Plain answers to common funding questions: loan terms with a dental imaging example, what a merchant cash advance is, a three-month amortization table for a restaurant, and salon payroll options.
What Are Small Business Loan Terms? Start With Imaging Upgrades
Loan terms are the parts of an offer that decide its cost: the amount, the annual rate, the length in months, the payment schedule, any collateral or personal guarantee, the fees and whether paying early carries a charge. Comparing two offers means comparing all of them, not the rate alone.
| Length | Each month | Interest over the loan |
|---|---|---|
| 36 months | $1,547.94 | $7,225.84 |
| 60 months | $1,012.68 | $12,260.80 |
Stretching the imaging loan to 60 months cuts what the office sends each month but adds to the interest it pays overall. See equipment financing for imaging and other equipment.
What Is a Merchant Cash Advance? Notes for Gym Owners
A merchant cash advance is a purchase of a business's future card sales, and it is not a loan. The provider pays a sum now and collects a set share of card batches until an agreed total is remitted. A gym that bills membership dues to members' cards has those batches; a gym that collects dues by bank draft has fewer.
Full details, with a worked example and a calculator, are on the merchant cash advance page.
What Is Amortization on a Term Loan? Notes for Restaurant Owners
Amortization is the schedule that splits each level payment on a term loan between interest and principal. Interest is charged on the balance still owed, so its part of each payment falls a little every month and the principal part grows.
| Month | Payment | Interest | Principal | Balance after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | $1,613.36 | $416.67 | $1,196.69 | $48,803.31 |
| Month 2 | $1,613.36 | $406.69 | $1,206.67 | $47,596.64 |
| Month 3 | $1,613.36 | $396.64 | $1,216.72 | $46,379.92 |
A restaurant can ask a partner for the full schedule with any offer that follows a call or the request form. More on fixed schedules is on the term loans page.
Short Answers for Edison, NJ Salon Owners About Slow-Week Payroll
A salon whose card sales dip in a slow week still owes the same stylist payroll. Three products can carry that gap, and they work differently:
- A business line of credit: draw for the payroll, pay it down when sales recover.
- A working capital loan: one sum and a fixed schedule, for a longer or planned gap.
- A merchant cash advance: a lump sum collected from future card sales; check the total remitted first.
2024 Nonemployer Statistics counted 216 nail salons in Middlesex County, NJ that had no paid employees (NAICS 812113); those owner-run salons carry no payroll of their own, so the question above is for salons with staff.
By Graniteharbor Loans ยท Updated
