Funding Guides
Honest guides to working capital, equipment financing, SBA loans, and merchant cash advances.
Aug 16, 2026 · 2 min
ADAS Calibration: The Equipment Investment, the ROI, and How Shops Fund It
Every windshield, bumper, and alignment now trails a calibration requirement — work most shops sublet away. What a calibration capability costs, the honest ROI math, and the funding paths.
Aug 16, 2026 · 2 min
Auto Shop Funding With Bad Credit: The Real Menu at 500–620
Shops have two credit advantages most small businesses don't: financeable equipment and card-documented revenue. What actually approves at sub-600, the honest cost, and the climb-out.
Aug 16, 2026 · 2 min
Parts, Net-30s, and the Shop Cash-Flow Squeeze
Parts today, insurer money in 45 days — the float that quietly runs many shops into expensive borrowing. How to size it, compress it with supplier terms, and finance only what remains.
Aug 16, 2026 · 2 min
Factor Rates on Shop Funding: What a 1.35 Really Costs
Revenue-based offers price in factor rates because factor rates sound small. The worked math on a $40,000 shop advance, the three numbers to extract, and what to negotiate.
Aug 16, 2026 · 2 min
Scan Tools & Diagnostics: Buy, Finance, or Subscribe?
A serious diag setup is five figures once, then thousands a year forever. The real cost stack — hardware, software subscriptions, OE access — and how shops should pay for each layer.
Aug 16, 2026 · 2 min
Financing a Lift: What Two-Post, Four-Post, and Alignment Racks Really Cost
The lift is the shop's revenue unit — every bay without one is storage. Realistic installed costs, the finance-vs-working-capital decision, and the payback math per bay.
Aug 15, 2026 · 5 min
Merchant Cash Advances for Auto Shops: The Honest Version
Card-present revenue makes repair shops steady MCA targets. How advances really work, what they cost in dollars, and the narrow cases where one makes sense.
Aug 15, 2026 · 11 min
Auto Repair Shop Working Capital: Every Option, Honestly Compared
Every realistic way to fund an auto repair shop — equipment financing, line of credit, SBA, term loan, MCA — compared honestly, with the real costs up front.