Franchise funding
For operators who already run a location and need working capital, equipment financing or a line of credit sized from the store deposits.
✓ Merchant Fund Express starts with a soft credit pull. Terms depend on your business's revenue and history.
Updated October 21, 2026 · Merchant Fund Express
Already running a Firehouse Subs location and need capital? Merchant Fund Express funds existing Firehouse Subs owners: business loans, merchant cash advances, revenue-based financing, lines of credit, equipment financing and working capital. Funding runs from $25,000 to $5,000,000. The fit depends on the location's revenue, operating history, ownership, existing obligations and what the money is for. A first review needs about three months of business bank statements.
This page is for people who already own and run one or more Firehouse Subs restaurants and want to know how a funding review reads their store. It is not a guide to buying into the system. If the location is open, depositing sales into a business account and paying its franchise fees, Merchant Fund Express can review it as an operating business.
Start with the need, not the product. A hot sub kitchen depends on steamers, slicers, refrigerated prep tables and a walk-in that holds temperature through a lunch rush. Catering orders bring in larger tickets but ask the owner to buy meat, bread and paper goods before the invoice is paid. Remodels and second or third units are larger, slower decisions. Each one points to a different structure, which is why the sandwich franchise funding guide and this page start from the use of funds.
Checked Oct 2026 against the franchisor's own published materials. Figures change; confirm current numbers in the latest Franchise Disclosure Document. Figures we could not confirm from an official source are left out.
A dead steamer stops the core product. With a vendor quote, equipment financing ties the payment to the asset's useful life; if the replacement is urgent and small, working capital can cover it and the install.
Refrigeration failures cost inventory as well as repair money. A planned replacement before summer fits equipment financing; an emergency swap fits working capital. See emergency refrigeration funding.
Large orders mean buying product up front and waiting for payment. A line of credit lets you draw for each catering push and repay as receipts land, instead of carrying a fixed balance all year.
Multi-unit growth and remodels are covered further down: both are reviewed on the stores you already run, one entity at a time.
Already running a Firehouse Subs location and need capital? Merchant Fund Express funds existing Firehouse Subs owners with every product below. Terms depend on the business's revenue and history.
Compare them side by side in MCA vs business loan, or read the sandwich franchise guide.
| Need | Product | Published requirement it leans on | What to send |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steamers, slicers, prep tables | Equipment financing | Vendor quote and useful life; no separate published minimums | Quote with model numbers, 3 months of statements |
| Walk-in or reach-in replacement | Equipment financing or working capital | Working capital is sized from deposits after existing obligations | Repair or replacement quote, technician notes |
| Catering inventory and paper goods | Business line of credit | Tier 1: 3+ years, FICO 650+, $25K a month with 8+ deposits | Statements showing catering deposits, recent large orders |
| Dining room refresh | Term loan | Tier 1; term loan sits in first position only | Contractor estimate, written franchisor remodel notice if any |
| Busy-season payroll or a slow quarter | Revenue-based financing | Tier 2: 6+ months, FICO 600+, $60K verifiable revenue | Statements, list of current advances |
The tiers are explained on the franchise funding requirements page. Scores from 500 are considered; 600 and above opens better offers.
Merchant Fund Express gives a same-day decision on a complete file, and funding often follows the next business day.
No tax returns are needed for a typical first review. The application takes about five minutes and starts with a soft credit pull.
Suppose an owner runs two stores in two LLCs. Store A deposits an average of $64,000 a month; store B deposits $51,000. Store A needs a walk-in condenser and evaporator ($13,600), two steamers ($8,200) and a refrigerated prep table ($4,700), plus an $8,500 inventory float for a run of catering orders.
The owner could instead put the $26,500 on equipment financing against the quotes and carry the float from cash. Store B is not pledged and stays clean for its own later request.
Figures in this example are illustrations of the arithmetic, not an offer, quote or approval. Real terms depend on the file and the funder.
Merchant Fund Express funds operating businesses. Buying your first franchise or opening a unit with no sales history needs an operating record we do not yet have, so start with buying a franchise or franchise transfer financing. An existing owner opening another unit is different: we review the current stores' deposits, entity by entity, as covered in multi-unit franchise funding.
Yes. If the store is operating and deposits its sales into a business account, Merchant Fund Express can review it. Tier 2 products start at 6 months in business; Tier 1 products look for 3 years.
About three months of business bank statements, ID, the ownership breakdown, quotes for the use of funds and a list of existing payments. Tax returns are not needed for a typical first review.
Yes. Equipment financing is reviewed with the vendor quote, the equipment's useful life and the equipment as the purpose. Smaller urgent repairs can also fit working capital.
Each entity is read on its own deposits and obligations. You can request funding for one store without pledging the others, or apply for several entities separately.
No. Merchant Fund Express is independent. We use the Firehouse Subs name only to identify the owners this page is for; it does not mean the franchisor endorses or works with us.
Merchant Fund Express is independent. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Firehouse Subs or its franchisor. Brand names identify the owner audience only.
Merchant Fund Express reviews your location's revenue, deposits and existing payments. Same-day decision on a complete file; funding often the next business day. About five minutes to apply.
