Repayments that rise and fall with your takings

A revenue advance, also known as a merchant cash advance (MCA), a business cash advance or revenue-based financing, gives your business a lump sum up front, which you then repay as a small, agreed share of your ongoing sales rather than in fixed monthly instalments. Instead of a rigid repayment schedule, a set percentage of your daily or weekly card takings (or total revenue) is collected automatically until the advance and its agreed cost are cleared. Repayments rise and fall with your trading: busy weeks pay it down faster, quieter weeks take less in that moment.

Because it is tied to revenue, a revenue advance is one of the most flexible forms of business funding for companies that take a lot of card or online payments, retail, hospitality, salons, ecommerce and similar. In most cases there is no asset to put up as collateral, and the focus is on how your business actually trades today, not just your credit history. Capvant is not a lender; we are a borrower-first marketplace that takes one request and matches you with a network of vetted, third-party lenders who compete to fund it, so you compare real revenue advance offers in one place instead of chasing them one at a time.

The word advance matters here. This is not a traditional loan with an APR and a fixed end date, you receive an amount today and agree to repay a slightly larger amount over time, with the timeline driven by your sales. For many owners that predictability, a fixed share of takings rather than a surprise instalment, is exactly the appeal.

Eligibility for a revenue advance is led by revenue, which is why it is open to many businesses that find traditional lending hard to access. Lenders generally focus on how much you take and how steadily, more than on a perfect credit file, though credit is still considered, and every funding decision rests with the lender and is subject to approval.

Most revenue advances are unsecured, so you are generally not putting up property or equipment as security, although some lenders may ask for a personal guarantee on larger amounts. Comparing your options through Capvant is a soft search with no impact on your credit score; a hard credit check only happens if you choose to accept an offer and move forward. That lets you see what you would realistically be offered before committing to anything.

• A few months of trading history, some lenders want more, some less
• Consistent monthly card or total revenue above the lender's minimum
• Recent bank and/or card-processing statements
• Credit profile, considered, but usually weighted less than your sales
• A personal guarantee, which some lenders request for larger amounts

A revenue advance suits businesses with regular card or online sales that want funding quickly and repayments that move with their takings. It is a strong fit for seasonal cash-flow gaps, buying stock ahead of a busy period, covering a short-lived opportunity, or smoothing the lag between paying suppliers and getting paid, anywhere the ability to pay more when you are busy and less when you are quiet is genuinely useful.

It is less suited to long-term or large capital projects, or to businesses on thin margins where a daily holdback would strain operations. In those cases a term loan, a business line of credit, invoice financing or another working-capital option may cost less or fit better, and because Capvant matches your one request across the whole network, you can see those alternatives alongside revenue advance offers and choose on the full picture.

Whatever you choose, the principle is the same: one request, a soft search with no hit to your credit, real competing offers from vetted lenders, and a hard check only if you decide to go ahead. That is how a revenue advance should be bought, on clear, comparable terms, with the decision firmly in your hands.