Can you get a business loan with bad credit?

What Credit Scores Actually Measure for Business Loans

For business loan underwriting, lenders typically evaluate two credit scores: personal FICO (the owner's personal credit score) and FICO SBSS (the Small Business Scoring Service score, which combines personal credit, business credit, and business financial data into a single score). The SBA uses the FICO SBSS score as a prescreening tool for SBA 7(a) loans up to $500,000 — loans that pass a minimum SBSS threshold (currently 155, though lenders may impose higher internal minimums) proceed without a full manual credit analysis. Loans below the SBSS threshold require manual underwriting. Personal FICO is used by most alternative lenders as a supplemental signal — not the primary underwriting factor — for revenue-based and cash-flow-based products. A low personal FICO (below 600) does not automatically disqualify a business from all financing; it narrows the product set and raises the cost.

FICO SBSS Thresholds and SBA Implications

FICO SBSS scores range from 0 to 300. The SBA SOP 50 10 sets the minimum SBSS threshold for streamlined SBA 7(a) processing — businesses below this threshold go to manual underwriting rather than automatic processing. Many SBA lenders impose a higher internal minimum (often 160–175) to reduce their own underwriting burden. For SBA 7(a) loans above $500,000, SBSS prescreening is not used — all applications go to full manual underwriting regardless of score. For conventional bank loans, most community banks use a combination of personal FICO, time in business, and DSCR rather than SBSS. For alternative lenders using bank statement underwriting, personal FICO is a secondary signal; the primary analysis is average monthly deposits, average daily balance, and deposit consistency — a business with strong deposits and a 540 personal FICO may receive a revenue-based offer that a 680-FICO business with weak deposits would not.

Products That Weight Revenue and Cash Flow Over Credit

The products most accessible to borrowers with low personal FICO: (1) Revenue-based financing / MCA — underwritten primarily on bank statement deposits; credit is reviewed but is not the lead underwriting factor; typical floor is 500 owner FICO; (2) Equipment financing — the equipment itself collateralizes the loan, reducing credit risk; borrowers with 550–600 FICO and strong equipment value may qualify; (3) Invoice factoring — converts accounts receivable to cash based on the creditworthiness of your customers, not you; owner FICO is largely irrelevant; (4) CDFI microloans — SBA Microloan intermediaries are mission-driven lenders with more flexible credit underwriting; loan amounts up to $50,000; (5) Secured business lines of credit — collateralized by business assets; lower FICO threshold than unsecured lines. According to the Federal Reserve's Small Business Credit Survey, businesses with owner FICO below 600 face high loan denial rates — but a meaningful share still receive some form of financing, typically through alternative or mission-driven lenders.

Factor Rate vs. APR: Understanding the Cost

Revenue-based products for low-credit borrowers price on factor rates rather than APR. A factor rate of 1.35 means you repay $1.35 for every $1.00 borrowed — a $100,000 advance at 1.35 factor = $135,000 total payback. Factor rates do not compound like interest. To compare a factor-rate product to an APR-based product, calculate the implicit APR: total cost of capital divided by average outstanding balance, annualized. A 1.35 factor over 9 months implies an APR of approximately 60–90% depending on repayment structure. This is significantly higher than SBA (10–13% typical APR) or community bank loans (8–14%). The higher cost reflects the higher underwriting risk lenders accept on credit-impaired files. For businesses using revenue-based financing as a bridge while rebuilding credit, the cost is the price of access — the strategy is to use the product, demonstrate repayment consistency, and migrate to lower-cost financing as the credit profile improves.

• Revenue-based financing / MCA: 500+ owner FICO typical floor; underwritten on deposits, not credit
• Equipment financing: collateral-based; 550–600 FICO may qualify with strong equipment value
• Invoice factoring: based on customer creditworthiness, not owner FICO — largely credit-agnostic
• CDFI microloans: up to $50,000; more flexible credit underwriting for mission-aligned borrowers
• Secured business LOC: collateral reduces credit threshold vs. unsecured lines