News & Insights
Company announcements, market insights, and financing education from the FortisFi team.
Venture Capital Is Famous. It's Wrong for Most Businesses
Venture capital buys equity, a board seat, and an exit deadline — not just funding. Why it fits almost no small business, and what the rest use instead.
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Mezzanine Financing: The Middle Layer Most Owners Miss
Mezzanine financing fills the gap between what a senior lender will fund and the equity an owner refuses to sell. How the middle layer works.
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Business Insurance Owners Skip Until Something Breaks
Owners compare loan offers line by line, then buy insurance on whatever was cheapest. The six policies that matter, and the closure risk most skip.
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"Free" Business Checking Isn't Free. Here's the Real Bill
Zero fee business banking only means something if the total is actually zero. Where "free checking" hides its charges, and how to audit yours.
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Growth Capital Without a Bank or a Boss
Outgrown bank debt but refuse to sell voting control? Equity notes let private investors fund growth through a note that shares in the upside.
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Hard Money Loans: A Precise Tool, an Expensive Misuse
A hard money loan is priced for speed and certainty on real estate deals. Used with an exit plan, it's a tool. Used without one, it's a trap.
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Using a HELOC to Fund Your Business: The Honest Math
Many owners fund the business with home equity because it's there. What that move costs, what it risks, and the comparison to run before you pledge the house.
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Business Term Loans: The Plain Product That Fits Big Plans
A business term loan is boring in the best way: one lump sum, fixed payments, a known end date. When it fits — and when a line of credit fits better.
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Keeping Your Best People Costs Less Than Replacing Them
Owners price a loan to the dollar, then lose a trained hand in November over benefits. What small business employee benefits can look like at your size.
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The Cheapest-Sounding Offer Is Often the Expensive One
Two offers for the same money can end thousands of dollars apart. The number that decides it is total payback — here is how to find it before you sign.
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Buying Your Competitor: How Acquisition Financing Works
The fastest way to grow is buying the shop across town. How acquisition financing works, what lenders underwrite, and the homework that wins deals.
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Your Rent Checks Are Buying a Building. Just Not Yours.
Years of rent checks bought a building — for your landlord. When buying your space beats renting, how the financing works, and the honest trade-offs.
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Payment Processing Fees: The Leak in Every Single Sale
You negotiate rent and payroll down to the dollar, but one statement takes a cut of every sale. How to read your processing fees before the holidays.
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Holiday Inventory Is Bought in October, Not December
The inventory that sells in December is ordered in October. One retail owner funded a $100,000 stocking order early instead of paying rush prices.
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Building Business Credit When Your Business Has None
Running the business on personal cards leaves your company invisible to lenders. How to build business credit in its own name, starting now.
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Invoice Financing: Stop Waiting 60 Days to Get Paid
Your customers take 60 days to pay. Payroll doesn't wait. Invoice financing turns the invoices you already earned into cash now. Here's how it works.
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Line of Credit vs. Term Loan: Which Does Your Business Need?
Owners pick the wrong one every day: a term loan for a repeating cash gap, a line of credit for a machine. Match the product to the need. Here's how to tell.
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Why Smart Owners Finance Equipment Before December 31
The 2026 Section 179 deduction reaches $2.56 million, but equipment that arrives in January earns none of it. Why the real deadline is delivery day.
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How Long Does an SBA Loan Take in 2026? The Honest Timeline
SBA 7(a) loans take 60 to 90 days in 2026 — faster with a Preferred Lender and a complete file. The full timeline, and what to run in parallel while you wait.
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Most Businesses Don't Get Denied. They Bring the Wrong File.
The paperwork isn't what kills an application — the mismatch is. What you need varies by product, and the wrong file at the wrong lender costs you months.
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SBA Approvals Fell 28% in 2026. Small Borrowers Felt It Most
The SBA approved 28% fewer 7(a) loans in FY2026, with the smallest hit hardest. What the data shows, what changed October 1, and what borrowers can do.
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