Miami business funding, from our hometown.

How Miami's economy shapes cash flow

Miami-Dade's economy has a rhythm that anyone who runs a business here learns quickly.

High season and the slow summer

Tourism and hospitality peak roughly from December through April. Seasonal residents return, cruise passengers pour through PortMiami, and big events like Art Basel in December and the spring festival calendar fill hotels and restaurants. Then summer arrives: hotter, quieter, with fewer visitors. Restaurants lean on promotions like Miami Spice in August and September to keep tables full. Many hospitality businesses earn the bulk of their year in five months.

Hurricane season

From June through November, a storm can close businesses for days and disrupt power, supply chains and customer traffic for longer. The weeks before a storm can bring a spike for hardware, generators and grocery sales, followed by a sharp drop. After a storm, contractors and restoration companies are suddenly overbooked.

Trade with Latin America and the Caribbean

PortMiami and Miami International Airport, one of the country's busiest airports for international cargo, make Miami a gateway for goods moving to and from Latin America and the Caribbean. Doral, Medley and the areas around the airport are full of importers, exporters, wholesalers and distributors. Their deposits often arrive as large wire and ACH payments on terms, sometimes from buyers abroad. Freight forwarders, trucking and logistics firms are outside what we fund; the wholesalers who buy and sell the goods often fit. See wholesale and distribution.

Restaurants, construction and healthcare

• Restaurants from Brickell and Wynwood to Little Havana and Miami Beach run on daily card batches and the tourist calendar. See restaurant funding.
• Construction and renovation stay busy with condo towers, home remodels and post-storm repairs. Miami-Dade builds to some of the strictest wind codes in the country, which raises the cost of impact windows, doors and roofing materials that contractors buy before they're paid. See construction funding.
• Healthcare is one of the region's largest employers, with hospital systems surrounded by private practices, clinics and home health agencies waiting on insurance payments.

A bilingual business community

Miami's small-business community is famously bilingual, and many businesses serve customers and suppliers in Spanish and English, across the region and abroad. From Hialeah's manufacturers and family businesses to the shops of Little Havana, Coral Gables and Kendall, it's a city built by entrepreneurs.

How Miami's cash-flow patterns fit a merchant cash advance

A merchant cash advance is delivered through fixed daily or weekly payments based on an agreed share of your revenue. In a city with a five-month high season, timing is everything.

• Take it at the start of the season, not the end. An advance taken in October or November to staff up and stock for the season is largely delivered from high-season revenue. One taken in May runs through the slowest months of the year.
• Check the payment against August. If it doesn't fit your slowest recent month, take less.
• Plan for a storm. If an advance will run through hurricane season, leave room for a lost week. If your revenue genuinely drops, you can ask for a reconciliation.
• Consider weekly payments, available in many cases, if your deposits arrive as a few large wires a week. See weekly payments.

Requirements for Miami businesses

• 12 months or more in business and a credit score of 500+
• $50,000+ in average monthly deposits, with at least 5 deposits a month
• An average of 5 or fewer negative-balance days a month
• A signed, dated application and your last three months of business bank statements plus month-to-date, for every business account and associated business
• Before funding: a driver's license and voided check for all owners, and an A/R aging report and/or your most recent card processing statement

Florida's commercial financing disclosure law applies to covered deals, so you'll receive a disclosure of the amount, total dollar cost and payment terms before you sign; see state disclosures. Full criteria, including restricted industries, are on the requirements page.

When a Miami business should look elsewhere

• Covering every summer. If you need the same cushion each year, a bank line of credit is cheaper if you qualify.
• Rebuilding with an insurance claim pending. Insurance proceeds and disaster assistance usually cost far less than short-term funding.
• A single large invoice from a creditworthy buyer. Invoice factoring may fit better.

Frequently asked questions