Funding for your situation
What the next hire really costs a daycare, how funding is sized to the ramp, and a worked example.
✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.
The next hire is often the one that opens the next stage of revenue and the one hardest to afford. The waitlist is long, but licensing capacity caps enrollment until another classroom is approved. Merchant Fund Express sees owners fund the salary and forget the ramp.
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.
Tuition and subsidy payments arrive on a monthly or weekly rhythm; deposits are steady but payroll is heavy. A reviewer sees that pattern in the statements before reading a word of the application.
Equipment is part of the picture. A failure such as a hvac replacement or a kitchen equipment can run $7,200 to $7,200 and interrupt revenue while it is down.
The documents that usually matter most for a daycare are licensing documents or capacity letter and quote for build-out or equipment, alongside the bank statements.
Enrollment follows the school year, with summer and September transitions. For a daycare, that rhythm decides when a funding request reads best and how it should be repaid.
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.
| Cost item | Illustrative amount |
|---|---|
| Recruiting, background checks and onboarding | $8,000 |
| Training time and certifications (zoning approval where relevant) | $6,500 |
| Tools or equipment for the new hire: classroom build-out and fencing | $7,500 |
| Wages until the role pays for itself (8 weeks) | $32,500 |
| Cushion for overruns and slow early weeks (about 10%) | $5,500 |
| Cost of the next hire | $60,000 |
Sizing check. If the full repayment shown in an offer were $78,000 over about 26 weeks, the weekly debit would be about $3,000. Against illustrative monthly deposits of $90,000 (about $20,769 a week), that is roughly 14% 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.
People are paid on a schedule that does not wait for new revenue to ramp.
People are paid on a schedule that does not wait for new revenue to ramp.
Paid to a contractor before opening, often in draws that start before any revenue.
A real cost of the move that is easy to leave out of the first estimate.
A complete file is what makes a same-day decision possible. If something is missing, tell us and we will work around it.
Typically with working capital or a line of credit sized to the ramp period.
Yes. Training, onboarding and equipment for the new hire are legitimate uses and belong in the request.
Deposits, existing obligations and the clarity of the plan. A hire tied to specific demand reads better than a general growth request.
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.
