Guide · If you need money this week
It is March, the first installs need $15,000 of materials, and the winter statements look thin. What funds spring?
By Alex Makowski Published
Send twelve months of statements, not three, so the underwriter sees last summer instead of just January, and apply in early March rather than the week the mulch is due. A working capital loan sized to the materials and the first two payrolls funds in one to three business days and is repaid from April and May invoices. Next year, set the line of credit up in August, when the statements are strongest.
In this guide
- 01Why March is the hardest month to be funded and the one you need it
- 02Send the whole year
- 03What to fund with what
- 04Next year, do this in August
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01
Why March is the hardest month to be funded and the one you need it
A landscaping company's spring starts before its customers' do. Bulk mulch, soil and plant stock are bought in March; the crew is hired and trained before the first cut; installation jobs need $5,000 to $15,000 of materials each before the client pays. The invoices for all of that go out in April and are paid in May.
And the statements on the desk in March are December, January and February — for most companies without a snow operation, the thinnest quarter of the year. A funder reading only those three months is reading a business that looks half its size.
02
Send the whole year
Twelve months of statements, with last April through October front and center. A funder that sees $50,000 months last summer and $18,000 months this winter is reading a seasonal business, and will size the offer to the season it is about to enter — especially if the application says, in a sentence, that the money is for spring materials and the April invoices repay it.
Signed maintenance contracts for the coming season are the other document worth sending. Forty accounts at a known monthly rate is a revenue schedule, and it explains the ask better than any cover note.
Amounts run half to one and a half times a month's deposits, and which month the funder treats as typical is what the full-year statements decide. Borrow the materials and the first two payrolls; the April invoices do the rest.
What your deposits support
03
What to fund with what
Materials, the first hires, fuel, the insurance renewal that always lands in spring: working capital, one to three business days, weekly payments that line up with when your maintenance accounts pay.
A new mower, a trailer, a skid steer for the install crew: equipment financing, through the dealer or an equipment lender, two to five years, cheaper by a wide margin. It takes two to five days from a quote and it should not be on the same application as the mulch.
04
Next year, do this in August
A business line of credit applied for in August, against July's statements, is approved on the best numbers you will have all year. Drawn in March, repaid in May, costing nothing from June to February. It is harder to qualify for than an advance and takes weeks to set up, which is why it is a summer task. Every landscaper who has one describes spring as a different season.
Written by
Alex Makowski, Owner
Alex Makowski owns and runs Business Loans for America and has been placing funding for U.S. small businesses since 2021. Businesses he has worked with have secured $50M+ in financing across 1,200+ placements. He writes and reviews every guide on this site.
FAQ
Related questions.
- Can I get funded in my first spring, with under a year in business?
- Six months of deposits is the usual floor, and a company that started last June clears it in March — thinly. Expect a smaller offer at a shorter term, and lean on the dealer for the equipment side, where the asset carries the underwriting.
- Does a snow operation help?
- Snow contracts turn December through February into revenue months, and the statements show it. A company with snow reads as year-round to a funder, and the spring application is easier for it.
- Should I ask install customers for a materials deposit instead?
- Yes, and most do: a third to a half at signing on installation jobs is common and unremarkable. It shrinks the spring gap directly. Maintenance accounts rarely pay ahead, which is the part the funding covers.
Guides
More on if you need money this week
Insurance premium due
Premium finance wants a quarter down. Working capital covers the quarter. Compare the two totals.
Waiting on broker pay
Three tools, three prices. The right one depends on whether the gap is every load or this month.
Big catering event
A deposit covers some of it. A corporate client paying in 60 days covers none of it on time.
Between closings
Commission advances cost 10 to 30 percent of the check. A brokerage has cheaper options.
Customer went bankrupt
This is a loss, not a delay. Fund the hole it leaves, file the claim, and stop selling on open terms to anyone that size.
Workers' comp audit bill
Check the sub certificates first; half of these bills shrink. Then the insurer's installment plan, then funding.
Sources
- U.S. Small Business Administration — LoansFederal loan programmes, eligibility and what the SBA does and does not guarantee.
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