Each request leaves Lakebridge Finance for funding partners, and a partner, never this site, rules on it.
Five loan types and one advance, each tied to the cost it fits. Every worked example on this page uses invented figures; Census counts are labeled with their source and year.
Is equipment financing a loan? Label printers at a Wayne County, MI pharmacy
It can be. Equipment financing comes as an equipment loan, where the business owns the machine and the lender holds a lien on it; as an equipment finance agreement, which works much like a loan; or as a lease, which is not a loan because the lessor keeps ownership until any buyout.
Illustration only, invented figures: a Wayne County, MI pharmacy replaces three label printers and its barcode scanners for $7,940. As an invented equipment loan at a 12.6% annual rate over 30 months, the payment is $309.91, and the 30 payments total $9,297.30, so the printers carry $1,357.30 of interest in this invented example.
Printers and scanners lose value early, so a partner may ask for a shorter term than it would on a heavier machine.
What is a merchant cash advance? A Livonia, MI full-service restaurant's card sales put to the test
Under a merchant cash advance, the provider pays now for a share of card receipts the business will take in later. The provider pays a lump sum now and collects an agreed total by keeping a percentage, the holdback, of each day’s card deposits. Because it is a purchase rather than a loan, no interest rate applies; a factor fixes the cost.
Illustration only, invented figures: a Livonia, MI full-service restaurant accepts $16,500 today against a 1.27 factor, which sets the amount to be collected at $20,955.00; the gap between the two, $4,455.00, is what the invented advance costs. Each business day the provider keeps 9% of card sales; on an invented $2,350 day that is $211.50, so the invented $20,955.00 is fully collected after about 100 business days.
Slower card days stretch that count; busier days shorten it. Full-service restaurants with paid staff numbered 1,181 in Wayne County, MI in 2023, County Business Patterns shows (NAICS 722511).
What is inventory financing? A cooler and shelf restock at a Wayne County, MI gas station store
Inventory financing pays for goods a business plans to sell, and the stock itself can back the funding. It suits a store that buys a large order at once and sells it down over several weeks.
Illustration only, invented figures: a gas station convenience store in Wayne County, MI restocks its coolers and shelves with $8,600 of drinks, snacks and household goods. Suppose the full invented $8,600 is still drawn on day 60: at a 13.75% annual rate and a 365-day year, the simple interest is $194.38, and each payment made as cases sell trims that figure.
Fuel itself is outside this site; this example covers the store side only. County Business Patterns counted 682 gasoline stations with convenience stores in Wayne County, MI for 2023.
Types of commercial loans for a Livonia, MI dental office waiting on insurance claims
A dental office can face two different costs at once: payroll that falls due while claims are still being paid, and equipment that needs replacing. Each points to a different product.
- Working capital loan: a fixed amount for the weeks between paying staff and receiving claim payments.
- Business line of credit: a limit drawn each time claims run behind and repaid when they arrive.
- Equipment financing: an intraoral scanner or a sterilizer, with the device as collateral.
- Business term loan: a larger mix of costs, such as operatory chairs plus software, in level payments.
The county’s dental offices together carry a large payroll: 584 offices of dentists with paid employees reported $271.6 million in annual payroll for 2023 (County Business Patterns, Wayne County, MI).
What is a business term loan? A Wayne County, MI child care provider's passenger van
A business term loan is one lump sum repaid in level installments over a set number of months, at a rate fixed in the offer or tied to an index. It fits a single large cost that will be used for years.
Illustration only, invented figures: a child care provider in Wayne County, MI buys a 12-passenger van for $41,900 to run its school pickup route. Five years of payments at a 10.7% annual rate put the invented van at $904.75 a month; the sixty of them come to $54,285.00 in sum, $12,385.00 of it interest, in this invented example.
A van used by a child care business is equipment for that business, so it can be financed. For 2023, County Business Patterns put the number of Wayne County, MI child day care services employers at 409 (NAICS 624410).
The six types in one table: length, payment rhythm and the cost each one fits
| Type | How it is paid back | A cost it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Working capital loan | Fixed payments over a short term | Payroll before claims or invoices pay |
| Business term loan | Level monthly installments | One large purchase used for years |
| Business line of credit | Interest only on what is drawn; repay and draw again | Parts, tools and wholesaler orders that repeat |
| Inventory financing | Paid down as the stock sells | A large stock order |
| Equipment financing | Monthly payments, the machine as collateral | A fryer line, a printing press or a scanner |
| Merchant cash advance | Daily card-sales holdback until the agreed sum is in | A cost covered from future card sales; not a loan |
Rates, terms and fees come from the funding partner in any offer. The table describes how each product works, not what a partner will offer.
By Lakebridge Finance · Updated