You do not need an LLC or a corporation to apply. If you run a business under your own name, here is how funders read a one-owner file and what to line up first.
Apply Now →A lot of New York's small-business owners never form a separate entity. The SBA's 2025 state profile counts about 2.4 million small businesses in New York, and a large share of them are one-person operations: a barber renting a chair, an electrician with one van, a freelance photographer, a food vendor. We fund sole proprietors. Being unincorporated is not a reason to skip the application.
What changes is not eligibility but how the file reads. With no corporate shell, the owner and the business share a name, often a bank history and sometimes a single credit file. That is fine as long as the paperwork shows a business operating, not just a person spending.
You do not need to send tax returns. That matters for owners whose returns are complicated by Schedule C deductions or who are between filings.
Many sole proprietors run everything through one account, and that is understandable. The trouble is that a funder reading the statements has to guess which deposits are customer payments and which are transfers from savings or a family member. Before you apply, it helps to know your own numbers:
Opening a dedicated business checking account now will not rewrite the past three months, but it will make the next three read much more clearly.
| Item | Sole proprietor | Entity-owned business |
|---|---|---|
| Who applies | The owner, under their name or trade name | The owner on behalf of the company |
| Bank statements | Business or mixed account, three months | Company account, three months |
| Credit | Owner's score, FICO 500+ considered | Owner's score, FICO 500+ considered |
| Tax returns | Not required | Not required |
The product is the same. The difference is mostly in how clean the statements are, and that is something you control.
If you sell taxable goods or services in New York, you generally need a Certificate of Authority from the state Department of Taxation and Finance, and it must be obtained at least 20 days before your first taxable sale. There is no fee for it. It is not a funding requirement, but a sole proprietor who is growing into retail or a market stand often discovers it at the same time as their first larger purchase order.
For one-owner businesses the uses are specific: a second tool set so an apprentice can work, an equipment repair that cannot wait, inventory ahead of a busy season, or covering the stretch while a large customer's invoice sits unpaid. We fund from $25,000 to $5,000,000, and applications take about five minutes. Funding can arrive in as little as 24 hours once approved, so a repair or a stocking window does not have to be missed.
Start with a realistic number. If a van repair and a month of slow receivables add up to a $30,000 gap, that is the amount to request, not the top of the range.
No. Sole proprietors can apply. What matters is that the bank statements show a business operating.
The credit pull on application is a soft pull. We consider FICO scores of 500 and above.
It is not disqualifying, but the statements are harder to read. Be ready to explain which deposits are customer payments, and consider opening a dedicated business account.
No tax returns are required. About three months of business bank statements is the core of the file.
We fund from $25,000 to $5,000,000. If your need is smaller than $25,000, this product is probably not the right fit.
Three months of business bank statements and a 5-minute application. FICO 500+ considered. $25,000 to $5,000,000, funded in as little as 24 hours.
Apply Now →It takes about two minutes and it will not affect your credit score.
No obligation • No impact to your credit score
