The owner carries the file
What a startup file runs on: the owner. Where an established company's financial statements carry the application, a new company's file is carried by the principal's personal credit history, industry experience, down payment and, where it exists, contracted work. A former company driver buying a first truck with a signed carrier agreement, a chef opening a restaurant after years running someone else's kitchen, a dental associate buying into a practice: these are fundable files because the operator's history predicts the business's performance. We build the application to show exactly that, and a larger down payment or a co-signer widens what lenders will consider.
Why your equipment choice matters
Equipment choice matters more for startups than anyone tells them. Lenders advance most readily against assets that hold value and resell easily: trucks, trailers, construction machinery, restaurant kitchens, medical and dental equipment. Highly specialized or custom equipment is harder for any lender to secure against, and a startup file amplifies that. This is also why used equipment and startups pair naturally, and why our used equipment financing page is worth reading alongside this one: a mid-life machine at a used price needs less financing, which means a smaller file, which approves more easily.
Why startups usually lease first
Structure leans lease-first. New business equipment financing through a lease keeps payments deductible while cash is scarcest, sales tax spreads over the term, and a $1 buyout still ends in ownership. Seasonal payments apply from day one for seasonal trades. Incorporation is not a prerequisite: sole proprietors qualify, though most owners incorporate before signing for other reasons.
What we will not promise you
Be aware of what we will not do: we never promise an approval before a funder has read the file, because no honest broker can make that promise for a company with no operating history. What we can do is place the file with the right funder the first time; our network includes institutions whose international division reviews large-scale startup projects with equity participation available, so appetite for new ventures genuinely exists at every scale. The application is the same three steps as every Origin Finances product: identification, owner information, equipment. For a first business equipment lease, send what you have, the quote, the resume, the contract if there is one, and we will tell you what it supports.
