Case Study: How a Merchant Cash Advance Worked in a Pinch A last-minute shortfall led a restaurateur to a speedy merchant cash advance in exchange for a cut of future sales.

Between His Own
$700,000 investment and $500,000 from his partners, Arturo Calderon thought he had the financing for his new restaurant in the bag. But construction costs of the 3,000-square-foot Yucatan Taco Stand in The Woodlands, Texas, ran $80,000 over budget, sapping much of the operating cash he had set aside for the September 2011 opening.Although business was brisk from the start, operating without that $80,000 was tight. So one month after opening, Calderon applied for a cash advance from ExpressBusinessLoans.com, which works with businesses doing a high volume of credit and debit card transactions in exchange for a percentage of future sales.

Considerably more expensive than a bank loan (Calderon's markup was 20 percent), merchant cash advances don't have a fixed repayment date. They're also fast--within 48 hours of applying, Calderon had the $80,000 he requested in hand. We talked to him about the road to quick cash.