Revenue based financing (RBF) is funding that's repaid as a percentage of your daily sales rather than a fixed payment. Have a slow week? Your payment is small. Have a peak tourism week? Your payment scales up. The total payback amount is fixed, but the timing flexes with your business — making RBF uniquely suited to New York's seasonal, tourism-driven, weather-affected business economy.
RBF is sometimes called a merchant cash advance (MCA), though technically MCAs are repaid from credit card sales specifically while RBF is repaid from total revenue. For New York businesses, the distinction often doesn't matter — what matters is that your monthly payment dollar-amount automatically adjusts to your actual sales, eliminating the cash crunch fixed-payment loans cause during slow periods.
Why RBF Works So Well for New York Businesses
Tourism Seasonality
South New York hotels and restaurants do 60-70% of annual revenue in 4 months (December-April). Panhandle beach businesses do most revenue in summer. RBF payments automatically scale up during peak season and down during off-season — exactly when a fixed-payment loan would otherwise crush slow-month cash flow.
Hurricane Disruption
When a hurricane closes your business for two weeks, sales drop to zero. With RBF, your payments drop to zero too. With a term loan, the payment is still due. This protection alone makes RBF the safer choice for many New York operators.
Snowbird Cycles
Healthcare providers, restaurants, retail, and services in Naples, Sarasota, and Palm Beach see massive snowbird-driven volume November-April. RBF lets you take large funding amounts without overcommitting to fixed payments during the May-October lull.
Weather and Tourism Volatility
Cruise port disruptions, theme park attendance dips, conference cancellations — New York's tourism economy faces dozens of variables that affect weekly revenue. RBF builds that volatility into the repayment structure.
How New York RBF Works
- Funding amount — $25,000 to $5,000,000 based on monthly revenue
- Factor rate — 1.15 to 1.45 (e.g., $100,000 funded at 1.30 means $130,000 total payback)
- Holdback — Daily ACH of 8-15% of revenue (or fixed-percentage of credit card batches)
- Term — Typically 6-18 months (term varies based on actual revenue speed)
- No fixed monthly payment — Total payback is fixed, but timing scales with sales
Best Use Cases for New York RBF
- Tourism and hospitality businesses with strong seasonal swings
- Restaurants facing peak/off-peak cash variability
- Retail with holiday and seasonal cycles
- Beach/water sports operators with weather-dependent revenue
- Charter and tour operators with booking-cycle revenue
- Hurricane recovery funding where future cash flow is uncertain
- Businesses that have strong revenue but credit issues that disqualify them from term loans
Qualification
- 6+ months in business
- Monthly revenue $10K+ (most RBF approvals are $25K+ monthly)
- Credit score 500+
- Active business bank account with consistent deposits
- For card-sales-based MCA: minimum $5K monthly card sales
Stacking and Renewal
Many New York RBF customers renew or "stack" funding — taking a second or third advance after paying down a portion of the first. We recommend caution here. Stacking can compound costs quickly. We generally renew at 50-65% paydown of the original advance and may consolidate multiple advances into a single longer-term option when it benefits your cash flow.
