Coralbrook Funding, a small-business funding broker in Bloomington, Indiana, moves a funding request through four stages: a first conversation about the purpose, matching it to a structure, a lending partner's review and decision, and the owner's own comparison of any offer. Partners make every credit decision and set rates and terms; the owner decides whether to sign.
Broker versus lender at Coralbrook Funding
A lender, or a funder in the case of an advance, puts up the money, sets the price and signs the contract with you. Coralbrook does none of the three. What a broker does is prepare the request and route it: understand the purpose, explain the structures, and present the file to partners that offer the right kind of funding. Coralbrook Funding is a broker, not a lender.
Step 1: the first conversation
You call us, or send the short form and we call you. We ask what the money is for, roughly what it costs, and how the business would pay it back. That is all we need at first. No documents yet, and never a Social Security or bank account number by email or text.
Step 2: picking the structure the purpose calls for
The purpose usually decides the structure: a timing gap points to working capital, a build-out to a term loan, recurring uneven costs to a line of credit, stock to inventory financing, a machine to equipment financing. A merchant cash advance, which is not a loan, comes up only after the loan options have been weighed. With your go-ahead, we send the request to partners that offer that structure.
Step 3: the partner's review
Underwriting is entirely the partner's job. Depending on the structure, it may ask for:
- Recent business bank statements
- Business tax returns and financial statements
- A quote, invoice or lease for the item or space
- Details of existing debts and advances
- Permission to check the owner's credit
The partner decides whether to offer, how much and on what terms. We cannot change that decision. For the questions partners tend to ask, read the questions lending partners ask Monroe County owners, and for the Indiana paperwork, the Indiana loan checklist.
Step 4: lining up a rate, a factor and a lease payment
Offers are hard to compare when one quotes an interest rate, another a factor rate and a third a monthly lease payment. Put them on the same footing:
| Offer type | Price shown as | Figure to compare |
|---|---|---|
| Term loan or working capital | Interest rate (often with APR) | Every payment added up, plus fees |
| Line of credit | Variable rate plus fees | Expected yearly cost at a realistic balance |
| Equipment lease | Monthly payment | All payments plus end-of-term price |
| Merchant cash advance (not a loan) | Factor rate | Total remitted and how fast |
Then check the schedule against a slow month. You can turn down any offer; signing is your decision alone.
Warning signs Monroe County, IN owners should know
- A promise of approval before anyone has reviewed the business
- Being rushed to sign before you have read it
- A fee demanded before any offer exists
- An offer that shows a factor rate or payment but no total payback
- Requests for bank logins or full account numbers by text or email
- A second advance offered while a first one is still being remitted
Any one of these is a reason to pause before signing. Answers to common ones are on the FAQ page, and the formal terms of our role are in the broker disclosures.
By Coralbrook Funding · Updated
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