Denied by your bank. Where can you actually get $30,000 this week?

Banks decline most small business applications on rules rather than judgement: under two years trading, uneven monthly income, a thin credit file, or an industry on their restricted list.

None of those are disqualifying for a revenue-based funder. They are reading three to six months of bank statements and asking one question — can this business support repayment out of what already comes in.

A bank decline is not recorded anywhere a funder can see, and it is not something you need to disclose or explain.

Roughly $20,000 to $30,000 a month in deposits. Most funders advance between 50 and 150 percent of one month's revenue, so $30,000 is comfortably within reach at that level.

Six months of trading. At three to six it is possible but the amount shrinks.

No undisclosed existing advances. This is the most common reason an otherwise fine file gets declined late.

Apply Monday with statements to hand: decision Monday or Tuesday, funded Wednesday or Thursday.

Apply Wednesday: Friday is possible and depends on your bank's clearing, not the funder's.

Apply Thursday: you are funding next week. Worth knowing now rather than waiting on a transfer that will not arrive.

$30,000 at a 1.3 factor rate means repaying $39,000 in total. At 1.2 it is $36,000; at 1.4 it is $42,000.

That $6,000 spread is the reason to get a second offer even when you are in a hurry. An hour of comparison is the best-paid hour in the process.

Compare on total dollars repaid, never on the daily payment. A smaller daily figure over a longer term usually costs more, and it is quoted precisely because it sounds better.

Anyone asking for a fee upfront to secure funding. That is a recognised advance-fee scam and there is no legitimate version of it.

Anyone quoting a rate before seeing your bank statements. They are guessing, and the real number arrives later when you are committed.

Anyone who will not tell you the total repayment in dollars when asked directly.