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Getting new customers on board is definitely exciting. But you know what's equally important? Keeping those customers coming back for more! We're talking about building a loyal following, where people keep choosing your products or services because they genuinely love what you offer.

Without that kind of customer loyalty, you'll find yourself stuck in a never-ending cycle of gaining and losing customers. Sadly, studies have shown that the 

 a new customer can be up to five times higher than maintaining the loyalty of an existing customer.

You need repeat customers to generate enough revenue to make acquiring them worthwhile. That's where customer lifetime value (LTV) comes into play. LTV helps you understand the value of each customer and determine their profitability.

Before we jump into the calculation, let's break down some key terms so we’re all on the same page:

Customer lifetime value (LTV, CLTV, or CLV)

This is the total amount of money you can expect customers to spend on your products or services over time.

 shows how much you spend, on average, to bring in each new customer.

This handy metric shows you how much value you get from each customer compared to what you spend to acquire them. Basically, it sheds light on the profitability of your customer base over time.

Gives you an overview of your past customer LTV based on previous data. By looking at past data, you can gain insights into the LTV of your customers and understand their value over time.

This helps you forecast the potential value you'll receive from future customers, empowering you to make informed decisions.

Customer lifetime value, often abbreviated as CLV or LTV, is an important financial metric that measures the total amount of money you can expect to receive from each customer over the duration of your relationship with them.

It’s beyond simply looking at how much it costs to acquire a customer or their initial purchase. LTV provides a holistic view of the value derived from the customer relationship, helping you assess whether your customer acquisition cost (CAC) is justified.

In essence, it quantifies the long-term value of each customer to your business.

The customer lifetime value formula will reveal to you how much the average client is worth to your business over the duration of the relationship. It’s often calculated as:

Total of all customer lifespans ÷ by the total # of customers

Basically, here’s a quick rundown on what you need to do when trying to calculate your LTV:

= (Average Purchase Value) x (Purchase Frequency) x (Customer Lifespan)

Suppose a customer has an average purchase value of $100, makes four purchases per year, and remains a customer for five years. Using the formula:

= $100 (average purchase value) x 4 (purchase frequency) x 5 (customer lifespan)

= $2,000 (In this scenario, the customer lifetime value would be $2,000).

By calculating your LTV correctly, you gain insights into the revenue potential of each customer and can make informed decisions regarding customer acquisition and retention strategies.

Why should you care about customer lifetime value (LTV) and its impact on your business?

So, the question is, what value does LTV bring to your business? Here are a few insights you can glean from a customer lifetime value calculator.

 of your customer base. It helps you identify the most profitable customers and segments, enabling you to allocate your resources effectively. It can also help you identify whether your acquisition strategies are sustainable.

This insight can guide decisions regarding marketing channels, pricing strategies, and customer acquisition investments. It can also help you focus on attracting customers who are likely to have higher LTV rather than simply chasing quantity. 

By understanding which customers generate the highest lifetime value, you can focus your marketing efforts, cross-selling, and upselling initiatives on them, increasing revenue and profitability. This way, you can prioritize your efforts and provide personalized experiences to different customer segments.

By focusing your efforts on your ideal customer group, you can fine-tune your 

, tailor your messaging, and optimize your product or service offerings to cater specifically to their needs. This helps you target the right audience, personalize your marketing messages, and attract customers who are more likely to become loyal advocates.

This approach ensures that you are investing your marketing budget wisely, attracting high-value customers, and maximizing revenue potential by reducing costs on customers likely to spend less over time.

. Identifying high-LTV customers allows you to prioritize their satisfaction, build strong relationships, and implement retention strategies. By delivering exceptional customer experiences, you can increase loyalty and reduce churn, ultimately driving revenue growth.

, providing excellent service, and fostering loyalty, you can increase LTV. Happy, loyal customers tend to spend more, refer others to your business, and become brand ambassadors, contributing to your growth organically.

Onboarding a lot of customers is great—but it doesn’t mean your business can survive in the long term. If your average customer isn't bringing in enough value, you could end up burning through your financial resources and finding yourself in a tight spot—

Here's where understanding your LTV comes into play. It gives you valuable insights into the overall viability of your current business model. Think of it as a reality check, helping you gauge when it's time to call it quits or redirect your company's focus towards more profitable products and services.

Your customer LTV does a great job of giving you a big picture of your company's overall financial health, but you can also narrow your focus and look at the LTV for specific product categories.

You may have categories that are more profitable than others. By focusing on these product categories, you can scale your customer acquisition campaigns with less risk to generate more sales for your business.

LTV not only helps you identify the most lucrative product categories but also presents an opportunity to explore and create companion products that complement these offerings. By doing so, you increase both your average order value and LTV over time.

Creating companion products enables you to offer bundled or related items, encouraging customers to increase their overall purchase value and engage with a broader range of your offerings. This strategy not only boosts your average order value but also strengthens customer loyalty, further increasing lifetime value.

By continuously exploring and innovating in this manner, you can uncover new opportunities within your product lineup, expand customer engagement, and ultimately drive sustainable revenue growth.

When assessing your LTV, there are two models you can consider to measure the value of your customers during the relationship: historical and predictive analysis. Let's take a closer look at both.

This model analyzes historical customer data to make accurate predictions about their value. It involves analyzing past customer behavior and using that information to create a snapshot of their value at a specific point in time. 

This model is useful for businesses that have a stable customer base and can rely on historical data to make accurate predictions about customer value. It provides a more conservative approach to estimating customer value, as it does not rely on potential future behavior but rather historical trends.

However, it's important to note that obtaining a complete picture of LTV through historical analysis can require years of data, which young companies may not have.

On the other hand, predictive LTV focuses on predicting future customer behavior based on current and past customer data, allowing you to gain a clear understanding of your potential future profitability. This is particularly useful for business models with 

Since revenue stays fairly consistent from month to month with these business models, predictive LTV helps companies get an accurate picture of their future profitability so they can use that knowledge to make more informed decisions.

This approach is useful when you want to make forward-looking decisions and create “what-if” scenarios to see the potential outcome of various decisions.

Choosing between these models depends on your specific business goals and the context in which you operate. Here are some factors to consider when deciding:

By considering both historical and predictive LTV, you can paint a comprehensive picture of your business's performance, drawing from past achievements while embracing future opportunities. This knowledge serves as a solid foundation for strategic decision-making and maximizing the long-term value of your customer relationships.

Lifetime value and customer acquisition cost

Understanding the relationship between Lifetime Value (LTV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is crucial for the financial success of your business.

If the cost you incur to acquire customers exceeds the average amount a customer spends over their lifetime, you’ll never be able to achieve profitability. In such cases, it becomes essential to reduce your customer acquisition cost or increase the amount customers spend over time.

Conversely, if your acquisition cost is lower than the average customer spend, you can confidently invest in ramping up your marketing efforts, knowing that it will yield a positive return on investment. The higher your LTV compared to your CAC, the faster your company can experience growth.

To boost customer lifetime value, focus on delivering exceptional experiences, personalized offerings, and effective retention strategies. This encourages repeat purchases, referrals, and brand loyalty, ultimately increasing their overall value. As a rule of thumb, the higher the LTV:CAC ratio, the faster you can grow your business. Now let’s learn how to calculate the LTV:CAC ratio.

Evaluating the relationship between Lifetime Value (LTV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) allows you to assess the profitability and sustainability of your business model. The LTV:CAC ratio formula provides a quick way to do so. 

To determine the LTV:CAC ratio, you divide the LTV by the CAC. A higher ratio signifies a better return on your investment in acquiring customers.

To calculate your CAC, divide your total acquisition expenses by the number of customers obtained:

CAC = Sales and Marketing Expenses / Number of Customers Obtained

Feel free to use our free, simple CAC calculator.

Once you have determined your CAC, you can calculate your LTV:CAC ratio:

The commonly accepted standard for a "good" LTV to CAC ratio is 3:1. This means that your average customer should generate at least three times as much revenue as the cost incurred to acquire that customer. Keep in mind, this can vary by industry.

However, it's important to note that an excessively high LTV:CAC ratio may not always be desirable.

In this case, your LTV is strong enough to warrant increasing your CAC to drive more growth. By experimenting with adjacent products and launching targeted marketing campaigns in those areas, you can temporarily reduce your LTV:CAC ratio and enhance overall profitability. This approach enables you to uncover new growth opportunities, expand your customer base, and drive the overall success of your company.

Learn the meaning of LTV, how to calculate it, and how it impacts your company's financial results.

Learn the meaning of LTV, how to calculate it, how it impacts your company's financial results, and how it intersects with Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).

LTV = Lifetime Value. What does it mean for your business?

What Is Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): How To Calculate It?

When it comes to growth financing for your startup, there are a variety of options available. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks, so it's important to understand your options and choose the right type of growth financing for your business. 

In this post, we'll explore the different types of growth financing, discuss the pros and cons of each option, and help you decide which one is right for your business.

Growth financing refers to capital invested in a company in order to fuel its growth. It’s essential for startups as it allows them to scale their businesses and bring their products or services to market. 

It can come in the form of equity financing, when investors provide funds in exchange for an ownership stake in the company, or debt financing, when a lender provides funds that must be repaid with interest. 

There are also non-dilutive growth financing options like Pipe’s recurring revenue financing, which allows you to trade future revenue streams for up-front growth capital. Whatever the source, the common theme is the use of funds to finance the growth stage of your company. 

There are a number of benefits associated with growth funding for businesses. 

The primary benefit is that it can help businesses scale operations and enter new markets faster than they could without external financing, leading to increased profits and improved competitiveness. 

The goal of this expansion is to reach more customers and grow revenue and market share, but it takes time to start bringing in that revenue. Growth financing gives businesses the up-front capital to make the jump to the next level.

For example, if a company is looking to expand into a new geographic area, they may need funds to hire additional staff, launch marketing campaigns targeting that new area, and possibly open a new office. All of this will take place before bringing in new revenue from the area, and growth financing makes this possible. 

Growth financing can also be used to help fund day-to-day operating costs, so founders can focus their attention on the challenges of growing without worrying as much about short-term cash flow.

Are there any risks associated with taking on growth funding?

As with any business venture, there are some risks associated with taking on growth funding. 

One of the main risks is that businesses may struggle to repay the investment if their growth objectives are unsuccessful. This could lead to financial difficulties and potentially put the business at risk. Businesses should be in a healthy position and deploy their funds wisely in a way that will generate predictable revenue increases.

Also, businesses need to be aware of the terms of any funding agreement, as this can have a significant impact on future cash flow and profitability. 

Why is it important to choose the right type of growth capital?

Choosing the right type of growth funding is critical for any company. 

 can provide the capital necessary to scale quickly, but it can also lead to problems down the road if investors want to take the company in a different direction than the founders. Even if the majority of equity is still held by the founders, dilution can have serious impacts on future profits. 

Debt financing is often a more sustainable option, as it doesn't dilute ownership and gives business owners more control, but it may not provide as much capital up front. Companies in the early stages, or those without many physical assets like SaaS companies, may have 

trouble getting traditional debt financing

Ultimately, it's important to weigh the pros and cons of each option carefully before making a decision. Consider how much capital you need, how quickly you need it, how it will be used, and what you’re willing to accept in terms of dilution, restrictions, and warrant coverage. What are the different types of growth funding?

As mentioned earlier, there are many different types of growth financing available. Equity financing can provide a large amount of capital, but the dilution can potentially make it very expensive in the long run. 

For companies that don’t have predictable revenue (or are pre-revenue) equity may be the only option. Equity investors are looking for future value and profits, rather than immediate cash flow, so they don’t expect repayment on the financing right away like other alternatives.

Loans are typically a non-dilutive option (although some do come with warrants), but they can be restrictive and many lenders only work with certain types of businesses. Products like revenue-based financing can also fit under the umbrella of loans, although they are packaged according to the revenue of the company. If your revenue grows, your payments will go up as well, but you’ll also be protected against dips in revenue with a shrinking monthly payment. 

Loans are non-dilutive, but you’ll need to be in a position to make regular repayments. Lenders will want to see proof of revenue and cash flow sufficient to support a payment schedule. In some cases, lenders also have covenants specifying exactly how you can spend the capital, which can be very restrictive.

How can businesses access growth funding?

There are a number of ways to access growth funding. One option is to approach traditional financial institutions such as banks or 

. However, these options can be difficult to secure, particularly for small businesses. Another option is to utilize government grants or loans specifically designed to support business growth.

Finally, startup founders can access growth funding via modern capital platforms like 

. Pipe helps businesses secure growth funding through a fast, frictionless platform. After signing up, companies can securely connect their live data, eliminating much of the paperwork associated with traditional financing and speeding up the process. Pipe's capital offers are based on the health of the company’s finances, allowing you to exchange future revenue for up-front growth capital. 

You can accept as much or as little of the offer as you want, and the balance will remain available until the offer expires. There is no obligation to accept your offer and zero dilution, with offers based solely on your company’s health.

How can businesses make the most of their growth funding opportunities?

There are a number of ways in which businesses can make the most of their growth funding opportunities. It’s important to have a clear and concise business plan which outlines the company’s growth strategy. This will give potential investors a better understanding of how their investment will be used, and help to convince them to provide funding. 

Will you use the funds to hire and expand your team?

Will you scale up your marketing efforts to acquire new customers?

Will you bring a new product or service to market?

Whether or not your financing source requires a written plan, it’s important to know how your funding will be used to make sure you get a solid return and can manage repayment schedules and return profiles.

Financing is a critical part of any business, and there are a variety of different ways to finance your company. Growth financing can provide you with the capital you need to grow rapidly while staying healthy. There are both pros and cons to growth financing, so you need to weigh the benefits against the risks before making a decision.

Whether you’re looking to increase sales, hire new employees, or expand into new markets, growth financing can help you grow your company faster.

If you're ready to scale your business and consider growth financing through capital investment, be sure to 

When it comes to growth financing for your startup, there are a variety of options available. Each has its own benefits and drawbacks.

Learn what growth financing means and what it can mean for your growing business.  

See how growth financing can help scale your business faster

The Definitive Guide To Growth Financing

The definitive guide to growth financing 

Growing a business is a challenging task, but there are a few things that can make it more challenging than it needs to be. 

One of the biggest hurdles for entrepreneurs and CEOs looking to scale is a lack of access to capital. Without the cash in hand to make big growth moves, your business may have to settle for growing very slowly, as revenue gradually trickles in over time. 

 don’t always have a solution for this problem, as they may not be set up to service emerging business models. They can be too slow and cumbersome for business owners who need capital quickly. 

For companies with monthly or annual recurring revenue (MRR or ARR), faster growth is possible, with the right kind of financing. As these recurring revenue businesses become more and more common, recurring revenue financing has emerged to fill the capital gap. Let’s take a closer look at recurring revenue financing (or RRF) and how it can help you grow your business.

What is recurring revenue financing and how does it work?

Recurring revenue financing was built specifically for companies with MRR and ARR, to allow them to leverage the strength of their business model and avoid dilution. Let’s start with a clear definition of recurring revenue and recurring revenue business models.

 are a great way to build a stable, predictable business. MRR and ARR can be seen as the same concept, just measured over different time periods. Both are defined as the predictable portion of revenue that repeats each month or year. MRR is more commonly used, while ARR is common for companies with multi-year contracts or as a way to measure cumulative MRR for the entire year.

In years past, recurring revenue was limited to a few subscriptions (think things like newspapers and magazines) or payments on financing like a car or home payment. But recently, 

 have become the norm for everything from SaaS tools to car and bike subscriptions and streamlined services. 

SaaS and cloud-based companies kicked off this trend by turning both software and hardware into easy-to-use subscriptions, and the COVID-19 pandemic drove the subscriptionification of just about everything else as we all looked for convenient, no-contact ways to do business. Any business that operates with a subscription or contract with regular monthly, quarterly, or annual payments is leveraging a recurring revenue model, with the advantage of predictable revenue and decreased reliance on acquiring brand new customers each month. 

Traditional financing models are based on the old way of doing business. Equity financing (like venture capital and angel investments) is based on the equity of the company. Equity investors tend to invest in high-growth industries and companies in hopes that the value of the company will increase. 

 (like bank loans and venture debt) is based more on the cash flow of the company and tends to be available to more mature businesses whose cash flow can support the repayment schedule, and who also have substantial hard assets to offer up as collateral against the loan. 

Recurring revenue financing, on the other hand, relies on the power of the recurring revenue model. It treats recurring revenue as a new asset class, recognizing that these predictable revenue streams are a source of stability. RRF works by enabling companies to sell the rights to future revenues in exchange for up-front capital. It’s a stable, dilution-free financing solution for companies with MRR and ARR. Let’s take a closer look at these unique benefits.

The benefits of recurring revenue financing for businesses

By treating recurring revenue as an asset class, RRF has several benefits over traditional financing. 

Compared to equity, recurring revenue financing has the advantage of being completely non-dilutive. In other words, you don’t give up any of your ownership stake in the company in exchange for growth capital. This is a huge benefit if you’re in a fast-growing industry or company, where your equity may soon be worth much more than investors paid for it. It’s also an advantage in a slower growth industry, because equity investors may not be willing to invest if they don’t see large upside potential in your valuation. 

As we mentioned earlier, traditional lending is often tied to 

, which many recurring revenue businesses like SaaS don’t have much of. This can make traditional debt financing hard to get. The application process can also commonly take 6-8 weeks or longer (with equity rounds taking even longer). 

In contrast, recurring revenue financing is based on the predictability of your cash flow from MRR and ARR. You can access financing much faster, by verifying your recurring revenue through live data from your billing tools.

How to get started with recurring revenue financing 

Getting started with recurring revenue financing is simple and frictionless. Since it’s all based on live, connected data, there are no lengthy applications to fill out, no pitch decks to prepare, and no agonizing road show to win over investors. The health of your company speaks for itself. 

 and improve your terms by making sure your company is as healthy as possible. A healthy cash balance and runway reduce your risk profile and increase confidence that your business will continue generating recurring revenue for the predictable future. 

Accounting, for recurring revenue businesses, is crucial to securing financing. While your bank balance and incoming revenue may be healthy, your expenses will determine your burn rate and runway, which are a key part of your financial health and sustainability. Ensuring your books are up-to-date and accurate and that you’ve connected all of your data sources will allow you to get the best possible cost of capital for your recurring revenue financing.

Let’s take a look at how three recurring revenue businesses have grown quickly with recurring revenue financing: 

Pave got 7 figures of dilution-free capital to scale their business in just 48 hours

, a UK-based credit building app, had already raised equity rounds but wanted to keep scaling without further dilution. By leveraging recurring revenue financing, they were able to access 7 figures of capital to invest in marketing and scale faster without dilution. Not only did they have the funds to speed up growth, but they also had the focus because they didn’t need to pull themselves away from the business to raise another equity round. 

Flexible capital helped software developer Builder.ai grow their revenue 10x in 2 years

 helps companies create custom apps and they needed a better way to finance their rapid growth. Rather than take on loans or give away equity, they decided to leverage their recurring revenue. In addition to utilizing their existing recurring revenue, Builder used RRF to enable a payment plan, acquiring more customers faster, while still collecting the annual value of those payments up front through recurring revenue financing.

Verma Farms financed an acquisition in 72 hours

 is a luxury CBD brand offering D2C subscriptions to customers. They had a big opportunity to acquire CBD startup Penguin, but they only had 72 hours to secure the funds. They looked into loans and equity financing but didn’t have nearly enough time to complete either. Using RRF, they were able to trade subscription revenue for 7 figures of capital to complete the acquisition in time.

Businesses have always placed a high value on repeat customers. After all, when people come back, you don’t have to keep finding new customers. Recurring revenue is just a more structured form of repeat business. For example, if you have customers who buy from you about once per month, that would be re-occurring but not recurring revenue. There’s no guarantee they’ll be back each month. However, if they have a contract, subscription, or other structured setup to pay you monthly, that counts as recurring revenue because it’s guaranteed unless they cancel their subscription.

How do you calculate annual recurring revenue?

 is fairly simple. Just take new subscription revenue + existing subscription revenue  - churned subscriber revenue lost. You can use the same formula for annual recurring revenue or monthly recurring revenue, depending on how often your customers pay you.  

When you know your churn rates and new customer acquisition rates, you can also forecast annual recurring revenue for future periods. This can help you plan for future growth and budget for repayment on your financing.

Does recurring revenue make it easier to get financing?

Yes! Recurring revenue can often make it easier to get financing.

Growing a business is a challenging task, but there are a few things that can make it more challenging than it needs to be. 

Find out how Recurring Revenue Financing can give you access to dilution-free up-front capital without the restrictions of traditional financing 

What is Recurring Revenue Financing, and Can I Use It?

How you can use recurring revenue financing for faster growth without dilution

How You Can Use Recurring Revenue Financing for Faster Growth Without Dilution

As a founder or business owner, you’ve got more than enough on your plate running the day-to-day operations of your business. Financing future growth—whether with equity, debt, or alternative financing—adds an extra layer of complexity that many founders aren’t prepared for. 

 are out there, but coming to the table unprepared can quickly lead to problems getting approved. 

Let’s take a closer look at the most common reasons founders get denied financing and what you can do to fix those problems.  Whether you need financing right away or are planning for the future—which we highly recommend to anyone not actively seeking funds—keep reading. 

The most common reasons startups fail to get financing

Whether your startup is profitable and needs funding to scale faster, or you’re still pre-profit and need outside funding to operate, a denial can be devastating. Traditional bank loans and equity rounds can take a long time and significant energy. If they don’t result in the financing you need, you may be running out of time to try again.

Here are some key reasons why startups struggle to get the financing they need:

It's a measure of how many months you can go without an outside injection of capital. This is one of the key financial terms for startups to understand, because lenders and investor want to know your company will last. This applies to any company that’s not yet profitable, which can take years and is never achieved by over half of startups. 

Runway is how much cash you have divided by your burn rate (your net loss of cash each month).

 can make investors worry about your operational efficiency and signal potential problems in the near future. Lenders and investors are hesitant to finance companies with low runway, out of concern the company may not have enough cash cushion to survive a few bad months. Those who will finance a company with low runway often do so at a much higher cost of capital to offset the risk for themselves. 

For an operationally focused or technical founder, bookkeeping and accounting may be the bain of their existence. All those spreadsheets can look like about as much fun as cleaning out the garage or organizing your closet. This is why so many put it off (along with cleaning out the garage and organizing their closet). For many startups, which have yet to put together an accounting team or hire a CFO, it can get put off even longer.

But timely, accurate accounting is an absolute necessity when you want to secure financing.  Your accounting records are the easiest way for lenders and investors to assess the health and risk level of your company.  Even if your company is in great health, if your accounting is a mess—or you haven't 

 in a few months—lenders and investors won't know. For a financier, it can feel like choosing what's behind door number three.

A startup’s balance sheet is crucial when looking for financing because it shows lenders and investors what you own and what you owe. Cash on hand, existing loans, and other obligations all live on the balance sheet, and these are all important for financial approvals. 

Updating and closing the books is also an important part of having an accurate balance sheet, because many of the adjusting journal entries that are made during the monthly closing process will impact balance sheet accounts. If these aren’t up to date, anyone reviewing the financial statements will have to make the most conservative reasonable assumptions about what those numbers are.

It may be even more important to have an accurate P&L for startups looking to get financed. That’s because a lack of assets on the balance sheet puts even more pressure on a healthy P&L startup companies can use to reflect cash flow, revenue, and expenses. These numbers help potential investors or lenders see your ability to repay as well as the potential for growth in your company (by evaluating things like acquisition costs and profit margins).

One of the most frustrating reasons your startup may struggle to get financing is because it’s, well, a startup. While early-stage equity investors are used to funding brand-new ventures, other forms of financing, like banks, want to see a long history of payments and financial responsibility. While financial 

 is clearly a red flag, many startups are simply too new to have 2-4 years of financial records for a funding application. 

How to improve your chances of getting business funding 

Don’t let the struggles we’ve just mentioned get you down. If you want the best chance of securing financing for your growing business, there’s plenty you can do to increase your chances. 

Banks, equity investors, and alternative financing providers are always looking for companies to finance. But first, they need to ensure those companies are healthy. Here are three steps you can take to maximize your approval odds and reduce your risk profile.

Simply put, cash flow is the measure of cash moving in and out of your company. Cash flow measures only liquid payments, so while it includes things like checks and electronic payments (not only currency), it doesn’t include payments on credit that have yet to be collected. Cash flow is an important measure of a company’s health because a business that makes millions in sales but never collects the cash still can’t pay its bills. 

There’s more than one way to calculate cash flow, but the simplest one (called the direct method) involves subtracting the outflows from the inflows in three areas: operating, investing, and financing. Your cash flow is the sum of all three. It’s also important to know each of these three cash flow numbers separately because you could be losing cash on day-to-day operations and only show a net positive cash flow because of investing activities (like selling equipment) or financing that won’t occur in a typical month.

A lack of cash on hand is a big red flag when you’re looking for financing. It can seem counterintuitive, as the need for cash is one reason you may be looking for financing, but there’s a good reason for it. For example, if you apply for a personal credit card, but you’ve used up most of your currently available credit, you'll be declined. The card company will likely decide you’re living beyond your means and will be a high risk with an extended credit limit. 

The same concept applies to cash on hand and financing. Having no cash cushion can signal to banks and investors that your company is operating with no margin. That’s a big risk if the unexpected comes along. 

Since cash on hand is part of the equation for measuring your runway, you need to have a decent cash balance showing you can operate through a dry spell. You can calculate your burn rate and runway using 

In the above example, you’d likely need to pay down your credit card balances first. As a startup seeking financing, you can improve your chances by tightening your burn rate to save up a cash cushion. You may also strengthen your cash position by seeking friends and family or small-check angel investment first.

A solid cash runway gives you more financial options by showing that your startup can survive to the next funding milestone. Maintaining a certain runway is challenging in tough times, but founders need to know what to shoot for as they secure funding and prune their spending to reduce burn rate.

While many banks and investors use 12-18 months of runway as a standard, it can vary by your industry and the type of financing you’re seeking. Ultimately, the longer your runway, the better off you are when it comes to obtaining capital. A company that has a healthy cushion and sticks to a plan to moderate burn will always be a more attractive financing option, giving you more choices and access to better terms.  

If you’re seeking debt financing, it’s important that your current cash-to-debt ratio is manageable. The cash flow required to service your existing debt will play into your burn rate and impact your ability to service more debt. Lenders will also consider the seniority of your debt and may be hesitant to lend if they’ll be subordinated to more senior debt. 

Issues like runway, cash flow, and burn rate are all important factors to consider when you’re deciding on the type of financing to pursue. While each type has its place, none of them is right for every business in every stage of growth. Next, we’ll take a closer look at the types of financing, and consider which is best for your specific situation.   

Choosing the Right Type of Financing for Your Startup

Now that you have an understanding of why startups may struggle to get financing, how you can prove that your business is healthy, and some of the key financial metrics that lenders and investors look at when deciding whether to extend financing, you need to think about the type of financing that fits your needs. Keep in mind that different forms of financing will have different requirements and be designed for specific stages of the business life cycle.

 rounds throughout the life of the business, it’s especially popular as a way to get started, because equity investors are looking at your future potential. While equity can cost more in the long run, it doesn’t have any up-front cash flow requirements.

, including bank loans and revenue-based financing, will be a better fit once your business has consistent revenue. Lenders will want to see that you have the cash flow to service the loan payments, and, once you have that cash flow, you can preserve equity by using a method like this. 

 allows you to access up-front capital with your future revenue streams, without the common limitations of traditional bank loans or the dilution of equity fundraising. It works for a wide variety of companies with diverse types of revenue, and can even be used to extend runway and fund growth between equity rounds. 

Getting the right financing when you need it

Whether you’re looking to grow your business or finance operations to keep your business steady, you need to find the right financing source and make sure you’re in the best position to get approved.

For more information on dilution-free financing from Pipe, 

When it comes to securing financing for your startup, there are a few key steps you can take to improve your chances of getting approved.

Focusing on these three key areas will help you access capital and boost your company's eligibility for growth financing. 

3 Ways Startups Can Improve The Chances of Getting Financing

3 ways startups can improve their chances of getting capital

3 Ways Startups Can Improve Their Chances of Getting Financing

 was already a seasoned door-to-door sales veteran. But today, as CEO of 

The explosive growth fueled by access to capital has led to new opportunities as other companies have taken note of Brooks’ momentum.


Now in its fifth year, Brooks has branches in three states, generates eight figures in revenue, and is experiencing “crazy fast” growth. See how Pipe helped out. 

Growth

What Is Customer Lifetime Value (LTV): How To Calculate It?

The Definitive Guide To Growth Financing

How you can use recurring revenue financing for faster growth without dilution

3 ways startups can improve their chances of getting capital

How Brooks Pest Control financed “crazy” growth in an outdated industry

Case Study: How Pave got 7 figures of dilution-free capital to scale their business in just 48 hours

Case Study: How Love Circular 2x’d their revenue with alternative financing

Case Study: How Visible.vc grew 80% in one year without burning a single dollar

Case Study: How MUD\WTR changed their relationship with equity fundraising

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Growth

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