Can I Get an MCA If Most of My Revenue Comes From One Customer?
Yes, many funders will work with a business that leans on one big customer, but they look harder at how reliable that customer's payments are. Expect questions about the contract, how long the relationship has lasted and what happens to your deposits if that customer pays late.
Why does customer concentration make funders nervous?
A funder is buying a share of your future sales. When most of those sales come from one place, the whole advance rides on that one relationship. If the customer switches vendors, cuts an order or stretches payment terms, your deposits drop overnight and so does the funder's collection. A business with fifty small customers doesn't carry that kind of cliff. That doesn't make you a bad fit. It means the funder wants evidence that the relationship is steady.
What helps your file?
- A signed contract or master agreement with the customer, especially one with a term that runs past the expected life of the advance.
- A payment history in your bank statements that shows the customer paying on a regular rhythm.
- Other revenue, even small, that shows the business isn't a single thread.
- A plain explanation of what you do for the customer and why they keep coming back.
Where does it get harder?
If the big customer pays on long terms, say every sixty or ninety days, your statements show a lumpy pattern with big deposits and long quiet stretches. Daily payment plans don't fit that shape well. Funders tend to prefer a weekly payment in that case, or they size the advance smaller so the business isn't squeezed between checks. Government agencies and large corporations as customers are usually read as reliable payers. A small customer who also happens to be your biggest is a different story, and funders ask more questions.
How should you think about the risk?
Look at your last few months and ask what share of the deposits came from the one customer. Then ask what the business would deposit if that customer paid a month late. If the answer still covers your bills plus an advance payment, you have a reasonable case. If it doesn't, a smaller advance or a weekly schedule is the safer structure.
What if the big customer is slow to pay?
Big customers often pay on their own schedule. If you know a check is running late, tell your funder before the account runs short rather than after a payment bounces. Most contracts include a reconciliation process for exactly this situation, and a funder that hears from you early has far more room to adjust than one that learns about the problem from a returned debit.
How can Afterfirst help with this?
Call 877-FUND-654 and tell us who the customer is, how long you've worked together and how they pay. Send your recent statements and, if you have it, the contract. We'll send your file to funders that are comfortable with concentrated revenue and ask for a payment schedule that fits the way your customer pays.
What else do owners ask about this?
- Can a government contractor get a merchant cash advance?
- Do cash deposits count toward an MCA?
- Can I get an MCA if I live in a different state than my business?
More short answers on this topic are on the your business and your file FAQ, and the funder fit checker runs the numbers for your own file.
Have a question we didn't answer?
Ask us on the call. Call 877-FUND-654 with any question. We call you back, usually the same business day, and we always talk with you before we shop your file.