Funding for your situation
What a catering or commissary kitchen costs to set up and how to fund it alongside an existing business.
✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.
A catering kitchen frees the dining room from production and opens a revenue line that does not depend on foot traffic. It also adds a lease, equipment and a second set of compliance steps. The financial question is whether catering volume will fill the new capacity quickly enough.
Merchant Fund Express is a funding marketplace: you apply once, and the file is matched to the structure that fits it. The sections below show what this situation usually costs, how a funder reads it, and what to prepare.
Often a commissary or a back-of-house addition.
Ovens, walk-ins, prep tables and transport.
Separate permits for a catering operation.
The spend that fills the new kitchen.
| Cost item | Illustrative amount |
|---|---|
| Space deposit and build-out | $40,000 |
| Production equipment | $48,000 |
| Licensing and inspections | $6,000 |
| Packaging and delivery equipment | $9,000 |
| Marketing and first accounts | $8,000 |
| Staffing before volume ramps | $14,000 |
| Cushion for overruns and slow early weeks (about 10%) | $12,500 |
| Catering kitchen total | $137,500 |
Sizing check. If the full repayment shown in an offer were $179,000 over about 26 weeks, the weekly debit would be about $6,885. Against illustrative monthly deposits of $140,000 (about $32,308 a week), that is roughly 21% of weekly deposits. Your own offer states the real repayment amount in dollars; run your numbers on the factor rate calculator before you accept anything.
Source: worksheet by Merchant Fund Express. Illustrative only: these figures are not an offer, and real amounts depend on your file and the funder.
These are the same factors described on revenue and deposit requirements and time in business. Merchant Fund Express walks you through how your own file reads before you apply.
A complete file is what makes a same-day decision possible. If something is missing, tell us and we will work around it.
Applying with Merchant Fund Express is a single application. We review it the same day on a complete file, explain what the numbers say in plain terms, and fund typically the next business day after signing. Nothing here affects your credit score to check.
A mix is common: equipment financing for the kitchen and working capital for staffing and launch.
They help show demand, and recent deposits are the center of the review.
It can be, but ensure the kitchen meets the requirements for the services you plan to offer.
The minimum FICO is 500, and better credit means better products and terms. See credit score requirements for how the tiers work.
Merchant Fund Express gives a same-day decision on a complete file. Applying takes a few minutes and will not affect your credit score.
