Term loans for the route you’re buying, the branch you’re opening, and the way out of stacked advances.
Routebook Capital places term loans for route-based service businesses from $50,000 to $5,000,000 over 6 to 60 months, with a 650 minimum FICO, 24 months in business, and $40,000 a month in deposits. Files up to $500,000 are underwritten in-house; above that we package the file and place it with our bank lending partners. Decision in 3 to 7 business days.
What are the criteria?
Term loan — criteria
- Amount
- $50,000 – $5,000,000
- Term
- 6 – 60 months
- Minimum credit score
- 650
- Minimum time in business
- 24 months
- Minimum monthly deposits
- $40,000
- Documents
- Application, 6 months of business bank statements, 2 years of business tax returns, YTD P&L and balance sheet, debt schedule. For an acquisition: the seller’s customer list and revenue history.
- Repayment
- Fixed monthly or bi-weekly ACH, fully amortizing
- Collateral
- UCC-1 blanket lien. Personal guarantee required.
- Prepayment
- No prepayment penalty on in-house files up to $500,000. Partner-placed files vary — disclosed in the term sheet.
- Decision
- 3 – 7 business days
- Path
- In-house to $500,000; placed with bank lending partners above
What jobs does a term loan do for a route business?
Buying a competitor’s route book
A retiring owner’s customer list, a one-truck pest route, a cleaning company with twelve commercial contracts. You are buying recurring revenue; match the term to how long those customers will stay, not to a 9-month advance.
Term loan · 36 to 60 monthsA second branch in the next county
A yard, a second dispatcher, three trucks and the first months of payroll before the new territory carries itself.
Term loan · 36 to 60 monthsA partner buyout
Common at the 5-to-10-year mark when one partner wants out and the operating partner doesn’t have the cash. SBA 7(a) explicitly allows this use too, and costs less if you can wait.
Term loan or SBA 7(a)Consolidating stacked advances
This is the one we get called about most. Three or four daily positions with overlapping debits will take a profitable route business down. A 36-month term loan at a single monthly payment is almost always the fix, and the earlier you call, the more room we have.
Term loan · 24 to 48 monthsAdvance or term loan — which one?
Same money, two very different shapes. The advance buys speed. The term loan buys a payment you can live with through the off-season.
| Working capital advance | Term loan | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | $10K – $2M | $50K – $5M |
| Speed | 24 hours | 3–7 business days |
| Minimum FICO | None | 650 |
| Time in business | 6 months | 24 months |
| Payment frequency | Daily or weekly | Monthly or bi-weekly |
| Cost | Highest of the five products | Mid-range |
| Paperwork | 3 bank statements | Statements, returns, P&L, debt schedule |
| Best when | You need it now | You can wait a week and want the lower payment |
Who underwrites a route-business term loan?
Up to $500,000 — in-house
Routebook Capital underwrites and funds these directly. You deal with the desk that makes the decision, and there is no prepayment penalty.
Decision in 3 to 7 business days on a complete file.
Above $500,000 — bank partners
We package the file — statements, returns, P&L, balance sheet, debt schedule, and for an acquisition the seller’s customer data — and place it with our bank lending partners. The partner is identified to you in writing before you sign.
Prepayment terms on partner-placed files vary and are disclosed in the term sheet.
What does a term loan cost per month?
A landscape maintenance company with 4 years in business, a 680 FICO and $90,000 a month in deposits replaces three daily-debit advances with one monthly payment. At $250,000 it stays in-house, so there is no prepayment penalty.
Illustrative only. Your actual amount, cost and term are set by underwriting your file. Nothing on this page is an offer.
Representative file — $250,000 over 36 months
- Amount
- $250,000
- Term
- 36 months, fixed monthly
- Rate
- 14% APR — illustrative
- Monthly payment
- $8,544
- Total interest
- $57,599 over the full term
- Prepayment penalty
- None on in-house files up to $500,000
- Status
- An illustration, not an offer
What a route business needs to qualify.
Every number below is a real criterion. If you clear these, apply. If you don’t, call us and we’ll tell you what would change it.
| Minimum monthly revenue | $15,000 in business bank deposits |
|---|---|
| Minimum time in business | 6 months |
| Minimum credit score | None for working capital or factoring. 600+ for a line of credit. 650+ for a term loan. 680+ for SBA. |
| Funding range | $10,000 to $2,000,000 for working capital. Up to $5,000,000 for term loans, SBA, and factoring facilities. |
| Time to a real offer | About 4 business hours on a complete file. |
| Time to funding | 24 hours. Same day if a clean file is signed before 11:00 AM ET. |
| Documents required | Application plus your 3 most recent months of business bank statements. 4 months if your business is seasonal. |
| Contract length | 2 pages. |
| Repayment | Fixed daily or weekly ACH from your operating account. No split funding. No holdback percentage. No lockbox. |
| Prepayment discount | Up to 30% off the remaining cost of funding when a working capital advance is paid off within the first 30, 60, or 90 days. |
| Recurring customers | Counted. Monthly, biweekly and quarterly service agreements read as forward revenue, not as one-off jobs. |
| Seasonal routes | Expected. Lawn, pool, pest and snow files are sized against the off-season floor, not the peak-month average. Send four statements. |
| Commercial & HOA contracts | Factorable. Net-30 and net-60 invoices to property managers, HOAs and commercial accounts can open a factoring facility. |
| Service types approved | Commercial janitorial and office cleaning, residential and maid services, pest control and termite, lawn care and mowing routes, landscape maintenance, pool and spa service, HVAC service and maintenance, plumbing service, window cleaning and pressure washing, tree care, irrigation and sprinkler service, snow and ice management, carpet and floor care, septic pumping and portable sanitation, and franchise route operators. |
| Not required | Collateral for working capital. A business plan. Tax returns under $500,000. A lien on your trucks. A minimum number of routes, crews or customers. |
| Open to | U.S. businesses with a U.S. business bank account. All 50 states. |
Four minutes. Three bank statements. No credit impact to apply.
Term loan questions, answered.
Can I use a term loan to buy another company’s routes?
Yes. Buying a competitor’s route book, customer list or whole company is one of the two most common uses of this product. The term can be matched to the life of the customer base you are buying — 36 to 60 months — rather than crammed into a short advance. Read the route acquisition guide before you make the offer.
Can I use a term loan to pay off merchant cash advances?
Yes. Consolidating stacked advances into a single amortizing term loan is the other most common use. Three or four daily positions with overlapping debits will take a profitable route business down; a 36-month term loan replaces them with one monthly payment. Call before you take a fourth position — the earlier you call, the more room there is to work with.
What does the bank partner need that Routebook doesn’t?
On in-house files up to $500,000 we work from six months of bank statements, two years of business tax returns, a YTD P&L and balance sheet, and a debt schedule. Above $500,000 a bank partner will typically also want personal tax returns, a personal financial statement, entity documents, a lease or mortgage, and interim financials. For an acquisition, add the seller’s customer list and revenue history.
Is there a prepayment penalty?
Not on in-house Routebook Capital term loans up to $500,000. Partner-placed term loans and SBA loans follow the partner’s and the SBA’s prepayment terms, which are disclosed in the term sheet before you sign.
Do you lend against my shop or yard?
Not as a term loan. Owner-occupied real estate — a shop, a yard, a warehouse — is an SBA 504 or a commercial mortgage. See SBA loans, where real-estate-secured financing runs up to 25 years.
Can a company with 18 months in business get a term loan?
Not at the 650 FICO and 24-month minimum this product carries. Working capital is your path until you cross 24 months — no minimum credit score, 6 months in business, $15,000 a month in deposits.
What is the monthly payment on a $250,000 term loan?
At an illustrative 14% APR over 36 months, a $250,000 term loan is $8,544 a month, with $57,599 in total interest over the full term and no prepayment penalty on in-house files up to $500,000. Your rate is set by underwriting; this is an illustration, not an offer.
A single monthly payment beats four daily debits.
$50,000 to $5,000,000 over 6 to 60 months. Decision in 3 to 7 business days. If you are carrying stacked advances, call before you take another position.