. The application is a soft credit inquiry used to pre-qualify and it does not affect the score. A hard inquiry only happens later, if you choose to take a particular lender's formal offer forward.
How much can I qualify for?
The six programmes span $5,000 to $1,000,000. Where a business lands inside that depends on its revenue, how long it has traded and its credit profile — which is why the honest answer before an application is a range rather than a figure.
How long does funding take?
Most approved applicants have the money within 24 to 48 hours of accepting an offer. The cash advance is usually the fastest; equipment financing, which has an asset to value, is usually the slowest.
Is anything secured?
Five of the six are unsecured. Equipment financing is normally secured on the equipment it buys. A personal guarantee is a separate question and is the lender's to require — no marketplace can promise one away.
Do I have to accept an offer?
Never. Applying is free and non-binding. Read the offers, ask as many questions as you want, and take one forward only if the terms make sense for the business.
Can I qualify with lower credit?
Often, yes. Stronger credit opens more options and better rates, but the network includes lenders serving a wide range of profiles, and the cash advance in particular is approved on revenue rather than on the credit file.
The application
One application. 80+ lenders. Fifteen minutes.
About fifteen minutes. One application reaches 80+ lenders, costs nothing, commits nothing, and leaves no mark on the owner's credit score.
Rather talk to somebody first? (844) 528-8696, Mon–Fri, 8am – 8pm.