Our Mission
FundingExplained.com is an independent small business funding resource. We are not a lender, not a broker, and not paid by any lender to recommend their products. Our only job is to explain what every funding option actually costs — in real dollars, not APR abstractions — and help business owners understand what they qualify for before they sign anything.
The small business funding market has a specific, documented information problem: the highest-cost products (merchant cash advances at 40–150% APR) are the most aggressively marketed, and the lowest-cost products (bank-backed working capital at 18–35% APR, SBA loans at 10%) are the least explained. This imbalance exists because the lenders profiting from high-cost products have enormous marketing budgets and the lenders offering lower-cost products rely on borrowers finding them through conventional channels.
We close this gap with plain-English explanations of every funding option, realistic cost comparisons in actual dollars, and a credit score framework — the 551 Rule — that helps business owners understand exactly what becomes available at each credit threshold.
The 551 Rule
The 551 Rule is FundingExplained.com’s core framework for understanding the US small business credit market. At 551+ personal credit score and $10,000+/month in business revenue, a completely different class of lender becomes available: bank-backed working capital at 18–35% APR, no collateral, no tax returns for amounts under $150,000, funded in 5–7 business days.
Below 551, these lenders decline the application. The borrower is then either referred to higher-cost alternative lenders at 40–65% APR or targeted by MCA lenders at 40–150% APR. This is not a difference in the borrower’s repayment ability — a business generating $30,000/month with a 535 credit score is as capable of repaying a $50,000 advance as the same business with a 560 credit score. The difference is purely the credit score gate, and the cost difference on the other side of that gate is $11,250 in fees on a single $50,000 advance.
Most business owners below 551 are in the 520–550 range. The two free credit improvement moves — disputing errors on credit bureau reports and reducing credit card utilization below 10% — can push most 520–550 scores past 551 in 30–60 days at zero cost. We explain these moves in every guide because they represent the highest-return financial action available to most sub-551 business owners. No product we recommend, no lender we describe, and no calculator we provide will save a business owner more money than crossing the 551 threshold before accepting any high-cost capital offer.
What We Cover
FundingExplained.com covers every major small business funding product available in the US market in 2026:
- Bad credit business funding — options at every credit score
- No credit check business funding — invoice factoring and revenue-based products
- MCA refinancing — how to exit high-cost debt
- Invoice factoring — for businesses with outstanding invoices
- Business term loans — structure, cost, how to qualify
- 0% APR business credit cards — the most underused startup tool
- Startup funding — from pre-revenue through Series A
- Industry-specific guides: restaurants, trucking, construction, staffing
- Lender reviews: BlueVine, BriteCap
- Business loan payment calculator — with MCA comparison
Editorial Standards
Every guide on FundingExplained.com is written to a single standard: what would a knowledgeable friend who works in small business finance tell this business owner if they asked the question directly? Not a version softened by advertiser relationships. Not a version hedged by legal caution. Not a version designed to funnel to the highest-commission product. The honest answer.
We apply specific editorial tests to every piece of content we publish: Does it name the product’s cost in actual dollars, not just percentage terms? Does it tell the reader what the cheaper alternative is and how to qualify for it? Does it explain what the reader’s credit score unlocks without requiring them to apply for anything first? Does it tell the reader what not to do, not just what to do?
We update guides when product terms change, when new research becomes available, or when our understanding of a product’s real-world impact improves. Publication dates on every guide reflect the most recent substantive update, not the original creation date.
What We Are Not
FundingExplained.com is not a lender. We do not originate loans, process applications, or make credit decisions. We are not a licensed financial advisor, mortgage broker, or investment advisor. Nothing on this site is financial advice. Every business’s situation is different, and the right funding decision depends on factors specific to each borrower that we cannot evaluate from a general guide.
When we recommend that a business owner check bank-backed working capital eligibility before accepting an MCA, we are not giving financial advice — we are describing the structure of the funding market and the credit thresholds that separate different product categories. The decision of whether and what to borrow is yours to make with your own advisors.
When we describe the 551 Rule, we are describing an observed pattern in how the US small business lending market is structured — not guaranteeing that any specific lender will approve any specific application at any specific credit score. Credit approval depends on many factors beyond the credit score alone.
Contact
For editorial corrections, factual updates, or questions about content on FundingExplained.com, use the contact form on our website. We read every message. We cannot provide personalised funding advice or evaluate specific loan offers.
For lenders interested in editorial coverage or product reviews: we review products we believe are genuinely useful to our audience, on our own timeline, using our own evaluation criteria. We do not accept payment for reviews or editorial coverage. We do not guarantee positive coverage for any product we review.