Which funding products does this apply to?

Equipment Financing. Each has its own page listing the funders in this directory that offer it and what each one publishes about its terms.

Is this specific to construction?

It is written around how a construction business actually generates and collects cash, which is what makes its funding problem different. The mechanics transfer; the arithmetic may not.

The Find Me Funders research desk. Some drafting is AI-assisted, and every page that is says so at the top, including whether a person has checked its claims yet.

How do I know a figure here is right?

Where a page carries the green notice, its claims were checked against the sources listed at the end and a reviewer is named. Where it carries the amber one, nobody has verified it yet and you should confirm anything you plan to act on.

Are the examples real deals?

No. Every worked example is labelled illustrative and exists to show the arithmetic. What any particular lender charges is on that lender's page, where it publishes it.

Why do you never say what a typical rate is?

Because we cannot source it. A market average assembled from lenders who do not publish prices is a guess with a decimal point on it. Where a lender publishes a figure, we show that figure and say where it came from.

Is this financial or legal advice?

No. It is general information about how these products work. Outcomes depend on your contract and your state, and a lawyer or accountant licensed where you are is the person to ask about your situation.

Can I reuse this content?

Quote a paragraph with a link back. Do not republish whole articles.

Equipment financing for a business under two years old

Start-up equipment deals get done. They are structured differently, they cost more, and they depend heavily on what you personally bring to them.

By Find Me Funders research desk Updated 14 September 2026 954 words 4 min read

Drafted with AI assistance. Not yet independently checked. Nobody has verified the claims on this page against a source, so treat the figures and legal points as a starting point rather than as settled, and confirm anything you are about to act on. How we check things.

Can I get equipment financing for a business less than two years old?

Yes, but the structure changes: expect a larger down payment, a shorter term, a personal guarantee, higher cost, and heavy weight on your personal credit and your industry experience. Some funders run explicit start-up programmes, often with dollar caps and restricted equipment types, because the collateral has to do most of the work. Bringing signed contracts, industry experience and cash into the deal moves a start-up file further than anything else you can control.

Time in business is a proxy for survival odds, and the first two years are where most of the failures happen. That is what the funder is pricing. It is not personal, and it does not close the door.

What a funder can lean on instead

Your personal credit.On a young business this carries most of the file. It is one of the few data points with any history behind it.

Your industry experience.Fifteen years running someone else's shop before opening your own is a substantively different application from a first venture in an unfamiliar trade. Say so, in writing, with dates and specifics.

Cash in the deal.A larger down payment is the most reliable lever you have on a start-up equipment approval. It reduces day-one exposure and it demonstrates commitment in the only language underwriting reads.

Contracts in hand.A signed customer agreement, a purchase order, a subcontract or a route award that the equipment services. Bring the document, not a description of it.

The equipment itself.Common, liquid assets with an active resale market are far easier to approve for a young business than specialised machinery. If a funder can sell it quickly to someone else, your operating history matters less.

Other collateral.Equipment you already own free and clear, or additional security you are willing to pledge.

What the structure usually looks like

A down payment or several advance payments at signing.
A shorter term than an established business would get on the same asset.
A personal guarantee, and more than one where there are multiple owners.
Higher cost, usually quoted as a payment rather than a rate — ask for the total of all payments so you can compare.
Dollar caps. Many start-up programmes have a maximum deal size, and it is a policy number the funder will tell you if you ask.
Sometimes restrictions on equipment type or industry.

What the down payment is actually buying you

Illustrative only —an $80,000 machine. At 10% down the funder finances $72,000 against an asset that is worth materially less than that the moment it leaves the dealer. At 20% down it finances $64,000, and its day-one exposure sits much closer to what the asset would fetch in a forced sale.

That difference is the whole of the credit decision on a young business, because the collateral is doing the work your operating history cannot. It is also why an extra 10% of cash often moves a file from decline to approval when nothing else you can say will.

Then price what you actually agreed to. On $64,000 financed over 48 months at a payment of $1,650, you repay $79,200 — $15,200 of cost, which works out to an implied annual rate of about 10.9%. Start-up equipment deals are frequently quoted as a payment and nothing else, and the payment alone is not comparable to anything. Ask for the total of all payments, then solve backwards, or ask the funder to state the rate and the term together.

Practical steps that help

Get the legal housekeeping done. Entity registered and in good standing, EIN, a business bank account with real activity in it, a business address that is not just a mailbox, and matching names across every document. Mismatched entity names cause more delays at the documentation stage than credit issues do.
Open a business bank account early and run everything through it. Three to six months of statements showing deposits is worth having before you apply.
Write the one-page story. What the business does, your background, what the equipment does, what revenue it supports, and how the payment is covered. Underwriters read files all day; a clear one gets a better reading.
Do not apply everywhere at once. Ask any broker to name the funders before submitting, and to submit selectively.
Consider whether you need to own it yet. A short rental, a used machine at a lower price, or subcontracting the work for the first six months are all legitimate answers, and any of them builds the operating history that makes the next application easier.

One alternative worth checking

Government-guaranteed lending sits on a different track and is worth understanding before you conclude that the private market is your only option — including for equipment purchases. Terms, eligibility and which lenders participate are published at sba.gov. It is generally slower than an equipment funder and involves more documentation, so it fits planning rather than a machine you need next week.

The questions that get a real answer out of a decline

Most young-business declines are policy declines, and policy is a set of numbers someone can tell you.

Was this a credit decision or a policy decision? Policy means time in business, deal size, equipment type or industry, and each of those has a threshold.
What is the threshold I missed, and by how much?
Would a larger down payment change the answer, and at what percentage?
Do you have a start-up programme, and what is its maximum deal size?
If I come back with three more months of bank statements and a signed contract, does this file work?

If the answer is no today, ask what would change it. Six months of bank statements, a signed contract, or a larger down payment is often the whole difference, and all three are things you can go and get.

Get the answers by email. A funder that will name its thresholds is giving you a target; one that will only say "we couldn't get comfortable" is telling you to spend your next three months elsewhere.