Funding for your situation
What a franchise purchase really takes in cash and how a funding request is built around the franchisor's numbers.
✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.
A franchise comes with a playbook and a bill. The franchise fee is the visible part. The build-out to brand standards, opening inventory and the runway before profitability are the parts that surprise owners. The franchisor's published estimate is a starting point. A realistic plan adds a cushion on top.
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.
| Cost item | Illustrative amount |
|---|---|
| Franchise fee and training | $40,000 |
| Build-out to brand standards | $120,000 |
| Equipment and signage | $55,000 |
| Opening inventory | $15,000 |
| Working capital for the first quarter | $45,000 |
| Cushion for overruns and slow early weeks (about 10%) | $27,500 |
| Total cash to open | $302,500 |
Sizing check. If the full repayment shown in an offer were $393,000 over about 26 weeks, the weekly debit would be about $15,115. Against illustrative monthly deposits of $300,000 (about $69,231 a week), that is roughly 22% 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.
Paid to the franchisor before opening.
Often specified, which limits how much you can save.
Frequently required from approved suppliers.
The runway most owners underfund.
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.
Here is what happens after you apply with Merchant Fund Express: the application is reviewed against the factors on this page, you get a same-day decision on a complete file, and funding is typically the next business day after signing. If something is missing, we say exactly what.
The minimum FICO is 500 and better credit means better offers, but franchisors often have their own financial requirements. Check them first.
Some offer financing or preferred lenders. Whatever they provide goes into the plan; the rest is what a funder reviews.
It can be: equipment financing built around the required equipment package.
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.
