A startup is hard to finance because there is nothing to underwrite except you. Banks want two years of business returns. SBA startup loans want a plan, a larger equity injection, and often 45–90 days. Merchant cash advances will fund a thin file in a day and then take a daily cut of receipts you do not have yet.
An unsecured term loan is the middle path when the personal file can carry it. $50,000–$500,000, 3, 5, or 7 years, often 3–10 business days, no real estate pledged, pricing quoted per file in an approximate 6%–18% band. It is not a grant. It is not “we love your idea.” It is an amortizing note against documented personal credit and income, used for a business purpose.
Jaken Finance Group originates property loans. Unsecured pre-qualification is Preferred Funding Group. Do not treat this page as Jaken Finance Group underwriting startups.
Pre-qualify for startup working capital →
What this loan will and will not do
It will try to turn a personal, documented ability to repay into a known monthly installment so you can open, hire, or buy into a model that already works.
It will not:
- Fund a slide deck with no tax returns
- Replace SBA microloans (up to $50,000 with mentoring) when that is the right size and you can wait
- Mortgage a building you do not own — and it will not finance a house you live in
- Promise a published FICO floor. None is listed here. Pricing moves with the file.
If the honest path is “buy a profitable company” or “open a franchise,” start on SBA business acquisition loans and SBA franchise loans. Unsecured capital can be the speed check or the equity gap, not the $5 million 7(a).
Model a $75,000 launch payment
The Startup working capital preset loads $75,000 over 5 years at an illustrative 14% — a stress-test rate inside the published band, not a quote. That payment is about $1,745 a month. If your household or other income cannot service that before the new company prints revenue, do not take the note. Opening-week sales are not a repayment plan.
Unsecured term loan calculator
Model a 50,000–500,000 business-purpose term loan on a 3, 5, or 7-year amortizing schedule. Compare the payment to a merchant cash advance. Results are estimates — not a loan offer. Pricing is quoted per file by Preferred Funding Group.
Monthly payment
—
Fully amortizing
Total interest
—
Over the full term
Total repaid
—
Principal + interest
Effective cost
—
Interest ÷ principal
Program checklist
Term loan vs merchant cash advance
| Term loan | MCA | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount funded | — | — |
| Estimated monthly outflow | — | — |
| Total extra cost | — | — |
Same engine: unsecured term loan calculator. Program box: unsecured term loans.
The upside of financing a launch instead of starving it
1. Time-to-open is a real number. A lease with 90 days of fixturing, a franchisor’s training calendar, or a seller who will hold a small book of business for three weeks will not wait on an SBA file. Interest on a $75,000 5-year note is a known cost. Missing the window is an unknown one — another tenant, another buyer, another year on someone else’s payroll.
2. You keep collateral free for the loan that should sit on an asset. If you later need a truck, equipment financing at 6%–14% wants a serial number and a UCC. If you buy a rental, DSCR at 5.75%–10.5% wants the deed. Unsecured working capital does not take those liens first. That optionality is the product.
3. You avoid training an MCA on a company with no receipts. Daily drafts against future card volume are a poor match for a business that has not opened. The FTC staff notes on small-business financing describe factor products with daily collection. If you already took one to “get through opening,” refinance the merchant cash advance as its own use of funds.
4. A known installment is how you underwrite yourself. Founders who cannot look at $1,745 a month and say where it comes from in month two are not ready for this debt. The calculator exists so that conversation happens before the Wufoo form, not after.
5. You can still take SBA later. Unsecured term money can be a bridge to a 7(a) that wraps a larger, cheaper stack once there is a P&L — the operating-company version of bridge now, SBA later. Do not start a 7-year note the week a takeout would have paid the same bills.
Financing a startup is how you buy calendar. It is not how you invent a customer.
Unsecured vs SBA startup vs waiting
| Path | Clock | Typical size | What they underwrite | Best at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unsecured term loan | 3–10 business days | $50,000–$500,000 | Personal credit, returns, use of funds | Speed, equity gap, opening cash |
| SBA microloan | Weeks, with a nonprofit intermediary | Up to $50,000 | Plan, character, often mentoring | Small, first proof of concept |
| SBA 7(a) | 45–90+ days | Up to $5 million | Plan, equity 15%–30% on startups, experience | Larger launch, franchise, acquisition |
| Wait and save | Months | Whatever you accumulate | Nothing | When the payment cannot be sourced today |
| MCA | Days | Varies | Receipts you may not have | Rarely the right first product for a true startup |
SBA.gov loan programs publish current 7(a) and microloan rules. They change. Verify at application. Jaken Finance Group helps founders get matched to SBA; it does not originate this unsecured note.
Worked example: franchise fee and opening inventory
A general manager with ten years in full service signs a franchise. Franchisor wants $50,000 in fees and $40,000 in opening food, smallwares, and deposits. SBA 7(a) is in process. Training starts in 18 days.
A $90,000 5-year unsecured loan at an illustrative 14% is about $2,094 a month. That payment has to come from household income or another location until the unit prints. If the FDD’s Item 19 and her W-2 support it, the loan is a timing tool. If the only plan is “we’ll be busy in month three,” it is a bet. Unsecured underwriting will see that on the personal returns.
Buying the building is a different file: commercial real estate financing or SBA 504. Most first units lease.
Worked example: buying a small book instead of inventing one
A plumber going independent can launch a van and a website from scratch, or buy a retiring owner’s $180,000 book (customers, a used truck, a phone number). Lenders of every kind prefer the second story. Unsecured capital of $120,000 (seller carries the rest) over 7 years at an illustrative 12% is about $2,119 a month. The book already bills more than that. The acquisition page walks partner math; this page is the founder who still looks like a startup on paper because the entity is new.
Unsecured term loan payment vs merchant cash advance. Estimates only — not a loan offer.
Monthly payment
—
Fully amortizing
Total interest
—
Over the full term
Total repaid
—
Principal + interest
Effective cost
—
Interest ÷ principal
Program checklist
Term loan vs merchant cash advance
| Term loan | MCA | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount funded | — | — |
| Estimated monthly outflow | — | — |
| Total extra cost | — | — |
Documents that make a thin company fundable
- Two years of personal tax returns (business returns if they exist)
- FICO 8 — no published minimum
- Use of funds with invoices, a franchise agreement, or an LOI
- Personal financial statement / bank statements that show the payment can start before revenue
- Entity docs if you are already formed
Messy personal books are the stall. A gorgeous deck is not a substitute.
How this sits next to other products
Need a machine on an invoice? Prefer equipment financing at 6%–14%, or read unsecured vs equipment when there is no serial number. Need a restaurant buildout? Unsecured loans for restaurants. Need CRE down payment on a rental you will hold? Down payment funding. Need SBA as the cheap long-term stack? SBA startup loans. Operating from more than one country? Cross-border operators — eligibility on the unsecured note is still quoted per file.
A startup that is actually a partner buyout or a small acquisition should not stay on this page. Move to unsecured acquisition and partner-buyout loans so the use of funds matches the membership-interest purchase agreement. Underwriters read the story; “working capital” on a $250,000 buyout looks like you did not want to name the deal.
Treat the first six months as if revenue is zero. If household income, a spouse’s W-2, or another location cannot make the installment with sales at zero, the launch is being financed by hope. Hope is not a credit box. Cut the request, extend the term to 7 years and re-run the payment, or wait. A smaller $50,000 note that you can service is a better opening than a $200,000 note that turns into a stacked MCA by month four.
How to apply
- Write a one-page use of funds and the personal income that services the first six payments.
- Run that amount in the calculator at 5 years, then stress 3 and 7 and a higher illustration rate.
- Submit the unsecured financing form.
- If SBA is still the better permanent path, start from SBA startup loans in parallel.
Pre-qualify for startup capital · Unsecured term loans · (833) 264-7776
Sources
- SBA — loan programs
- FTC — small business financing staff perspective
- CFPB — Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage standards (consumer mortgage context — this facility is business-purpose)
Calculator outputs are estimates, not a loan offer. Approval and rate are quoted per file by Preferred Funding Group. Jaken Finance Group originates non-owner-occupied investment property loans and can help match SBA startup financing. Unsecured term-loan pre-qualification is a referral.